pegar
Portuguese, verb/peˈɡa(ʁ)/
pegar is spelled P-E-G-A-R (5 letters) and appears 132 times per million words in written Portuguese, the 739th most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Pegar is a Portuguese verb meaning “to grab, hold” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “fazer aderir”.
What does pegar mean in English?
verb
- 1
to grab, hold
- 2
Brazilto discover someone doing something
- 3
to pick up
- 4
Brazilslangto engage in a romantic and/or sexual relationship with someone for one night or some short period of time
- 5
Brazilcolloquialto fight, to beat up, to engage in a physical conflict
Eu vou te pegar na porrada!
- 6
informalto stump, to get
Nossa, esse exercício me pegou agora.
- 7
to stick, to glue
Fernando Tordo (1973), “Tourada”, (in Portuguese): “E só ficam os peões de brega / Cuja profissão não pega ― And only the peões de brega are left / whose profession doesn't stick”
- 8
colloquialto catch on
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
verb: 1. fazer aderir 2. colar 3. unir 4. agarrar
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of pegar
- pego first-person present singular
- peguei first-person preterite singular
- pegado participle past
- g-gu alternation
- pegares infinitive second-person singular
- pegarmos first-person infinitive plural
- pegardes infinitive plural second-person
- pegarem infinitive plural third-person
- pegando gerund
- pegos masculine participle past
- pega feminine participle past
- pegas feminine participle past
- pegados long-form masculine participle
- pegada feminine long-form participle
- pegadas feminine long-form participle
- pegamos first-person indicative plural
- pegais indicative plural present
- pegam indicative plural present
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce pegar?
- Brazil /peˈɡa(ʁ)/
- Brazil [peˈɡa(h)]
- /peˈɡa(ɾ)/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to pegar
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is pegar in Portuguese?
pegar appears 132 times per million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).