Bump/Hit Hello, everyone! What is the difference between "bump" and "hit"? In what situation it is better to use one or the other? What is the difference between "I bumped myself" and "I bumped"? Do

Viktoriya

Bump/Hit Hello, everyone! What is the difference between "bump" and "hit"? In what situation it is better to use one or the other? What is the difference between "I bumped myself" and "I bumped"? Do they mean the same? If you would bump on something and somebody would ask you "What happened?", do you usually answer "I bumped" or "I have bumped"? I think "I bumped" would be correct answer, right? Thank you!

Jun 9, 2017 7:23 AM

Answers · 9

They both mean similar things. I would argue that bump is more gentle and hit is stronger. I bumped my car (This is a small accident) I hit a wall with my car (This is much more serious) You don't bump or hit yourself. You might bump or hit a car or a part of your body. For example, I bumped my head.

June 9, 2017

In addition to April and Peachey's answers, I just want to add that these two words don't follow the same rules when tenses are applied. "Bump" is a regular verb that becomes "bumped" in past tense, whereas "hit" is an irregular verb in which the past tense is the same as the present tense ("hit"). There is no such word as "hitted."

June 9, 2017

When you bump something, the contact is always thick and heavy. Notice that I wrote "bump [something]". It's not possible to use "bump" without the thing that you bump.

June 9, 2017