If you need one accurate translation, the most common way to say injury in Spanish is lesión. It refers to physical harm caused by an accident, illness, sports activity, or another event. That said, Spanish uses different words for an open wound, bodily damage, emotional harm, and the act of getting hurt, so choosing the right term depends on the context.
Introduction: The Basic Translation
The direct translation of injury is:
- injury → lesión
- injuries → lesiones
- to get injured → lesionarse
- injured → lesionado or lesionada
Because lesión is feminine, articles and adjectives normally agree with it:
- una lesión leve — a minor injury
- la lesión grave — the serious injury
- varias lesiones deportivas — several sports injuries
In everyday conversation, lesión is especially common in medical and sports contexts. Here's one way to look at it: a knee injury is una lesión de rodilla, while a serious back injury is una lesión grave de espalda.
Injury, Wound, Damage, or Hurt?
English often uses injury broadly, but Spanish distinguishes several related ideas.
| English idea | Natural Spanish translation | Main use |
|---|---|---|
| injury | lesión | Medical or sports-related physical harm |
| wound | herida | A cut, puncture, or broken area of skin |
| damage or harm | daño | Physical damage or general harm |
