Cansar vs. esgotar
The Portuguese words cansar and esgotar both mean to tire out or to exhaust, but they have differences in their usage and nuances. Understanding these differences will help you use them better in specific contexts.
Cansar
A2Cansar means to make someone or oneself tired, generally referring to physical or mental fatigue. It is often used in everyday contexts to describe feeling tired due to effort, work, or activity.
O trabalho físico pesado me cansa muito.
(The heavy physical work tires me out a lot.)
Ele se cansou depois de correr por uma hora.
(He got tired after running for an hour.)
Esse filme longo está começando a me cansar.
(This long movie is starting to tire me out.)
Você não se cansa de fazer a mesma pergunta?
(Don’t you get tired of asking the same question?)
Esgotar
B1Esgotar refers to exhausting or depleting energy, resources, or patience. It is stronger than cansar and conveys complete depletion or exhaustion. It can also mean to run out when referring to resources like time, energy, or supplies.
Esse treino intenso esgotou minhas forças completamente.
(This intense workout completely drained my strength.)
Você precisa descansar antes de se esgotar totalmente.
(You need to rest before you completely exhaust yourself.)
O professor parecia esgotado após as longas aulas.
(The teacher seemed exhausted after the long classes.)
Eles esgotaram todas as opções para resolver o problema.
(They exhausted all options to solve the problem.)
A água acabou porque os moradores esgotaram os reservatórios.
(The water ran out because the residents depleted the reservoirs.)
Summary
In Portuguese, cansar is more commonly used to describe general tiredness resulting from physical or mental activity, while esgotar implies a deeper exhaustion or complete depletion of energy, resources, or patience. Esgotar is also used to signify running out of something, making it slightly broader in application than cansar.