Breakdown of O barco explodiu e a chama por pouco não o atingiu.
e
and
não
not / no
a
to / at (direction)
pouco
little
Questions & Answers about O barco explodiu e a chama por pouco não o atingiu.
Why does the Portuguese sentence use the negative word não when the English translation 'almost hit him' is positive?
The expression por pouco não literally means 'by a little [it did] not'. In Portuguese, you are stating that the flame didn't hit him, and it missed 'by a little'. English approaches this from the opposite angle ('it almost did'), but this Portuguese phrasing is the standard way to express near misses.
Why do we use the Pretérito Perfeito Simples (atingiu) for something that didn't actually happen?
Because the expression por pouco não already does the heavy lifting of showing the event was avoided. The verb itself simply states the action that was on the table. Since the boat exploding and the near miss were single, completed moments in the past, the Pretérito Perfeito is the correct tense to use.
Why is the object pronoun o placed before the verb (o atingiu) instead of after it with a hyphen?
What is the difference between atingir and bater for the word 'hit'?
Bater usually refers to a physical, blunt strike, like knocking on a door or punching a wall. Atingir means to reach, strike, or affect a target. When a flame, a bullet, or even a disaster 'hits' someone, atingir is the correct and most natural verb.