Is there any difference in the usage of the words frapi and bati? I looked through vortaro.net and they look pretty identical.

smonkey:Is there any difference in the usage of the words frapi and bati? I looked through vortaro.net and they look pretty identical.

If I'm not mistaken, they are mostly similar, except "bati" seems more forceful to my ear than "frapi" (i.e. 'hit as in punch', versus 'hit as in slap or strike' ). Lernu's dictionary doesn't indicate any particular difference.

This may just be in my mind, but when I see "bati" I see a club or a bat, and when I see "frapi" I see more of a slap.

I think that "frapi" is also used metaphorically more than "bati".

I might say something like "Ideo frapas min" (an idea hits me, an idea strikes me - an idea came to me suddenly and surprisingly), but if I said "Ideo batas min", it sounds like an idea is beating me up.

If you look at vortaro.net (the online PIV), the 'bati' definition is similar to the "frapi" definition, except that it has an -eg- attached to it, so PIV seems to think that bati is a stronger word than "frapi", a more forceful kind of hit/strike.

Take a look at the PIV definitions and you'll see. They're much more detailed than the lernu dictionary, so you can get a clearer impression of the meanings. Use your lernu! account to log in.

Ne frapu mia koro. Neniu hejmas.

(There's a famous line of poetry something like ne batu maltrankvile mia koro, and of course normally oni frapas ĉe pordo to see if anybody's home)