Discussing Emotions in Spanish

Discussing Emotions in Spanish Spanish has at least five common ways of referring to emotions or describing how someone feels or becomes emotionally. These include the use of estar and tener; reflexive verbs used for specific emotions; and two verbs that often mean to become, ponerse and volverse. Using Estar With Emotions For English speakers, the most straightforward way to talk about emotions in Spanish is to use estar, one of the verbs for to be, followed by an adjective of emotion. Mi pap est feliz de ver su paà ­s. (My father is happy to see his country.) Las autoridades estn preocupados por el incremento de casos de sobredosis. (The authorities are worried about the increase in overdose cases.) Al principio pensaba que estaban enfadados conmigo. (At first I thought they were angry with me.) Va a estar emocionada por conocerte. (She is going to be excited to meet you.) Using Tener With Emotions Although estar can be used with some emotions, Spanish speakers often prefer to use tener, the verb for to have in the sense of to possess, with some emotions. In effect, the idiom is that a person has a particular emotion rather than that the person is in a certain emotional state. For example, although you could say est asustada to say that a friend of yours is afraid, it would be more common to say, Tiene miedo, literally She has fear. Here some examples of this use of tener: Mi senador no tiene fe en la ciencia. (My senator distrusts science. Literally, my senator doesnt have faith in science.) Antonio le tenà ­a celos a Katarina cuando eran nià ±os. (Antonio was jealous of Katarina when they were children. Literally, Antonio had jealously toward Katarina when they were children.) Si las cosas son diferentes, tendrà © la ilusià ³n de regresar. (If things are different, I will be thrilled to come back. Literally, if things are different, I will have the thrill of coming back.) Reflexive Verbs for Specific Emotions Some reflexive verbs include in their acquiring of an emotion. Perhaps the most common such verb is enojarse, which typically means to become angry or to get angry: Jennifer se enojà ³ cuando la periodista la llamà ³ por telà ©fono. (Jennifer got angry when the newspaper reporter called her on the telephone.) Enfadarse is preferred over enojarse in some regions: Si pierden los llaves, me enfadarà ©. (If they lose the keys, Ill get angry.) Here are some of the reflexive verbs frequently used for other emotions: aburrirse (to get bored with, to get tired of): El abuelo de la actriz  se aburrià ³ de su libertina nieta y la desheredà ³. (The actress grandfather got tired of his wild granddaughter and disinherited her.) asustarse (to become frightened): Vi a la policà ­a y me asustà ©. (I saw the police and I got scared.) alegrarse (to become happy): Se alegrà ³ mucho de recibir la noticia. (She became very happy upon hearing the news.) enamorarse (to fall in love): (Te enamorars de los chicos salvadoreà ±os. You will fall in love with the Salvadoran children.) fastidiarse (to become annoyed): Mi decisià ³n se debià ³ sencillamente a que me fastidià © de depender de la nicotina. (My decision came about simply because I became annoyed at depending on nicotine.) irritarse (to become irritated):  ¿Se irrita usted con facilidad? (Do you get irritated easily?) calmarse (to become calm): Durante todo el trayecto estaba preocupado, pero me calmà ³ cuando estbamos aterrizando. (During th e whole flight I was worried, but I calmed down when we were landing.) entusiasmarse (to get excited): Cuando oyà ³ estas palabras, Paula se entusiasmà ³. (When she heard these words, Paula got excited.) exasperarse (to lose patience): (En ocasiones me exaspero. Sometimes I lose my patience.) preocuparse (to become worried): Nos preocupamos por el nivel acadà ©mico de los alumnos. (We got worried about the academic level of the students.) sorprenderse (to become surprised): Me sorprendà ­ cuando veà ­a que era tan joven. (I became surprised when I saw she was so young.) Using Ponerse and Volverse The reflexive verbs ponerse and volverse are frequently used to refer to changes in emotional state. Although the two can be interchangeable, the difference is that ponerse tends to be used for rapid changes in emotions while volverse tends to be used for more lasting changes. El jugador se puso triste por no ser titular. (The player got sad for not being the champion.) Mi problema es cuando mi amigo se pone indiferente conmigo. (My problem is when my friend becomes indifferent to me.) Los espaà ±oles se volvà ­an felices con la medalla de plata. (The Spanish became happy with the silver medal.) Se ha vuelto carià ±oso y responsable. (He has become caring and responsible.)