Verbs of feelings in Spanish are not easy to learn. We have a large amount of options to express emotions and, as you might know, the feelings and emotions belong to “the reign of the subjunctive”.

Because of all these issues, we often need some lessons to explain these contents. Today, we’ll go step by step and we’ll start talking about the main verbs of feelings in Spanish.

How can we express emotions in Spanish? We can use nouns (alegría, tristeza, vergüenza…), adjectives (alegre, triste, avergonzado/a) or verbs (alegrar, entristecer, avergonzar…). However, they must be introduced by specific verbs. Let’s see them:

Verbs of feelings in Spanish: dar + nouns

The verb dar in Spanish requires a noun after it to express emotions. It’s formed as an intransitive verb and needs an indirect object pronoun, similar to the verb gustar.

Me da vergüenza hablar en público.

 

Tener + nouns to express emotions

Tener is other of the verbs of feelings in Spanish that requires a noun. In this case, we don’t need special constructions, because the verb tener is transitive:

Tengo miedo de la parte oral del examen DELE.

More verbs of feelings in Spanish: Sentir + nouns

If we choose the verb sentir to express feelings, we must be careful about the construction of this verb. In order to use a noun after it, we need to use the transitive form of the verb (non-reflexive):

Siento alegría cuando no cometo errores en español.

In addition to this, we also have verbs of feelings in Spanish that are followed by adjectives. Let’s take a look:

Verbs of feelings in Spanish: Poner + adjectives

The verb poner is quite strange for students of Spanish if they try to translate it literally into their mother tongue. Nevertheless, in Spanish it is very used to express emotions and it is followed by adjectives:

Me pongo nervioso cuando no entiendo a los españoles.

Estar + adjectives also expresses emotions

As you should know, the verb estar can introduce states or feelings using adjectives. It’s maybe the first verb of this kind that our students learn:

Estoy contento de conocer las perífrasis verbales en español.

Verbs of feelings in Spanish: Sentir(se) + adjectives

We’ve seen how the verb sentir works in its transitive form. But, what happens if it’s used with a reflexive pronoun? In that case, we need an adjective or an adverb instead of a noun:

Me siento feliz si tengo una conversación en español con un nativo.

Proper verbs of feelings in Spanish

Estar, dar, poner, tener, sentir… these verbs are a good option to express emotions. However, the Spanish language has verbs that express feeling by themselves. Let’s see some examples:

Me entristece ver tanto odio en el mundo.

¿No te deprime la cuarentena?.

A los españoles nos emociona que nos abrace un amigo.

Los padres se enfadan porque sus hijos son traviesos.

As you can see throughout all the previous examples, we can use nouns, infinitives or subjunctive and indicative tenses. In further articles we will explain how to choose the most accurate option. However, if you want to learn them right now, don’t hesitate and reserve a lesson with us. Do you want a trial lesson first? Of course, request one here and start learning verbs of feelings in Spanish at this moment.