Emotions in Spanish: 26 Ways to Speak Fearlessly About Feelings + Audio
How are you feeling today?
Yo estoy muy feliz (I’m very happy) because the beach is finally open in my hometown and I’m planning on going there very soon. I mean… ¡es verano! (It’s summer! – you can read more about seasons in Spanish.)
In this article, you will learn 26 ways to express your emotions in Spanish!
1. Vocabulary: Most important basic emotions in Spanish
The following are basic adjectives you should learn to express your emotions in Spanish:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Happy | |
| Sad | |
| Angry | |
| In a bad mood / Moody | |
| Tired | |
| In love | |
| Surprised | |
| Confused | |
| Disappointed | |
| Worried | |
| Bored |
2. Full phrases and examples to express your feelings in Spanish
Now let’s go over some ejemplos (examples) and see how emotions in Spanish appear in sentences:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| I’m very happy to see you. | |
| My friend is sad because she can’t travel. | |
| | My mom is angry with me — enojada because it’s mi mama, feminine |
| After walking, my dog is tired — and this is off the record, Jagger es el perrito más flojo del mundo / Jagger is the laziest dog in the world. | |
| The couple is in love — enamorados because this word refers to “los novios” (girlfriend and boyfriend), that is, plural | |
| I’m surprised by how expensive it is. | |
| Maria is confused. | |
| I am very disappointed for not having won. | |
| We were worried because we didn’t see you. | |
| The movie was boring. |
3. A little bit of grammar: Yo estoy instead of yo soy
You might have noticed this already, but in Spanish, we use the verb estar (to be) instead of ser (to be) because emotions are temporary.
We feel happy and excited when watching a game, but that’s not our permanent state of mind.
Of course, some lucky people may say “Yo soy feliz” (I am happy) and that’s fine, that makes me happy! For a better explanation of “Ser” and “Estar”, feel free to check out our video about this topic!
![Learn Spanish SER and ESTAR: Everything YOU Need to Know! 👊 [SPANISH LESSON 20]](https://springlanguages.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2Ftqg_-IWuh5U%2F0.jpg)
4. Mexican Spanish Slang to express common emotions and feelings
These were only some basic expressions for emotions in Spanish, but how can we talk about these feelings ¿sin ser tan especificos? (without being too specific?)
In Mexico, there are plenty of slang expressions:
¡Qué padre! 🤩 – It’s great!
This is an expression used to show happiness or how much you like something, and even though the word “father” (padre) is there, we are not talking about him, it’s just an expression.
Example:
- ¡Qué padre que pudiste venir! (It’s great you could come!)
¡No manches! 😳 – Literally: Don’t stain it!
This literally means “Don’t stain it”. However, it may acquire different meanings depending on the intonation or the context:
Examples:
- ¡No manches, qué susto me diste! (OMG! You scared me!)
- ¿Aún no te llega el paquete? ¡No manches! (The package hasn’t arrived yet? Can’t believe it!)
- ¡Me lleva la que me trajo! 🤬
This expression literally means “the one that brought me takes me away”, but you may use this when you are very angry, after hitting your pinky toe with the bedpost or so.
Tengo hueva 🥱 – I’m tired
There’s no translation for this one, and this might be the least elegant expression, but it means “I’m tired”, and Mexicans use it very often.
Example:
- Hoy no quiero salir, tengo hueva (I don’t want to go out today, I’m tired).
¡Chin! 😅 – Woops!
Mexicans use this expression to show anger. Let’s imagine you are having un helado (an ice cream) and you drop it. In that case, you may say ¡Chin!
This word may also be used to express disappointment:
- ¡Chin! Perdí mi cartera! (Woops! I lost my wallet!)
Me da igual 😶 – I don’t care!
Mexicans use this to phrase express disappointment, or indifference, or to show that they are upset or moody. It basically means “I don’t care”.
- Me ofrecieron dos opciones de postre, pero no tengo preferencia, me da igual cuál elegir. (I was offered two dessert options, but I have no preference, it’s all the same to me which one to choose.)
5. Talking about emotions in Spanish and more with FREE Spanish Training
¡Muy bien! How do you feel now? I hope that knowing that we have a whole series of Spanish beginner videos will make you feel muy feliz (very happy). So feel free to visit our Spring Spanish YouTube channel!
| Nota importante (Important note): In English, the word “upset” seems to be a solution that fits a lot of feelings. You are upset if you are sad, you are upset if you are angry, you are upset if you are confused; but Spanish speakers have a word for each of those feelings and that’s why it’s best to learn them in context. That way, you will also know how and when to use them! |
Now, if you feel excited about learning Spanish, we have a free Spanish training on our website where you’ll discover the method we use in our Spring Spanish Academy to teach students to speak fluent Spanish – whether it is about emotions in Spanish, or anything else :). You also get some free sample Spanish lessons there that come straight from our Academy!
✔️ Cheat Sheet with 54 essential Spanish Chunks you’ll hear and use yourself in ANY Spanish conversation (and example sentences). Taken from our YouTube Teacher’s most popular videos!
✔️ 2 Bonus Cheat Sheets with Travel Chunks and Dating/Relationship Chunks
✔️ A Spanish Chunking Tutorial showing you the 1 technique that’ll help you make 100% of the Spanish from our videos roll off the tongue in just 5 minutes a day (you’re probably only using 50% of our lessons’ potential right now…)
