Build a focused Spanish feelings group
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Spanish emotions vocabulary
How do you talk about feelings in Spanish?
Use estar + adjective for a temporary state: Estoy feliz; Marta está nerviosa. The adjective agrees with the person when it has masculine and feminine forms.
Use sentirse + adjective when the focus is the experience of feeling: Me siento bien; ¿Cómo te sientes? The reflexive pronoun changes with the subject.
Some frequent feelings use tener + noun rather than estar: Tengo miedo; Tiene vergüenza. Treat these as complete chunks.
Three verb patterns and one agreement rule
estar + adjective: Estoy cansado/cansada.
sentirse + adjective or adverb: Me siento triste; Nos sentimos bien.
tener + noun: Tengo miedo; Ella tiene vergüenza.
Change -o to -a where required: preocupado/preocupada. Forms such as feliz, triste and impaciente do not change for gender.
32 common emotions and feelings in Spanish
Start with positive states, add difficult emotions, then learn social and energy states before the most useful complete expressions.
| Spanish feeling | Meaning | Example in context | Usage note |
|---|---|---|---|
| feliz | happy | Hoy estoy muy feliz. | This adjective keeps the same form for gender. |
| contento / contenta | glad; pleased | Estamos contentos con el resultado. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| alegre | cheerful; happy | Mi abuela está alegre esta mañana. | This adjective keeps the same form for gender. |
| emocionado / emocionada | excited; moved | Estoy emocionada por el viaje. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| tranquilo / tranquila | calm | Después de hablar, me siento tranquilo. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| orgulloso / orgullosa | proud | Está orgullosa de su trabajo. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| agradecido / agradecida | grateful | Estoy agradecido por tu ayuda. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| aliviado / aliviada | relieved | Nos sentimos aliviados al llegar. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| triste | sad | Ella está triste hoy. | This adjective keeps the same form for gender. |
| enfadado / enfadada; enojado / enojada | angry | Él está enojado por el retraso. | Enfadado is especially common in Spain; enojado is common across Latin America. |
| preocupado / preocupada | worried | Estoy preocupada por el examen. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| nervioso / nerviosa | nervous | ¿Estás nervioso antes de hablar? | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| asustado / asustada | frightened | El niño está asustado. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| avergonzado / avergonzada | embarrassed; ashamed | Me siento avergonzada por el error. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| decepcionado / decepcionada | disappointed | Estamos decepcionados con la noticia. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| solo / sola | lonely; alone | A veces se siente sola en la ciudad. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| cansado / cansada | tired | Estoy cansado después del trabajo. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| aburrido / aburrida | bored | Los niños están aburridos. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| confundido / confundida | confused | Me siento confundida con las instrucciones. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| sorprendido / sorprendida | surprised | Estamos sorprendidos por la respuesta. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| incómodo / incómoda | uncomfortable | Se siente incómodo en la reunión. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| tímido / tímida | shy | Soy tímida con personas nuevas. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| frustrado / frustrada | frustrated | Está frustrado porque no funciona. | The ending agrees with the person: -o or -a. |
| impaciente | impatient | Estamos impacientes por empezar. | This adjective keeps the same form for gender. |
| tener miedo | to be afraid | Tengo miedo a las arañas. | This expression uses tener + noun, not estar + adjective. |
| tener vergüenza | to feel embarrassed; to be ashamed | Le da vergüenza preguntar. | This expression uses tener + noun, not estar + adjective. |
| tener ganas de | to feel like; to want to | Tengo ganas de salir a caminar. | Learn the complete expression as one reusable chunk. |
| sentirse bien | to feel well; good | Hoy me siento bien. | Use the reflexive verb sentirse and change the pronoun with the subject. |
| sentirse mal | to feel unwell; bad | Después del viaje se siente mal. | Use the reflexive verb sentirse and change the pronoun with the subject. |
| estar de buen humor | to be in a good mood | Esta mañana está de buen humor. | Learn the complete expression as one reusable chunk. |
| estar de mal humor | to be in a bad mood | No quiero hablar: estoy de mal humor. | Learn the complete expression as one reusable chunk. |
| ¿Cómo te sientes? | How do you feel? | ¿Cómo te sientes después del examen? | Use this question to ask one person how they feel. |
Learn feelings in four practical groups
Organise the words by communicative purpose so you can retrieve them in a real answer rather than from an alphabetical list.
Positive feelings
Use these words for happiness, calm, excitement and relief.
feliz · contento / contenta · alegre · emocionado / emocionada · tranquilo / tranquila · orgulloso / orgullosa · agradecido / agradecida · aliviado / aliviada
Difficult feelings
Name sadness, worry, fear and disappointment without avoiding the right verb pattern.
triste · enfadado / enfadada; enojado / enojada · preocupado / preocupada · nervioso / nerviosa · asustado / asustada · avergonzado / avergonzada · decepcionado / decepcionada · solo / sola
Social and energy states
Describe energy, confidence and reactions in everyday situations.
cansado / cansada · aburrido / aburrida · confundido / confundida · sorprendido / sorprendida · incómodo / incómoda · tímido / tímida · frustrado / frustrada · impaciente
Complete feeling expressions
Finish with high-frequency chunks built with tener, sentirse and humor.
tener miedo · tener vergüenza · tener ganas de · sentirse bien · sentirse mal · estar de buen humor · estar de mal humor · ¿Cómo te sientes?
How should you practise emotion vocabulary?
Answer ¿Cómo estás? with one positive and one difficult feeling, then change the subject to él, ella or nosotros.
Keep paired adjective endings on one card. Say both Estoy preocupado and Estoy preocupada even if you normally use only one form.
Practise the same idea with different structures: Estoy triste; Me siento triste; Tengo miedo. Do not force every feeling into one verb pattern.
Hola Cards is a Spanish flashcard app from holacards.org for iOS and Android. It is free to download, requires no account, has no ads, and works offline. The interface is available in English, Russian, and Portuguese; cards support translations in 28 languages and 18 practice and game modes. You can import these 32 fixed entries into a custom group and practise them with Spanish audio, writing, pronunciation, and review modes. Hola Cards does not detect how you feel, choose estar or sentirse for you, or correct adjective gender automatically.
Connect feeling words with adjective agreement, ser and estar, reflexive pronouns, daily routines and introductions.
Spanish adjective agreement Ser vs estar for beginners Spanish reflexive pronouns Spanish daily routine Spanish greetings and introductions
A five-minute feelings routine
- Name four feelings you have had today.
- Change four -o forms to -a forms.
- Make three sentences with sentirse.
- Make three expressions with tener.
- Ask and answer ¿Cómo te sientes?, then listen and write the answers.
Vocabulary and communication references
The A1–A2 feelings set and communicative functions were checked against Instituto Cervantes and CEFR materials.
- Instituto Cervantes A1–A2 inventory: feelings and moods
- Instituto Cervantes A1–A2 functions: expressing feelings and physical states
- CEFR illustrative scales: emotional responses at A2
FAQ
What is the difference between estoy triste and me siento triste?
Both can mean “I feel sad”. Estoy triste states your current condition; me siento triste explicitly describes how you feel.
Should I use ser or estar for emotions?
Use estar for a current emotional state: Estoy nerviosa. Ser can describe a more characteristic quality, but it is not the default for how someone feels now.
Do Spanish feeling adjectives change for gender?
Forms ending in -o usually change to -a: cansado/cansada. Forms such as feliz, triste, alegre and impaciente do not.
Why is it tengo miedo, not estoy miedo?
Miedo is a noun, and the standard expression is tener miedo. Vergüenza also commonly uses tener.
Is angry enfadado or enojado?
Both are correct. Enfadado is especially common in Spain; enojado is very common across Latin America.
Does Hola Cards choose the correct emotion grammar automatically?
No. It lets you import and practise the fixed entries; this guide explains which expressions use estar, sentirse or tener.
Copy the 32 feelings into Hola Cards
Open word groups in Hola Cards, choose paste/import, and paste the block. The app recognises the title and “Spanish - translation” lines.
**Spanish emotions and feelings: 32 entries**
feliz - happy
contento / contenta - glad; pleased
alegre - cheerful; happy
emocionado / emocionada - excited; moved
tranquilo / tranquila - calm
orgulloso / orgullosa - proud
agradecido / agradecida - grateful
aliviado / aliviada - relieved
triste - sad
enfadado / enfadada; enojado / enojada - angry
preocupado / preocupada - worried
nervioso / nerviosa - nervous
asustado / asustada - frightened
avergonzado / avergonzada - embarrassed; ashamed
decepcionado / decepcionada - disappointed
solo / sola - lonely; alone
cansado / cansada - tired
aburrido / aburrida - bored
confundido / confundida - confused
sorprendido / sorprendida - surprised
incómodo / incómoda - uncomfortable
tímido / tímida - shy
frustrado / frustrada - frustrated
impaciente - impatient
tener miedo - to be afraid
tener vergüenza - to feel embarrassed; to be ashamed
tener ganas de - to feel like; to want to
sentirse bien - to feel well; good
sentirse mal - to feel unwell; bad
estar de buen humor - to be in a good mood
estar de mal humor - to be in a bad mood
¿Cómo te sientes? - How do you feel?
Review Spanish feelings in Hola Cards
Practise the 32 fixed entries with Spanish audio, writing, pronunciation, custom groups, and review modes on iOS and Android.