Translating Feel to Spanish

Translating Feel to Spanish The English verb to feel is one of those verbs that can be tricky to translate to Spanish. More so than with most words, you need to think of what the word means when trying to come up with a Spanish equivalent. If youre fairly new to Spanish and trying to think of how to say a sentence using feel in Spanish, you should probably see first if you can think of a different, and simpler if possible, way of saying what you want to say. For example, a sentence such as I feel sad means basically the same thing as I am sad, which can be expressed as Estoy triste. In that case, using sentirse to translate feel would also work: Me siento triste. In fact, sentir or sentirse frequently is a good translation, as it usually means to feel an emotion. (Sentir comes from the same Latin word as the English word sentiment.) But sentir doesnt work with many uses of feel, as in these sentences: That feels smooth. I feel like going to the store. I feel that its dangerous. It feels cold. In those cases, you need to think of a different verb to use. Here are some of the ways you can translate feel:   Feeling an Emotion As stated above, sentir or sentirse can often be used when referring to emotions: Me siento muy feliz. (I feel very happy.)Me siento fuerte psicolà ³gicamente. (I feel psychologically strong.)Se siente en conflicto cuando necesita escoger entre uno u otro. (He feels conflicted when he needs to choose one or the other.)No sentimos nada. (We dont feel anything.) However, Spanish has many expressions using other verbs to express emotions. Here are a few: Estoy muy feliz. (I am very happy. I feel very happy.)Él tenà ­a miedo. (He was afraid. He felt afraid.)Tengo celos a mi hermana. (Im jealous of my sister. I feel jealous of my sister.)De repente se enojà ³. (Suddenly he got angry. Suddenly he felt angry.) Sentirse is frequently used with como to express the concept of feeling like a ...: Se sintià ³ como una extraà ±a en su propia casa. (She felt like a stranger in her own home.)Me siento como una estrella del rock. (I feel like a rock star.) Feeling Sensations Spanish generally doesnt use sentir to express what is felt with the senses. Sensations are often expressed by idioms using tener. If describing what something feels like, you can often use parecer (see next section): Tienen hambre. (Theyre hungry. They feel hungry.)Tengo frà ­o. (Im cold. I feel cold. It feels cold here.)Tenà ­an sed. (They were thirsty. They felt thirsty.) Meaning ‘To Seem’ When to seem can be substituted for to feel, you can often translate using the verb parecer: Parece lisa al tacto. (It feels smooth to the touch. It seems smooth to the touch.)Parece que va a llover. (It feels like its going to rain. It seems that it is going to rain.)La herramienta me parece à ºtil. (The tool feels useful. The tool seems useful to me.) Meaning ‘To Touch’ Tocar and palpar are often used to refer to touching something. Although palpar comes from the same source as palpate, it is used much more often than the English word and can also be used in informal contexts. El mà ©dico me palpà ³ el abdomen. (The doctor felt my abdomen.)Todos tocaron la piel de zorro para que les diera buena suerte. (Everyone felt the fox skin so it would give them good luck.) ‘To Feel Like’ Meaning ‘To Want To’ A phrase such as to feel like doing something can be translated using querer or other verbs used to express desire: Quisiera comer una hamburguesa. (I feel like (eating) a hamburger. I would like to eat a hamburger.)Prefiero salir yo con mis amigos. (I feel like leaving with my friends. I prefer to leave with my friends.)Katrina no tenà ­a ganas de estudiar. (Katrina didnt feel like studying. Katrina didnt have a desire to study.) For Giving Opinions Feel is often used to express opinions or beliefs. In such cases, you can use opinar, creer or similar verbs: Pienso que no me gusta. (I feel I dont like it. I think I dont like it.)Creo que Argentina es el mejor equipo del mundo. (I feel that Argentina is the best team in the world. I believe that Argentina is the best team in the world.) ¿Por quà © supones que tienes una infeccià ³n? (Why do you feel you have an infection? Why do you suppose you have an infection?) Key Takeaways Although sentir and sentirse are the most common verbs translating to feel, in many situations they would be incorrect.Other verbs that are frequently used for to feel include tocar, querer, and creer.A good way to translate feel is to instead translate a synonym for feel as it used in the context.