Emotions in Spanish (Feelings List and Chart)
The basic emotions in Spanish are feliz (happy), triste (sad), enojado (angry), asustado (scared), cansado (tired) and tranquilo (calm). You say them with estoy: estoy triste, I feel sad. A girl ends most of them in -a (enojada). To ask how someone feels, say ¿Cómo te sientes?
Below you’ll find twelve feelings with pronunciation, three that don’t use estoy, a two-minute bedtime check-in you can run without speaking Spanish, and a free printable chart with a feelings wheel.
Emotions in Spanish list, with pronunciation
Most feelings change their last letter to match who is feeling them: a boy is cansado, a girl is cansada. Feelings that end in -e or -z stay the same for everyone.
| Boy says | Girl says | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| feliz | feliz | fe-LEES | happy |
| contento | contenta | kon-TEN-to | glad, pleased |
| triste | triste | TREES-te | sad |
| enojado | enojada | e-no-HA-do | angry |
| asustado | asustada | a-soos-TA-do | scared |
| cansado | cansada | kan-SA-do | tired |
| aburrido | aburrida | a-boo-RREE-do | bored |
| nervioso | nerviosa | ner-BYO-so | nervous |
| sorprendido | sorprendida | sor-pren-DEE-do | surprised |
| tranquilo | tranquila | tran-KEE-lo | calm |
| orgulloso | orgullosa | or-goo-YO-so | proud |
| preocupado | preocupada | pre-o-koo-PA-do | worried |
Three feelings that don’t use estoy
tengo miedo
TEN-go MYE-do
I'm scared
tengo sueño
TEN-go SWE-nyo
I'm sleepy
me da vergüenza
me da ber-GWEN-sa
I feel shy, embarrassed
Feelings use estar
Spanish has two verbs for to be. Feelings take estar, the one for how things are right now: estoy triste, estoy cansada. That’s a gift for kids: a feeling is something you have today, not something you are.
Some feelings use tener
Fear and sleepiness are things you have in Spanish: tengo miedo (I have fear), tengo sueño (I have sleep). Say them as whole phrases and your child will too.
¿Cómo te sientes? and muy
Ask ¿Cómo te sientes? (how are you feeling?), and turn up any feeling with muy: ¡estoy muy contenta!(I’m really happy!). Kids love muy. It’s short and it works on everything.
Emotions in Spanish and English: phrases for real moments
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Cómo te sientes hoy? Estoy un poco cansado. | How are you feeling today? I'm a little tired. |
| ¡Estoy muy contenta! | I'm really happy! (muy means very) |
| ¿Tienes miedo? Estoy aquí. | Are you scared? I'm here. |
| Estoy triste porque se fue la abuela. | I'm sad because grandma left. |
| Está bien estar enojado. | It's okay to be angry. |
Three moments that already happen
Feelings words stick when they’re attached to a real feeling. You don’t need a lesson, just these three moments in an ordinary day.
The bedtime check-in
Lights down, one question: ¿Cómo te sientes hoy? The quiet end of the day is when kids actually tell you things.
After a hard moment
Once everyone is calm again, not during the storm, name it gently: Estabas enojado (you were angry). Then Ahora estás tranquilo(now you’re calm).
Inside a story
Ask how a character feels. In Soy y Es Lola says Soy feliz hoy. Pause and ask: ¿Y tú?
How to use this with your child: the bedtime check-in
You don’t need to speak Spanish for this. You need one question, the chart on the wall, and two minutes at bedtime. Ask the question, let your child point to a face on the chart or say the word, and answer the why in any language. The Spanish is the doorway; the conversation can happen in English.
—¿Cómo te sientes hoy?
—Estoy un poco cansado.
—¿Y por qué?
(“How are you feeling today? I’m a little tired. And why?”) Say te sientes as te SYEN-tes. Answer it yourself first a few nights running: Estoy contenta or Estoy cansado. Your child learns the pattern by hearing you use it about yourself.
- 1
Start with six feelings, not twelve. Feliz, triste, enojado, asustado, cansado, tranquilo.
- 2
Answer first, every night. Your own estoy sentence is the model.
- 3
Pointing counts as an answer. Words come later. Never quiz a feeling.
- 4
Take the question outside bedtime. After the park, after a visit: ¿Cómo te sientes?
Emotions wheel in Spanish
Page two of the free PDF is a feelings wheel: eight core feelings in a circle, a pointer to cut out and pin in the middle, and the question ¿Cómo te sientes hoy? across the top. Your child turns the pointer and answers Estoy… It works well for a child who would rather point than talk. These are the eight on the wheel:
feliz
happy
triste
sad
enojado
angry
asustado
scared
cansado
tired
sorprendido
surprised
tranquilo
calm
preocupado
worried
Emotions chart in Spanish (free printable PDF)
Two pages. Page one is the chart: twelve simple line-drawn faces, each with the feeling in Spanish, the girl’s form, pronunciation and English. Page two is the feelings wheel with a cut-out pointer. Hang the chart by the bed.
Download the Chart (Free PDF)Questions parents ask
How do you say feelings in Spanish?
Feelings in Spanish are los sentimientos, and emotions are las emociones. To say how you feel, use estoy (I am) plus the feeling: estoy feliz (I'm happy), estoy triste (I'm sad), estoy enojado (I'm angry). A girl changes the ending to -a: estoy enojada. A few feelings use tengo instead: tengo miedo, I'm scared.
Is it "estoy triste" or "soy triste"?
Say estoy triste. Estoy (from estar) describes how you feel right now, which is what feelings usually are. Soy triste would mean you are a sad person by nature, and nobody wants a child to learn that. Feliz is the one exception you'll hear both ways: estoy feliz and soy feliz are both everyday Spanish.
How do you ask someone how they feel in Spanish?
Ask ¿Cómo te sientes? (KO-mo te SYEN-tes), how are you feeling? Add hoy for today: ¿Cómo te sientes hoy? Your child answers with estoy and a feeling, like estoy cansado, I'm tired. Follow up with ¿Y por qué? (and why?) and let the answer come in whatever language it comes.
What are the basic emotions in Spanish?
Start with feliz (happy), triste (sad), enojado (angry), asustado (scared), cansado (tired) and tranquilo (calm). Those six cover most of a young child's day and most bedtime check-ins. Add sorprendido (surprised), preocupado (worried), aburrido (bored) and orgulloso (proud) once the first six come out without thinking.
Where the feelings show up next
Children often find it easier to name a feeling in a character than in themselves. Our Spanish bedtime stories pair naturally with the check-in: read one, then ask how the character felt, then how your child feels.
Chart Nº 6: Family Members
Mamá, papá, abuela, and the ¿Quién es? photo game.
Chart Nº 7: Animals
Perro, gato, vaca and the sounds they make in Spanish.
Chart Nº 8: Body Parts
Cabeza to pies, with a labeled diagram and the Tócate la nariz game.
Chart Nº 9: The Alphabet
All 27 letters, their names, and their sounds.
All free printables
Every chart, plus story readers you can print at home.
Get the Free Starter Story Pack
A short printable Manuel y Lola story with a parent guide in English.
When you want to switch from feelings to colors or numbers, there are printable Spanish flashcards, word search puzzles and beginner worksheets. We’re also writing a longer Foundations Pack; it isn’t for sale yet.
Sources
- Stephen Krashen: Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition (1982), the influential input and affective filter hypotheses: language is acquired through understood messages, most easily when the learner is relaxed