Feelings and emotions in Esperanto – happy, sad, tired

You say how you feel in Esperanto with esti "to be" plus an adjective – Mi estas feliĉa "I am happy", Mi estas laca "I am tired" – or with a feeling verb: Mi ĝojas "I am glad", Mi timas "I am afraid", Mi enuas "I am bored". A few word parts (mal-, -iĝ-, -ig-, -em-) then turn one root into a whole family of feelings. Pronunciation guides split words into syllables, with the stressed syllable in capitals; it is always the second-to-last.

#Feelings as adjectives

Adjectives end in -a and take -j for the plural: Ni estas feliĉaj "We are happy".

Shades of meaning. The dictionary ReVo says gaja is felt and shown outwardly, while ĝoja is a deeper, more inward feeling. In the same way malgaja is a lighter, more external mood and malĝoja a profound sorrow. Trista is also common: PMEG calls it an often used alternative to malgaja and malĝoja, though ReVo quotes a usage guide that prefers the mal- forms. Feliĉa means both "happy" and "fortunate"; for plain luck say bonŝanca. Ĵaluza is fear of losing something of yours; wanting what someone else has is envii "to envy".

Feelings in -ita. Ĉagrenita, surprizita and ravita "delighted" come from the verbs ĉagreni "to upset", surprizi "to surprise" and ravi "to delight". The ending -ita gives the state that results, so Mi estas surprizita is "I am surprised" (by something). See participles.

#Feelings as verbs

Like, love, hate. In modern use ŝati is the milder word and ami the stronger one; ReVo notes that older usage was the reverse. PMEG explains that ŝati and plaĉi mean nearly the same but swap the roles: Mi ŝatas la libron equals La libro plaĉas al mi. To say "I don't like it" use Mi ne ŝatas ĝin, and keep malami for real hatred. Malŝati is glossed "dislike" in some dictionaries, but ReVo defines it as treating something as worthless or unimportant, so Mi ne ŝatas is the safer phrase. For love between people see I love you.

What comes after the verb. Give the cause with pri or pro: ReVo has both ĝoji pri la bonaĵo and mi ĝojas pro via helpo. A whole clause takes ke: Mi ĝojas, ke vi venis; Mi timas, ke pluvos "I am afraid it will rain". The same pieces follow esti plus an adjective: Mi estas ĝoja, ke vi venis. Hunger and thirst are in food and drink, and cold and heat in weather and seasons.

#Four ways to say how you feel

In senti sin "to feel oneself" the word min is the object, and the adjective after it describes you, so it takes no -n: Ni sentas nin solaj "We feel lonely". PMEG calls this a description attached through the verb. Use an adverb for how well you feel: Mi sentas min bone "I feel fine". The last pattern comes from PMEG, which quotes Estas al mi malvarme from Zamenhof's translation of Andersen's tales; al mi names the person who feels it.

#Word parts that build feelings

More on prefixes and suffixes. Some points to watch:

• Opposite or just "not". Mal- is the opposite idea, while ne only denies it. PMEG's pair is ami → malami: Mi ne amas lin "I don't love him", but Mi malamas lin "I hate him".
• No ĝojiĝi. ReVo does not list ĝojiĝi, because ĝoji already means "to feel joy".
• Fear. Timiĝi exists, but PMEG recommends ektimi for "to take fright".
• A passing state. PMEG says -em- can name a momentary urge too: dormema is "feeling sleepy", not "sleeping a lot".

#Asking about feelings and answering

ReVo defines farti as being in a good or bad state with regard to the body's functions, and Kiel vi fartas? is still the standard "how are you?"; the replies are in greetings. Kiel vi sentas vin? asks about your mood right now.

#Comforting and reacting

The commands end in -u, the imperative, and ne makes them negative. Short outbursts such as Ve! "alas" and Hura! "hooray" are interjections.

#Common questions

#How do you say "I am happy" in Esperanto?

Mi estas feliĉa or Mi estas ĝoja. Mi ĝojas alone means "I am glad", usually about something specific.

#How do you say "I am tired" in Esperanto?

Mi estas laca. "I am exhausted" is Mi estas lacega, and "I am getting tired" is Mi laciĝas.

#How do you say "I am sad" in Esperanto?

Mi estas malĝoja, Mi estas malgaja or Mi estas trista. All three are in use, and malĝoja is the deepest.

#How do you say "I am afraid" in Esperanto?

Mi timas, with an object (Mi timas la hundon) or a clause (Mi timas, ke pluvos). "Don't be afraid" is Ne timu.

#What is the difference between feliĉa and ĝoja?

Feliĉa is the usual "happy" and also means "fortunate". Ĝoja is "glad, joyful", and ĝoji is "to be glad" about something.

#Sources

• ReVo: feliĉa, ĝoji, ĝoja, malĝoja, gaja, malgaja, kontenta, trista, kolera, timi, laca, enui
• ReVo: esperi, bedaŭri, sopiri, honti, envii, ŝati, ami, malami, plaĉi, ĉagreni, ravi
• ReVo: trankvila, soleca, fiera, ĵaluza, nervoza, kondolenci, kunsenti, farti, okazi
• PMEG: EM, IĜ, ET, MAL, EK
• PMEG: IĜ-verboj (timiĝi, ektimi), priskribaj verboj (esti, fariĝi), similsignifaj verboj (ŝati, plaĉi)
• Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR), phrases confirmed as attested: #1150510 Kio estas al vi?, #435657 Kio okazis?, #3952972 Kio ĝenas vin?, #656588 Kiel vi sentas vin?, #1840821 Mi sentas min sola, #12091947 Kial vi estas malĝoja?, #4810793 Mi kondolencas, #550822 Kia domaĝo, #1015630 Ne ploru, #429408 Ne timu, #466730 Trankviliĝu, #470078 Mi enuas