Describing emotions
There's more to saying how you or someone else feels than just
He is sad
I am happy
We are very pleased
etc.
In this lesson, you will learn how to describe things with more colour and meaning.
To start us off, do this matching exercise to learn (or remind you of) the names of some common emotions. |
That wasn't too difficult. Here are the names of some more
emotions in English. Look at the example sentences and try to
think what the words mean. Then click on the to see a definition and another example. Is there a verb from the adjective? Use a dictionary to check any that you don't know. |
annoyed irritated She was annoyed / irritated by the noise her neighbours were making in the garden. |
Made angry and upset.
We can also have verbs: The smell from the factory annoyed / irritated her so she complained. She was irritated by the noise from the factory. |
apprehensive Before the examination I was apprehensive but I was sure I would pass. |
Made a little worried.
There's no verb so we can use to worry instead: The test worried me a little at first but it was actually quite easy. She was apprehensive about taking a long journey alone but she quite enjoyed it in the end. |
bewildered I am bewildered by the number of possible choices and don't know what to do. |
Very puzzled.
We can also have a verb: His strange behaviour bewildered me. I was bewildered by his strange behaviour. |
cross He makes me cross when he is rude to people. |
A little angry.
There's no verb so we often use to upset instead: I upset the teacher because I was late. The teacher was cross because I was late. |
depressed Most people feel a little depressed by grey and cold weather so are happy when the spring comes. |
Sad (sometimes very
sad).
This is often a serious medical condition and there are drugs people can take. There's also a verb: The death of his mother depressed him badly. He was depressed for months after losing his job. |
ecstatic She was ecstatic when she won the money. |
Extremely happy.
There's no verb. She worked very hard so was ecstatic to get such a good degree. |
envious jealous They were envious / jealous of their neighbour's new car and wanted one, too. |
Wanting what someone else has.
There's also a verb but only for one of the adjectives: They envied her because she was successful. They were envious / jealous of her success. |
horrified She was horrified by the violence in the film and she left before the end |
Very shocked.
There's also a verb: We were horrified to learn that they were getting a divorce. Their divorce horrified us. |
intrigued She was intrigued by the idea and wanted to know lots more about it. |
Made very curious.
There's also a verb: The book's cover intrigued me so I bought it. I was intrigued by the book's cover so I bought it. |
jaded I used to enjoy holidays by the sea but I feel a bit jaded by the experience now. It was a good party last night but I feel a bit jaded this morning. |
Very tired or
Bored and with no interest. There's no verb. I've eaten so much good food that my appetite's jaded. It was a long overnight flight and she's feeling jaded. |
overwhelmed I was overwhelmed by the offer of a new job and a pay rise and I didn't know what to say. |
Made emotional so that you
don't know what to say or do.
There's also a verb: The museum has so much to see that it overwhelmed me. I was overwhelmed in the museum because there's so much to see. |
seething Her boss was so rude in the meeting that she was seething. |
Very angry but hiding the
feeling.
There's no verb: By the time he'd finished his stupid statement, I was seething. |
stressed There's so much work to do and so little time that I'm feeling really stressed by it all. |
Unable to relax.
There's also a verb: Too much work and a difficult family life are both stressing me this year. I'm feeling stressed because of too much work and a difficult family life. |
tense It's an important examination so it's not surprising she's tense. |
Not relaxed.
There's no verb: I hate flying so I felt a bit tense at the airport. |
How much can you remember? Try a test of the examples in the table. |
Joining the person to the emotion |
Look at some examples:
She felt stressed
They seemed intrigued
They looked sceptical
I was overwhelmed
They made him furious
She appeared jaded
All of these verbs can join the
subject (the person) directly to the adjective (the emotion)
but one of them is different. Which one? Click here when you know. |
Words like feel,
seem, be, and appear all join the subject directly to
the emotion.
The verb made needs an object. In our example it
is him but we can also have, for example:
She made
the neighbours jealous
The children made
the teacher cross
The title of the book made
me curious
and so on.
Making the emotion stronger and weaker |
Making it stronger | Making it weaker |
I was
absolutely intrigued She was totally horrified The policeman was extremely irritated I'm feeling very jaded She's extremely apprehensive They are completely overwhelmed He was wholly shocked |
They were slightly intrigued I was a little horrified She made the boss a bit furious I feel somewhat jaded I felt a tad stressed They are a touch overwhelmed He was slightly shocked |
The words which make the adjective stronger are called intensifiers and there's a lesson at this level about them. Click here to go to it now (it opens in a new tab).
The words that make the adjectives weaker are called downtoners. There are not so many of these.
Intensifiers |
We do not usually use very with words for strong
emotions so we do not say, for example:
She was
very furious
They were
very appalled
The boss was
very seething
but it is OK to use very with other, weaker adjectives:
She was very apprehensive
I was very intrigued
The neighbours were very jealous
The old woman was very irritated
The teacher was very
concerned
and so on.
With the strong adjectives, we use a strong intensifier such as:
They were simply furious
We were absolutely appalled
The boss was positively seething
and so on.
Downtoners |
We can use a downtoner with most of the emotion adjectives so we
can have:
They were a bit depressed
She was slightly irritated
I was somewhat intrigued
and so on
But be careful:
If you use a downtoner with a very strong emotion adjective, you can
sound sarcastic! We also use downtoners in English to make an
understatement. Understatements are often quite strong in
English.
I was slightly appalled
(probably means you were very upset)
I was a bit horrified (can
mean you were very upset, too)
and so on.
It is safer to avoid using downtoners with very strong emotion adjectives.
That's the end of the lesson. Click here to go back to the lesson index.