Spanish · Chapter 43 · Lesson 9 · Common mistake
tengo or me da?
Spanish keeps its feelings inside two verbs, and neither is to be.
The rule
One list of feelings lives inside tener: tengo hambre, tengo frío, tengo miedo, tengo razón - literally I HAVE hunger. A second list lives inside dar: me da miedo, me da igual, me da pena - it GIVES me fear. Neither uses ser or estar, so translating I am hungry word for word produces soy hambriento, which nobody has ever said.
Pick the right one
0/6Pick the right one: tengo or da.
mucha hambre.
Me miedo volar.
frío, cierra la ventana.
Me igual lo que digas.
razón, lo siento.
Me pena verlo así.
The full lesson on this sits in the same chapter.
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