Saying How You Feel
July 16, 2008 – 5:47 pm
I am excited by BookaChat’s new English courses. I am saying how I feel. In many cultures, it is not necessary to mention feelings or to know what your feelings are. But to speak English, we must be able to say how we feel.
In fact, tests of competency in English always ask students to write personal essays giving opinions on broad topics. To pass these essay questions, you will need to be aware of the feelings that determine your personal point of view.
Love and fear are the only two fundamental human feelings. From these two come all the others. Feelings are not good or bad. They are only experienced (felt) or not experienced (not felt). All feelings are felt in the body and pass away rather quickly.
“I feel sick,” however, is not a feeling. It is a sensation. Sensations come from specific body parts, usually from a certain organ, like the feet or the skin. “My feet are hot,” is a sensation. “My shoulder muscles are stiff,” is a sensation. “I have a pain in my stomach, ” is a sensation.
Our feelings reflect our inner life — our emotions, our sentiments, our desires, our likes and dislikes. It’s best never to exaggerate what we say or think about our feelings, because we can actually scare or discourage ourselves and other people if we do so.
If you fail an exam, for example, never say: “I can’t learn English. I’m hopeless.” Better: “I’m tired from taking this test. I’ll relax and forget about it for a while. I’m confident I’ll pass this test next time.”
Here is another example: Never say: “I can’t write English.” Better: “I’ll practice the past tenses in English. Then I’ll be able to write anything.”
A native speaker of English would recognize every word on the following list. If the words are not familiar to you, do not rush to learn them all quickly. This list is to be used more as a reference or resource.
abandoned absurd abused accommodating accountable active agitated agreeable alarmed alone aloof
amused angry anxious appeased apprehensive arrogant ashamed attracted bashful benevolent betrayed
bewildered bitter blessed blissful blue bold bored brisk calm capable chaotic charitable chastised cheerful
closed competent complete compliant composed confident confined congenial content controlled cordial
cowardly cranky cross defeated degraded dejected delighted depressed despised destitute determined
dignified disappointed discarded discontented disgraced dishonored disillusioned disinterested
dissatisfied distant disturbed docile dominated “down in the dumps” drained dull dangerous ecstatic
elated embarrassed empathetic encouraged encouraging energetic enthusiastic exasperated excited
exhausted extravagant fatigued fearful feeble flustered foolish forlorn forsaken fortunate free fulfilled
futile generous gentle glad gloomy gluttonous grateful gratified grief-stricken grouchy guilty happy
harassed healthy heavy-hearted helpful helpless hindered holy honorable honored hopeless humiliated
ignorant ignored imprisoned inadequate infatuated infuriated inhospitable inspired interested intuitive
invigorated involved irritated isolated jittery jolly joyful jumbled jumpy limited limp lively livid loyal lucky
malicious melancholy merry mild miserable miserly modest moody mortified motivated neglected nervous
noticed overworked passionate peaceful perplexed petty placid plagued pleasant pleased poised
powerful private provoked qualified raging regretful relaxed relieved remote resentful rested restless
restored revengeful ridiculous robust rough sad satisfied scared scorned secretive selfish sensitive
sentimental shamed sheltered shocked sick simple sluggish solemn sparkling stimulated stingy strained
stricken strong stupid successful suicidal sulky sullen surprised sympathetic temper teary-eyed tempted
terrified thrilled thwarted timid tired tormented tranquil trapped triumphant troubled uninterested unnerved
unwelcome useless vague vain vigorous virile vital vivacious wanted wasteful weak weary weepy
whole wicked withdrawn worried
Question for Discussion:
(1) Look at the photograph of the giant woman swimmer, which is a big work of art, not a real woman. Look at the workman on the right, who is an actual man, and try to identify what you think he might be feeling, given his posture and the look on his face. Then find a few of those words on the list.
(2) Have you ever been unclear about particular words for feelings in English? Let’s discuss them now.
The sculpture is named “The Survival of Serena (Red Cap)” and the artist is Carole A. Feuerman.
Homework:
Whenever you identify a feeling that is not on this list, add it to the list. This list can become your master list of the words for feelings in English.
Photograph and Text Copyright © 2008 Barbara A. English. All rights reserved.

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7 Responses to “Saying How You Feel”
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