29 - How to Express Your Feelings in French

Hi everyone! Bonjour à tous! Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast! This is episode number 29, numéro 29! In this episode, we'll talk about how you can express your feelings, vos sentiments, in French! We'll talk about sadness, joy, fear, surprise, and the last one, anger. At the end of the lesson, we'll do a little quiz. 

As usual, before we get started, download your lesson's cheat sheet, so you can read the words and hear them at the same time; it's free. After the lesson, head over to the French Made Easy Library, where you can download your lesson's exercises, it's also free. 

Ok, are you ready? C'est parti. 

EMOTION #1: SADNESS

Sadness in French is "la tristesse." 

When you're feeling sad, you can say:

“Je suis triste.” (I am sad.) 

You can also say:

“Je suis malheureux.” (I'm unhappy.) If you're a woman: "Je suis malheureuse." 

EMOTION #2: JOY

Joy in French is "la joie."

When you're feeling joyful, happy, you can say: 

“Je suis content.” (I'm happy) If you're a woman: "Je suis contente."

“Je suis heureux.” (also I'm happy) For a woman: "Je suis heureuse."

EMOTION #3: FEAR

Fear in French is "la peur."

When you're scared, you can say: 

“J'ai peur.” (I'm scared.) 

Par example, "J'ai peur des araignées." (I'm afraid of spiders.)  🕷

Little note, unlike English, “to be scared” in French is used with the verb "to have" not "to be". “Avoir peur.” 

EMOTION #4: SURPRISE

Surprise in French is very easy; it's spelled the same way as in English. Although you pronounce it differently: "la surprise." 

So when you're feeling surprised, you can say: 

"Je suis surpris." (I'm surprised.) For a woman: "je suis surprise." 

EMOTION #5: ANGER

Anger in French is "la colère."  Attention, not to be mixed with "la couleur."

“La couleur” is "color."

“La colère” is "Anger."

If you're struggling to differentiate between the two, download my essential guide called "The Sounds of French." You will learn to recognize French sounds, and ultimately, you'll understand spoken French much better.

Ok, so let's go back to our example. 

When you're feeling angry, you can say:

“Je suis en colère.” (I'm angry)

Alright, now it's time for our little quiz: 

So, I'll give you the English phrases first; then, you have a few seconds to translate in French. 

Ready? On y va. 

So, what's... 

"Sadness" in French -> la tristesse"I'm scared" -> j’ai peur"Joy" -> la joie"I'm angry" -> je suis en colère"Fear" -> la peur

Ok, now let's do the reverse. I'll give you the French phrases first; then, you translate in English. 

C'est quoi... 

"Je suis heureux" in English? -> I’m happy"La surprise" ->  Surprise"je suis triste" -> I’m sad"la colère" -> Anger"je suis content" -> I’m happy

Alright, all done! How did you go? 

That's the end of our lesson. Thank you so much for listening. Don't forget to go and download your exercises, so you can practice what you've learned.  If you've enjoyed this episode, I'd really appreciate a quick review on Apple Podcast. I'll talk to you next week!

Merci beaucoup et à bientôt! 💗