me da verguenza?

Question

I'm trying to explain a recent experience of meeting a native Spanish speaker, and would like to say the following:

"I felt nervous, because I was embarrassed that I might say something wrong."
(The "something wrong" refers to making grammatical errors, etc -- not referring to something inappropriate.)

What is the correct way to say that? Something like..."Estuve nerviosa porque me dió verguenza cometer un error (o decir algo incorrecto)"? Sorry, I know my verb tenses must be screwed up as well. Any help appreciated.

Answer 1

Estuve nerviosa porque me daba vergüenza cometer un error (o decir algo incorrecto)

this is correct

Answer 2

Muchas gracias.

I always make that same mistake and never learn, haha... :s

Answer 3

creo que tu oración no tiene nada de malo!!!

Answer 4

Rodrigo said:

creo que tu oración no tiene nada de malo!!!

¿De verdad? ¿Hablas del vocabulario o la conjugación de los verbos? :D

Answer 5

I wonder if you could also say "Estuve nerviosa, temiendo equivocarme (de palabra)."

Answer 6

Ooh I like the sound of that...it's neater. Thank you, James. :>
I've already written my assignment anyway -- but just out of curiosity, if anyone sees this...does temer [algo] carry more or less the same weight, so to speak, as darse vergüenza? Are they easily interchangeable'

Answer 7

Mimi said:

does temer [algo] carry more or less the same weight, so to speak, as darse vergüenza? Are they easily interchangeable?

I don't think they are the same thing, but I made the change for the sake of logic, rather than language. That is, you can't really be embarrassed before you have made a mistake, so if you wanted to use the word embarrass, you would have to rewrite the English, such as "I felt nervous that I might embarrass myself by saying something wrong." You might translate that as "Estuve nerviosa de ponerme en ridículo (pasar una vergüenza) equivocándome de palabra."

Answer 8

Good point.
I didn't think of that. :>