No estés asustado / No temas / No tengas miedo

Question

These are all exactly the same right? I would use the first "no estés asustado" but verbs that include the "to be" in the non infinitive form bug me anyway. ¿Que creen?

Answer 1

I would never use "no estés asustado". "No temas" or "no tengas miedo" are the common ways to say: "don't be afraid".

Answer 2

I agree with Gekkosan I would use:

**No tengas miedo = Don't be afraid (especially when speaking to a child ! )

o No temas**

in addition I might possibly add: no te preocupes (don't worry)

I would not use: No estés asustado this construction does not sound natural and hardly rolls off the tongue ! lol

Scooby dooby doo. - jeezzle, JUN 30, 2010

lol so where is my Scooby snack? hahaha - FELIZ77, JUN 30, 2010

Answer 3

Hmm. I guess I love the word asustar and asustado and don't much like temer and temeroso. What if I said "No te asustes". It's wierd that asustar means "to scare" and you have to go pronomial to get "to be scared/get scared" and temer just means "to be fearful" and never "to cause fear". Gracias.

You can say "causar temor" for "to cause fear". "No te asustes" is fine, too. - Gekkosan, JUN 30, 2010

To me "asustar" sounds like "to startle", but I know that's not completely correct. It is the only one of these verbs that can mean that, however. - CalvoViejo, JUN 30, 2010

I translate "to startle" as "sobresaltar". - Gekkosan, JUN 30, 2010