Whats the difference between tengo miedo and estoy asustado?
Whats the difference between tengo miedo and estoy asustado?
3 Answers
Well, they are certainly close cousins in meaning,
It's similar to asking what is the difference between "I am scared" and :I am frightened." Some people may have a personal preference, some people interpret "scared" as a more serious response over "frightened".
The base word "miedo" in Spanish does mean fear, whereas the base word of "susto" means fright.
"Fear" may be a more violent response than "fright", but - once again, the meanings are very close and unless you need to be 100% accurately precise, either one will get the message across.
tengo miedo. always (siempre, muy seguido, constantemente) estoy asustado. right now (ahorita, ahora mismo, en este momento)
I agree with Mountaingirl.
A few examples:
Tengo miedo (because I don't want to walk through the dark woods at night)
Los perros me dan miedo. (Dogs scare/frighten me)
Estoy asustado (because my little brother just jumped out of the closet and scared me)
¡Me asustaste! (You scared/frightened me! )
