How are these expressions different?

Question

In my text book three different expressions are listed to say what a shame/how shameful in español. Are there any native speakers who can provide some further clarity?

¡Qué lástima...!
¡Qué pena...!
¡Qué vergüenza...!

Answer 1

¡qué vergüenza! -> how embarrassing!

¡qué vergüenza! -> what a disgrace!

These 2 meanings are in wordreference

Answer 2

The problem with "What a pain!" (as opposed to "How painful!" it that it's most often used to mean "what an annoyance!"/"How vexing (fairly old fashioned)"/"what a drag/bring-down!" (hippie generation). "¡Qué pena!", on the other hand is more like "What sorrow that must have someone!" (in other words, very similar to the other two expressions).

With ªQué vergüenza! the sense of shame / embarrassment is much stronger. Thus is might be "How sad (pena/lástima) that your uncle died!" but "What a shame that your uncle died when the cat-house that he was visiting burned down!."

Answer 3

when i use the terms i use them with the following meaning and INTENT

1) what a pity! how sorrowful! (like lamenting) or what a shame!
2) how embarrassing! what a shame! or what a pity!
3) how shameful! how disgraceful! how embarrassing! or what a pity!

as you can see they can be interchangeable for some circumstances and be different for certain specific nuances, which would have to be better explained according to action that took place

i did not like "what a pain" for "pena" because i would have said instead ¡Qué dolor...!

Answer 4

Generally (in Spain),

¡Qué pena! = ¡Qué lástima! = ¡What a pity!

However, given the right context, they both can be used with a different meaning.

Answer 5

SoKuhl said:

¡Qué lástima...! = What a pity... ¡Qué pena...! What a pain...

¡Qué pena...! What a shame...

I don't agree with "What a pain" as a translation for ¡Qué pena! The former means "How inconvenient," or "What a hassle," while I believe the latter is used more in the sense of "It's too bad that..."

Answer 6

1) shame (=bad luck), pity.
2) shame (=bad luck), pity.
3) shame (=without guilt, respect or honour), disgrace.