7     I can describe my feelings

A    Feelings

Word    Example      Meaning

thrilled  He was thrilled to win and he kissed the cup. 

very happy and excited. SYN delighted.

furious   I lost his keys: he was absolutely furious.  

very angry.

astonished  I was astonished to hear he was married.   

very surprised. SYN amazed.

heartbroken  She was heartbroken when her father died.   

very sad and emotionally upset.

terrified  I was terrified when the plane took off.

very frightened. SYN scared stiff INF.

miserable  You look very miserable. What’s wrong?     

unhappy and depressed. SYN fed up INF.

proud  I felt very proud when my book was published.  

pleased about sth you or other people have done.

jealous  My boyfriend is jealous when I’m with other boys.

I’ve always been jealous of Tom; everyone likes him.

1 angry or sad because you’re afraid of losing sb’s love.

2 angry or sad because sb has sth you don’t have. SYN envious.

anxious  He was anxious before he went into hospital.   

worried and afraid.

upset  Sally was very upset because no one spoke to her.     

sad and angry because of sth that has happened.

 

spotlight  absolutely and very

Use absolutely before extreme adjectives, e.g. furious, astonished, heartbroken, terrified. Use very before degree adjectives, e.g. miserable, jealous, anxious, upset.

I was absolutely amazed. (NOTvery amazed.)

They were very proud. (NOT absolutely proud.)

3     ABOUT YOU  How might you feel in these situations? Write your answers using words from the table, or ask another student.

►   Someone hits your car because they were driving badly. I’d be furious.

1     You’ve just passed an important exam. I’d be ________.

2     Your best friend has bought a car that you would love to have. ________.

3     Your lovely old dog has just died. ________.

4     A man walks up to you in the street and holds a knife to your face. ________.

5     You’re on holiday but you can’t go out because you’ve got a bad cold. ________.

6     You see someone you don’t know kissing your boyfriend/girlfriend. ________.

7     You have been chosen to make a speech at an important event. ________.

8     You are going somewhere by plane and you don’t like flying. ________.

Answers from a Colombian person

1     I’d be amazed as I don’t usually study for exams!

2     I’d be delighted for him; after all, he is my best friend.

3     I’d be miserable, but everything has to end some time, so I would be fine after a while.

4     I’d be furious and would probably react violently.

5     I’d be envious of my friends who could go out.

6     I’d be heartbroken and would get another girlfriend.

7     I’d be anxious as it is always hard to speak in front of people.

8     I’d be proud that I actually got into the plane in the first place.

B    How emotional are you?

YOU AND YOUR EMOTIONS   Are you like this? (ABOUT YOU)

a     I’m an emotional person and I like to show my feelings.  Yes/No

b     I think I’m quite sensitive, so I try not to upset other people.  Yes/No

c     I’m sensitive about my appearance.  Yes/No

d     When I’m in a bad mood, I sometimes hurt people’s feelings.  Yes/No

e     In general, I think I’m quite a moody person.  Yes/No

f      When people have personal problems, I think I’m usually very sympathetic and supportive.  Yes/No

 

Glossary

emotional  having strong feelings, and often showing them. emotion N.

show your feelings  express yrour feelings openly. OPP hide your feelings.

upset sb  make sb unhappy.

be in a bad mood  feel angry or unhappy at a particular time. OPP be in a good mood.

hurt sb’s feelings say sth that makes sb unhappy.

moody  If you are moody, you often change and become angry or unhappy for no obvious reason.

sympathetic  kind and showing you understand sb’s problems (sympathetic doesn’t mean ‘friendly’ or ‘nice’ in English).

supportive  giving help to sb who has a problem.

 

spotlight  sensitive

Sensitive has two meanings:

1    a positive meaning: ‘able to understand people’s feelings and problems’ (e.g. sentence (b) above). OPP insensitive.

2    a more negative meaning; ‘easily upset’ (e.g. sentence (c) above).