Virtuous English AcademyFeelings & Emotions — A2 English Vocabulary
This A2 vocabulary list gathers 30 elementary English words about feelings & emotions — describing how you and others feel. Every word comes with a simple definition, its British-English pronunciation and a natural example sentence, so you learn each one in real context. When you are ready, open the flashcards to practise and remember them for good.
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Using feelings & emotions words in English
This is the single most error-prone list at A2, and almost all of it comes down to one pattern. English builds two adjectives from the same emotion verb: one ending in -ed for the person who feels it, and one ending in -ing for the thing that causes it. I am bored and I am boring are both correct English sentences, and only one of them is what you meant. The second half of the topic is prepositions, which emotion adjectives insist on and rarely share.
What to watch out for
-ed is how you feel, -ing is what causes it
I am bored means the situation has left you with nothing to do. I am boring means other people find you dull. The same pair runs through excited and exciting, worried and worrying, surprised and surprising, embarrassed and embarrassing, relaxed and relaxing. People take -ed; films, jobs, journeys and holidays take -ing.
Every emotion adjective owns its preposition
These are fixed and there is no pattern to derive them from: afraid of, proud of, jealous of, worried about, excited about, nervous about, embarrassed about, confident about. Angry splits by object: angry with a person but angry about a thing. Learn each adjective with its preposition attached, exactly as you would learn a phrasal verb.
Feel takes an adjective, and states use the simple present
Say I feel nervous, not I feel nervously — feel describes you, so an adjective follows. And because emotions are states rather than actions, they normally use the present simple: I feel lonely, not I am feeling lonely, unless you want to stress that it is temporary and unusual, which is exactly when the continuous becomes useful.
Words learners mix up
Emotion words are rarely wrong outright — they are usually too strong, too weak, or aimed at the wrong kind of situation. These three tables sort them by strength, by what you are frightened of, and by what a calm feeling actually is.
How strong is it?
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| annoyed | Mildly angry about something small and recent. The everyday level, and the one learners under-use. | I was annoyed that the shop had closed. |
| angry | The full strong emotion. In British speech cross is the gentler word parents use with children. | He was really angry about the decision. |
| upset | Unhappy and hurt rather than furious. It covers sadness, disappointment and shock together. | She was too upset to talk about it. |
| delighted | Very pleased indeed. Already at the top of the scale, so it does not take very. | We were delighted with the results. |
Annoyed is the workhorse and angry is a bigger claim than most learners intend — describing a colleague as angry when they were merely irritated changes the story. Upset is the one to watch in the other direction: it does not mean angry at all, so he was upset with me means you hurt him rather than that he shouted.
Four kinds of fear
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| afraid | The standard word, used after a verb rather than before a noun: I am afraid of dogs, not an afraid child. | She is afraid of heights. |
| scared | The everyday spoken equivalent, and the one that can sit in front of a noun: a scared child. | The dog was scared of the fireworks. |
| nervous | Uneasy before something that is about to happen — an exam, a flight, a first day. | I always get nervous before an interview. |
| anxious | Worried over a longer stretch, with no single event to point at. Stronger and more lasting than nervous. | He has felt anxious for weeks. |
Afraid has a second life as a politeness formula: I am afraid we are closed has nothing to do with fear and simply softens bad news. And note that frightened works exactly like scared and is slightly more formal, so British English gives you three words for one feeling and lets you choose by how you are speaking.
What a calm feeling actually is
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| calm | Not agitated, especially when there is a reason to be. Describes people, voices, weather and water. | She stayed calm during the whole flight. |
| relaxed | Free of tension, usually because you have stopped working or worrying. Also describes an easy-going atmosphere. | The hotel had a very relaxed feel. |
| comfortable | Physically at ease — a chair, a bed, shoes. Not a word for convenient, however tempting that is. | These shoes are surprisingly comfortable. |
| content | Quietly satisfied with what you have. Said con-TENT, with the stress at the end. | He seems content with the smaller flat. |
Comfortable is the false friend here: its cousins in several European languages stretch to mean convenient or suitable, so a comfortable time for the meeting reads oddly in English, where the word is convenient. And watch the stress on content — the noun CON-tent, meaning what is inside something, is spelled identically and stressed at the front.
Collocations that sound natural
Feelings are described in English through a small set of fixed frames rather than through the adjective alone, and these six carry most of what you will actually need to say.
mood
in a good moodin a bad moodnot in the mooda mood swing
The preposition is in, and the phrase I am not in the mood politely refuses an invitation without giving a reason.
fear
a fear of flyingovercome your fearout of fearhave no fear
The noun takes of for what frightens you. As a verb it is formal — I fear the worst — and in speech people say be afraid of or be scared of instead.
emotion
show emotionhide your emotionsmixed emotionsstrong emotions
Countable when you mean particular feelings and uncountable when you mean feeling in general: a voice full of emotion. The adjective emotional describes both a person who shows feeling and a situation that causes it.
proud
proud of yourselfa proud momentmake your parents proudproud to say
In English this is a compliment, unlike the noun pride, which can be a fault. Proud before a noun keeps the good meaning: proud parents.
nervous
get nervousa bit nervousnervous about the exammake me nervous
The verb before it is get when the feeling arrives and feel or be when it is already there. A bit is the standard British softener.
surprised
surprised to heara pleasant surpriselook surprisedI would not be surprised
After surprised English uses an infinitive for the news — surprised to hear you are moving — and surprised at or surprised by for the thing itself.
Where each word belongs
Six words that are all correct and all slightly restricted: two belong to polite writing, one is stronger than it looks, and one is heard far more often about the weather than about people.
- delightedPolite · writing and formal speechThe word for accepting an invitation or welcoming good news in an email: We are delighted to offer you the place. Among friends it sounds ceremonial, and the everyday versions are really pleased and so glad.
- gratefulPolite · with a frameIt lives inside two fixed patterns — grateful for your help, and the formal request I would be grateful if you could… In speech people say thanks or that is really kind. Thankful is close but points at relief rather than at a person.
- miserableStrong · people and weatherDeeply unhappy, and much heavier than sad. British English also applies it to weather — a miserable day means grey and wet — which is by far the commoner use of the two.
- cheerfulAbout other peopleVisibly happy in a way others can see, which is why it describes somebody else far more often than yourself. I am cheerful today sounds odd; she is always so cheerful is entirely natural.
- contentWritten · quietA calm, low-key satisfaction rather than joy, and it appears more in writing than in conversation. Speakers say happy enough or fine with it. Note that contented exists too and describes a settled, lasting state.
- upsetSame form throughoutAdjective and verb share one shape, and the past does not change: the news upset her. There is also an unrelated physical sense — an upset stomach — which has nothing to do with emotion.
Sentences to try
Four frames built on the traps above. Change the reasons so that each sentence is true about your week.
- I am really excited about the trip.
- She was worried about the exam, but she felt calm afterwards.
- The film was boring, so we were all bored.
- He is proud of his sister and a little jealous of her.
Questions about feelings & emotions vocabulary
What is the difference between bored and boring?
Bored describes the person feeling the emotion: I was bored during the lecture. Boring describes whatever causes it: The lecture was boring. Saying I am boring tells people you are dull company, which is rarely what a learner means. The same split applies to every emotion adjective built from a verb — excited and exciting, tired and tiring, interested and interesting — so if the word describes a human being, it almost always ends in -ed.
Is it "angry with" or "angry at"?
British English prefers angry with a person — She was angry with her brother — and angry about a situation: I am angry about the decision. American English uses angry at for people quite freely, and it is understood everywhere. What you should avoid is angry on or angry to, which are not English. The related word annoyed follows exactly the same pattern: annoyed with someone, annoyed about something.
Do I say "I am feeling nervous" or "I feel nervous"?
Both are correct, and I feel nervous is the safer default because emotions are states. The continuous form I am feeling nervous adds the sense of right now and temporarily — useful if the feeling is unusual for you or specific to this moment: I am feeling nervous about the interview tomorrow. What matters more is what follows: feel takes an adjective, so it is I feel nervous, never I feel nervously.