me asustó
/me asusto/from spelling rules
The English phrase "scared me" is translated into Spanish as me asustó.
me asustó is used when a person, animal or thing caused you to feel a sudden sense of fear or alarm.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of me, which is the direct object pronoun for "me" and asustó, which is the third-person singular preterite form of the verb asustar (to scare). Literally, it means "me scared (him/her/it/you formal)".
Which one should you use?
While me asustó is used when something else caused the fear, me asusté means "I got scared" (a reflexive use). You can also use the phrase me dio un susto, which means "it gave me a scare".
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb form must change depending on what caused the fear. If you want to say "you scared me" in an informal singular way, use me asustaste. If the thing that caused the fear is plural, change the verb to the third-person plural form me asustaron.
How do you pronounce it?
/me asusto/
Did you know?
- In some Latin American cultures, a sudden fright is linked to a folk illness called espanto, where the shock is believed to cause actual physical sickness.
- In many Latin American countries, after saying me asustaste, a person might instinctively touch their chest to signal that their heart is racing from the scare.
- If you want to describe the physical reaction of being startled, some regions use the phrase me dio un salto, which literally translates to 'it gave me a jump'.
Examples in context
- El gato me asustó.The cat scared me.This sentence shows how to use me asustó to describe a cat causing fear.Tatoeba #1638656 by marcelostockle, translation #1638144 by Spamster
- Casi me asustó el no verte conectado por un día entero.It almost scared me not to see you online for a whole day.This sentence demonstrates using me asustó to describe the alarm caused by someone not being online.Tatoeba #2612 by Warnerbroder, translation #1407 by Zifre
- El ruido repentino me asustó.The sudden noise scared me.
- La película de terror me asustó mucho.The horror movie scared me a lot.
- La presencia de esa criatura me dio miedo.The presence of that creature scared me.
- El accidente en la carretera me dio mucho miedo.The accident on the road scared me a lot.
- ¡Esa broma me dio un susto tremendo!That prank gave me a tremendous fright!
- Cuando vi un ratón en mi habitación, me dio un susto enorme.When I saw a mouse in my room, it gave me a huge fright.
- El ruido fuerte me espantó.The loud noise scared me.
- La sombra en la esquina me espantó mucho.The shadow in the corner scared me a lot.
- Me contaron una historia de fantasmas y me cagué de miedo.They told me a ghost story and I got scared shitless.
- Cuando vi esa araña enorme, me cagué de miedo.When I saw that huge spider, I got scared shitless.
- Ese ruido fuerte me asustó.That loud noise scared me.
Example conversation
Mateo sneaks up behind Sofía in the kitchen.
- Sofía¡Ay! Mateo, me asustó tu grito.Oh! Mateo, your shout scared me.
- MateoLo siento, Sofía, fue una broma.I'm sorry, Sofía, it was a joke.
- SofíaNo hagas eso otra vez.Don't do that again.
- MateoEstá bien, no lo haré.Alright, I won't.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
