esto da miedo
/esto da mjedo/from spelling rules
The phrase "this is scary" in Spanish is esto da miedo.
You can use esto da miedo to describe something that is scary. If you want to say "this is very scary", you can say esto da mucho miedo.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, esto da miedo translates to "this gives fear".
Which one should you use?
While esto da miedo is a common, everyday way to say something is scary, esto es aterrador is more intense and formal.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, one can say esto da pánico, esto es acojonante or esto es terrorífico.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb dar (to give) is used here to express the sensation of fear caused by an object or situation. To specify that something is scary to you personally, you add an indirect object pronoun like me (to me) before the verb, as in esto me da miedo (this scares me).
Did you know?
- The word miedo shares an unexpected ancestor with the English word 'meticulous'. Both stem from the Latin 'metus', which means 'fear'.
- If you are extremely frightened, you might say you have 'the hairs of the arm standing up' (se me ponen los pelos de punta), a physical description that accompanies the feeling of miedo.
- To say someone is a 'scaredy-cat', Spanish speakers often use the word miedoso or the more colloquial gallina meaning 'chicken'.
Examples in context
- esa casa abandonada da miedothat abandoned house is scary
- ¡Cuidado, esto da miedo!Watch out, this is scary!
- La oscuridad de este bosque, esto da miedo.The darkness of this forest, this is scary.
Example conversation
Lucía and Mateo are walking through an old, dark alley.
- LucíaMateo, ¡esto da miedo!Mateo, this is scary!
- MateoNo te preocupes, Lucía, yo estoy contigo.Don't worry, Lucía, I am with you.
- LucíaEs que escuché un ruido extraño.It's just that I heard a strange noise.
- MateoSolo fue un gato, no pasa nada.It was just a cat, it's nothing.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries esto, miedo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
