otro preguna sentir or sentarse

Julie F.B2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

otro preguna sentir or sentarse

Damm!

I don't understand this one below

poco a poco is an adverb

I answered me siento but was wrong

________ que te alejas de mí poco a poco.  answer SientoI feel that you are drifting away from me little by little.could you offer an explanation to this pleaseSilvia replied to Marcus G

'So, in essence:

Use "sentir" for stating what you feel physically or generally.Use "sentirse" when expressing how you feel emotionally or internally.'

i would have thought you couldn't physically feel someone 'drifting away' 

which is why I used sentirse as it felt like an emotional situation

please clarify if possible

thank you

Asked 2 weeks ago
SilviaKwiziq Native Spanish TeacherCorrect answer

Hola Julie F.

In the sentence _______ que te alejas de mí poco a poco, the correct choice is siento rather than me siento. While it’s true that the situation is emotional, the distinction lies in what you're expressing. Sentir is used when you're stating what you feel, especially when it's followed by a clause introduced by que (like que te alejas de mí). This structure reflects an emotional perception of an external action or situation.

In contrast, sentirse is used to express how you feel internally, typically followed by adjectives or adverbs (e.g. me siento triste or me siento mal). In your example, you’re not saying how you personally feel (like sad or happy), but rather that you feel that someone is drifting away from you. That’s why siento is the correct verb—it works like I feel that... in English when followed by a whole sentence. So: Siento que te alejas de mí poco a poco means I feel that you are drifting away from me little by little”.

I hope this clears it up!

Un abrazo

Silvia

Julie F. asked:

otro preguna sentir or sentarse

Damm!

I don't understand this one below

poco a poco is an adverb

I answered me siento but was wrong

________ que te alejas de mí poco a poco.  answer SientoI feel that you are drifting away from me little by little.could you offer an explanation to this pleaseSilvia replied to Marcus G

'So, in essence:

Use "sentir" for stating what you feel physically or generally.Use "sentirse" when expressing how you feel emotionally or internally.'

i would have thought you couldn't physically feel someone 'drifting away' 

which is why I used sentirse as it felt like an emotional situation

please clarify if possible

thank you

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your Spanish level for FREE

Test your Spanish to the CEFR standard

Find your Spanish level
I'll be right with you...