Good question. I did a quick search and came across a terrific response (and learned something in the process):
- HOW do you feel - No me siento bien.
- WHAT do you feel - Siento mucho dolor en el estómago.

Thank you Steven.  Could or should the "estoy" be dropped then?

Does "Me sintiendo triste." also work?

Or is this simply a Spanish reflexive that is sometimes confounding to us English speakers?

 

Hi again Rob. No, the use of "estar" is obligatory in this context. Otherwise you would be saying something like "I feeling sad" (i.e., without the "am") - you would be understand but...
 

me estoy sentiendo triste = it is making me feel sad.  The subject and object of the sentence are the same.  Also, this sentence employs the present progressive tense.  You can't just say "me sentiendo triste" as the would sound like us saying "I feeling sad" or "it making me feel sad".

These reflexive (and reflexive-like) verbs are, I think, difficult for us English speakers to grasp. I find it helpful to try to think of a phrase like yours in a reflexive way and see if it makes any sense at all.

In your example, I am making myself feel sad, makes a bit of sense in this way, although not really in a literal sense. Someone or someone else may be the cause of your sadness, but you are allowing yourself to be affected in this way.

 

Thank you Dan, Robert and Steven.

Hi Rob,

As you well-mentioned, "Me" is a reflexive pronoun in this case. Reflexive pronouns indicate that a person is performing the action toward or for him- or herself.

The reflexive pronouns are not subject pronouns; rather they are object pronouns.

me (myself)
te (yourself)
se (himself, herself, yourself)
nos (ourselves)
os (yourselves)
se (themselves, yourselves)

The purpose of the reflexive pronouns is to show that the action of the verb remains with the subject.

It is as if you were saying "I am feeling myself sad." Any action (or feeling in this case) that falls upon the same object would need to have a reflexive pronoun.

 

Thank you.  After earlier lessons where we used "Estoy" or "Yo estoy" to mean "I am", it was confusing to see "Me estoy..." .  Thinking reflexively seems to be a key.   Is it that, when you are referring to yourself when using the present progressive, you must use it in a reflexive way?

Thanks for any comments.

Rob

I guess my last post is incorrect since I see this phrase - Estoy comprando unos calcetines.

So now I wonder if it is more about something that is happening to you, like feeling sad, rather than what you are physically doing, like buying socks.  When it is happening to you, reflexive is the choice.  That seems to make sense.  Is that correct?

Rob

Hola Rob,

¡Correcto!  Cepillarse reflexive. Cepillar, not reflexive. Me cepillo los dientes. I brush my teeth Me estoy cepillando los dientes. I'm brushing my teeth. Estoy cepillando el perro. I'm brushing the dog.

Saludos,
Ricardo

Thank you. Sometimes it takes awhile to process everything. I think I get now. Gracias a todos.