Tener celos vs ser celosa

C. A.C1Kwiziq community member

Tener celos vs ser celosa


Why does the affirmative phrase use "tener celos" while the negative phrase uses "ser celosa"?


Yo creo que Marta tiene celos. 
I think Marta is jealous.

Yo no creo que María sea celosa.

I don't think María is jealous.


Thanks!

Asked 2 years ago
InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hola Chris

There's no special reason, it's only that we expressed the same thing in two different ways (tener celos or ser celoso/-a both mean "to be jealous", although the first one literally means "to have jealousy") - I'll change it so we use the same expression in both the affirmative and the negative phrase so it doesn't create confusion. So now you have:

Yo creo que María tiene celos. (indicative)

Yo no creo que María tenga celos. (subjunctive)

Saludos

Inma

C. A. asked:View original

Tener celos vs ser celosa


Why does the affirmative phrase use "tener celos" while the negative phrase uses "ser celosa"?


Yo creo que Marta tiene celos. 
I think Marta is jealous.

Yo no creo que María sea celosa.

I don't think María is jealous.


Thanks!

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...