Envidioso celoso
 

In English, there is a difference between the two adjectives. The word jealous
is a negative term. Someone can kill someone in an act of jealousy. Envious is a milder emotion. A friend may envy another friend for winning the lottery. Is this then same in Spanish?

Also, I know that envidia is a noun form of envidioso, but I am not sure there is a noun version of celoso. Celosia has a different meaning.

Both are pretty strong feelings in Spanish. Crimes have been committed for both, "envidia" and "celos". :crazy:

When you want what the other person has, you use "envidia".
-Me da envidia que Juan se pueda ir de viaje y yo no.
I'm jealous that Juan can travel and I can't.
-No seas envidioso. Juan ahorró todo el año para irse y tú gastaste el dinero en ropa.
Don't be jealous. Juan saved his money the whole year so he could go on vacation and you spent all your money in clothes.
-Todos mis amigos me tienen envidia por ser el más inteligente.
All my friends are jealous that I'm the smartest.
-Mi madre me dijo que nunca envidie a nadie por lo que tiene.
My mother taught me never to be jealous of anyone for what they have.
-Hubieras visto a Lorena cómo se puso verde de envidia cuando vio mi vestido nuevo.
You should have seen Lorena how she was livid with envy when she saw my new dress.


When you think a person should love you and not someone else, you use "celos".

-No seas celosa. Pati sólo es mi amiga.
Don't be jealous. Pati is just a friend.
-Mi hijo mayor tiene celos de su hermanita, porque cree que la queremos más que a él.
My eldest son is jealous of his little sister, because he thinks we love her more than him.
-Roberto cree que me va a poner celosa si saluda a Carmen. A mí no me importa.
Roberto thinks I'll get jealous if he says hello to Carmen. I don't care.
-Resulta que ahora no puedo salir con mis amigas, porque mi novio se pone celoso.
So now I can't go out with my friends, because my boyfriend gets jealous.

It's about the same in English. in English jealousy is almost always bad. In English it is sometimes bad but may be aspirational. (example: John achieved his goal. This made Joe so envious that he resolved to achieve a similar goal.

I'm always insecure about the right word to use in English. :D

AngelicaDeAlquezar,

The above examples that you wrote are very helpful. However, as a side note, I have a question about the grammar that was written in one of the sentences.

You wrote:

-Mi madre me dijo que nunca envidie a nadie por lo que tiene.
My mother taught me never to be jealous of anyone for what they have.

Is it not correct and/or usual to say:

-Mi madre me dijo que nunca envidiara a nadie por lo que tiene.

Does the use of envidie or envidiara change the meaning of the sentence?
Does my wanting to use envidiara make the grammar incorrect? I chose envidiara because of -Mi madre me dijo que........

Please explain why the present subjunctive and not the past subjunctive was used. Thanks!!

Lately, the difference between both tenses is disappearing, mostly in South America, but there is actually a different meaning:

- Mi madre me dijo que nunca envidie a nadie. -> This is a principle that is valid for me today and for the future as well, in case I meet someone that would have something I would like to have.
- Mi madre me dijo que nunca envidiara a nadie. -> She told me this in the past, even if I still live by it. I might just think I will never be jealous of anyone, no matter what they have.

Some more examples:
- Te pedí que no le digas a nadie. -> I asked you before not to tell anyone, and you still might tell, so I'm asking you again not to tell.
- Te pedí que no le dijeras a nadie. -> You already told someone else what I asked you to keep to yourself.

- Abrí la puerta para que entren. -> I opened the door for someone who would come in as I opened it, but someone may still come in.
- Abrí la puerta para que entraran. -> Someone was supposed to come in in the past and I opened the door for them. I don't expect anyone else to arrive.

- Te castigué para que aprendas. -> I expect you will learn something from being grounded.
- Te castigué para que aprendieras. -> I expected you had learned something from having been grounded, but I see you didn't.


Some cases when it's plain wrong to mix past and present:
- Esperábamos que des dieras tu opinión.
- No sabía que conozcas conocieras la ciudad.
-> In these cases, the imperfect calls for the past subjunctive. It won't admit the present.
- Se fue sin que le digas dijeras nada. -> Here, there is no possibility that you can say anything to someone who is already gone, so no present. :)

Thank you, AngelicaDeAlquezar. Those are great examples and explanations to learn from.