Breakdown of Antes de un examen importante me pongo ansioso y mi respiración se acelera.
Questions & Answers about Antes de un examen importante me pongo ansioso y mi respiración se acelera.
All three use the verb ser / estar / ponerse, but they mean different things:
- soy ansioso = I am an anxious person (by nature). A personality trait.
- estoy ansioso = I am anxious (right now). A current state.
- me pongo ansioso = I get / become anxious. It focuses on the change from calm → anxious.
In this sentence, the idea is that before an important exam, you start to become anxious, so me pongo ansioso is the most natural choice.
Ponerse + adjective is a very common way to say “to become / to get + adjective”, especially for temporary emotional or physical states:
- me pongo nervioso = I get nervous
- se puso rojo = he turned red
- nos ponemos tristes = we get sad
It often suggests something unintentional / automatic, not a deliberate choice.
In Spanish, when antes is followed by a noun, you normally need de:
- antes de la clase = before class
- antes del trabajo = before work
- antes de un examen importante = before an important exam
Antes by itself is usually used like an adverb, without a following noun:
- Antes me ponía muy nervioso. = Before, I used to get very nervous.
No.
If what comes after is a noun, use antes de + noun:
- antes de un examen importante
If what comes after is a verb (a whole clause), use antes de que + verb (subjunctive):
- Antes de que empiece el examen, me pongo ansioso.
(Before the exam starts, I get anxious.)
- Antes de que empiece el examen, me pongo ansioso.
So you say either:
- Antes de un examen importante, me pongo ansioso.
- Antes de que haya un examen importante, me pongo ansioso.
…but not antes de que un examen importante without a verb.
Un examen importante is indefinite / general: it refers to any important exam, as a repeated or typical situation.
- Antes de un examen importante, me pongo ansioso.
= Whenever there is an important exam, I get anxious.
El examen importante would sound like a specific exam that both speaker and listener already know about:
- Antes del examen importante, me puse ansioso.
= Before the important exam (the one we’ve been talking about), I got anxious.
In your sentence, the idea is a general habit, so un is better.
Yes. Ansioso agrees with the gender and number of the person it describes:
- me pongo ansioso = I (male) get anxious
- me pongo ansiosa = I (female) get anxious
- nos ponemos ansiosos = we (all male / mixed group) get anxious
- nos ponemos ansiosas = we (all female) get anxious
The verb me pongo stays the same; only the adjective changes.
They can overlap, but there’s a nuance:
ansioso
- can mean anxious / uneasy, like English anxious
- can also mean eager / excited in some contexts:
- Estoy ansioso por verte. = I’m eager / can’t wait to see you.
nervioso
- mostly means nervous, often with physical symptoms (shaky, tense)
- less likely to be interpreted as “eager”
In Antes de un examen importante me pongo ansioso, the context clearly means anxious / nervous, not “eager.”
You could also say:
…me pongo nervioso…, which many speakers might even prefer for exam stress.
Spanish usually prefers a reflexive / intransitive pattern for this type of change:
- acelerar algo = to speed something up (transitive)
- Acelero el coche. = I speed up the car.
- acelerarse = to speed up (by itself)
- El coche se acelera. = The car speeds up.
- Mi respiración se acelera. = My breathing speeds up.
Mi respiración acelera sounds incomplete or unnatural in Spanish.
You almost always say se acelera for “speeds up” when the subject is something like heart rate, breathing, process, etc.
Here se is part of a pronominal verb: acelerarse. It indicates that the subject undergoes a change in state:
- acelerar = to speed something up
- acelerarse = to become faster / to speed up (itself)
Similar patterns:
- calmar = to calm something/someone
- calmarse = to calm down (oneself / itself)
So mi respiración se acelera = my breathing speeds up (on its own / as a reaction).
Yes, and it’s very natural in spoken Spanish.
- mi respiración se acelera
- more neutral/standard, slightly more formal/literal
- se me acelera la respiración
- very common colloquial pattern
- literally: the breathing speeds up on me
- me shows it’s something that happens to you, often with an involuntary feel
Both are correct. In Latin America, se me acelera la respiración is extremely idiomatic for this idea.
Yes. Both are grammatical:
- Antes de un examen importante me pongo ansioso y mi respiración se acelera.
- Antes de un examen importante mi respiración se acelera y me pongo ansioso.
The difference is just which effect you mention first. In speech, you would choose the order that matches the natural sequence for you (do you notice the feeling first or the breathing first?). There’s no strict grammatical preference.
The verbs me pongo and se acelera are in the simple present (presente de indicativo).
In this context, the simple present expresses a habit or general truth, not just something happening right now:
- Antes de un examen importante, me pongo ansioso…
= Whenever there is an important exam, I (tend to) get anxious…
So it describes a typical repeated reaction, not a single past or future event.
Yes, depending on the country, people might also say:
- una prueba importante (very common in many countries)
- un parcial importante (often for midterms at university)
- una evaluación importante (more formal/educational context)
For example:
- Antes de una prueba importante me pongo ansioso…
- Antes de un parcial importante me pongo ansioso…
All of these follow the same grammar as un examen importante.