Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): No quiero sufrir ansiedad cuando estudio español. - I do not want to suffer anxiety when I study Spanish.

No quiero sufrir ansiedad.
General: “I don’t want to suffer anxiety.” (The whole idea is rejected.)
Quiero no sufrir ansiedad.
Focuses more on the not suffering part: “I want not to suffer anxiety.” It sounds a bit more analytical or emphatic.

In everyday speech, No quiero sufrir ansiedad is by far the most natural and common way to say it.

Why is there no yo in the sentence? How do we know it means “I don’t want…”?

Spanish is a “pro‑drop” language: subject pronouns (yo, tú, él…) are usually omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Quiero ends in -o, which in the present tense usually means “I” (yo).

So:

No quiero sufrir ansiedad. = I don’t want to suffer anxiety.

You can say Yo no quiero sufrir ansiedad, but yo is only added for emphasis or contrast:

Yo no quiero sufrir ansiedad, pero ella sí.
I don’t want to suffer anxiety, but she does.

Does quiero sufrir mean “I want to suffer”? Am I accidentally saying the opposite of what I mean?

Taken literally, quiero sufrir ansiedad = I want to suffer anxiety, yes.

But your sentence is No quiero sufrir ansiedad. The no negates quiero, so you are clearly saying:

No quiero sufrir ansiedad = I don’t want to suffer anxiety.

So you are not saying you want to suffer; you are saying you don’t want that to happen. The negative covers the whole idea “to suffer anxiety.”

Why is it sufrir ansiedad and not sufrir de ansiedad, tener ansiedad, or estar ansioso?

All of these can appear in Spanish, but they’re used a bit differently:

sufrir ansiedad
- Literally “to suffer anxiety.”
- Very common in both everyday and semi-formal speech.
- Focuses on experiencing anxiety as a problem/condition.
- No quiero sufrir ansiedad cuando estudio español.
sufrir de ansiedad
- Also exists, but sounds a bit more medical, like “to suffer from anxiety (as a disorder).”
- More typical in formal or clinical contexts:
  - Sufre de ansiedad generalizada.
tener ansiedad
- Literally “to have anxiety.”
- Quite common and neutral, especially in spoken language:
  - No quiero tener ansiedad cuando estudio español.
estar ansioso / estar ansiosa
- Adjective: “to be anxious.”
- Often used for a more emotional or temporary state:
  - No quiero estar ansioso cuando estudio español.

Your original sufrir ansiedad sounds natural and a bit stronger, as if anxiety is something unpleasant that “happens” to you and you endure it.

Why is there no article before ansiedad? Why not la ansiedad?

In Spanish, abstract nouns (emotions, ideas, conditions) can appear:

With an article when we talk about them as a specific, known thing:
- La ansiedad puede ser muy incapacitante.
  (Anxiety can be very disabling.)
Without an article when they are more like a general, indefinite condition closely linked to the verb (e.g. suffer, feel, have):
- Sufrir ansiedad, tener miedo, sentir vergüenza.

In No quiero sufrir ansiedad, you’re talking about anxiety in a general, nonspecific way: I don’t want to suffer (any) anxiety. That’s why no article is natural.

You could say No quiero sufrir la ansiedad, but that would sound like you’re referring to some specific, known anxiety (for example, the anxiety that a particular exam always causes you). It’s much less common in this context.

Why is it cuando estudio español and not cuando estoy estudiando español?

Spanish uses the simple present much more than English, especially for:

General habits
Situations that happen repeatedly

So:

cuando estudio español
= “when I study Spanish (in general / whenever I study Spanish)”

If you say:

cuando estoy estudiando español,
it sounds more like a specific time frame in progress: “when I am in the middle of studying Spanish (at that exact moment).”

In your sentence, you’re talking about a repeated situation, so cuando estudio español is the most natural choice. English often uses the continuous here, but Spanish doesn’t need it.

Should it be cuando estudio or cuando estudie? I thought cuando sometimes takes the subjunctive.

You’re right that cuando sometimes takes the subjunctive, but it depends on the meaning:

Habitual / general actions (present time) → Indicative
- No quiero sufrir ansiedad cuando estudio español.
  I don’t want to suffer anxiety when I (normally) study Spanish.
- The studying is presented as something that actually happens now, as a habit.
Future or hypothetical action (often after a verb of will: querer, esperar, etc.) → Subjunctive
- No quiero sufrir ansiedad cuando estudie español.
  I don’t want to suffer anxiety when I study Spanish (in the future / when that moment comes).

In practice:

If you mean “whenever I study Spanish (as a general routine)”, use cuando estudio.
If you are talking about a specific future situation (e.g. in a course you’ll start), cuando estudie is also possible and sounds more “projected” into the future.

Most learners’ default, talking about their normal study experience, is cuando estudio español (indicative).

Could I say No quiero que sufro ansiedad or No quiero que sufro de ansiedad?

No. That construction is not correct in Spanish.

There are two main patterns with querer:

Same subject for both verbs → querer + infinitive
- (Yo) no quiero sufrir ansiedad.
  I don’t want to suffer anxiety.
- The person who “doesn’t want” and the person who “suffers” is the same (yo).
Different subject → querer que + subjunctive
- No quiero que él sufra ansiedad.
  I don’t want him to suffer anxiety.

So:

No quiero que sufro ansiedad ✗ (wrong form)
Correct options:
- No quiero sufrir ansiedad. (I don’t want to suffer)
- No quiero que sufra ansiedad. (I don’t want him/her/you to suffer)

Why is español not capitalized like “Spanish” is in English?

In Spanish:

Names of languages and nationalities are written with a lowercase letter:
- español, inglés, francés, alemán.

In English, these words take a capital letter:

Spanish, English, French, German.

So your sentence is correctly written as:

No quiero sufrir ansiedad cuando estudio español.

Why is the word order estudio español and not español estudio?

Spanish usually follows a Subject – Verb – Object order, similar to English:

(Yo) estudio español.
→ Subject (yo – implied) + Verb (estudio) + Object (español)

Putting español before the verb:

Español estudio

is only possible in some marked, poetic, or very emphatic contexts, and would sound strange in normal speech. The neutral, everyday order is estudio español.

In Spain, is it more common to say español or castellano for the language?

In Spain, both español and castellano are used, but:

español is very common and completely standard for “the Spanish language,” especially in international or general contexts.
castellano is also used, and in some regions people prefer it, especially when contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain (Catalan, Basque, Galician, etc.).

In your sentence:

No quiero sufrir ansiedad cuando estudio español.

sounds perfectly natural in Spain.
You could also say:

No quiero sufrir ansiedad cuando estudio castellano.

but español is probably the more common choice in a general-learning context.

How should I pronounce quiero, ansiedad, and español in Spain?

For a standard Spain (Castilian) pronunciation:

quiero → /ˈkje.ɾo/
- quie- like “kyeh” (one syllable), then -ro with a tapped r (quick “r” like in pero).
ansiedad → /an.sjeˈðað/
- an-sye-DAð (stress on -dad).
- The d at the end is often soft, almost like “th” in this.
- The z is not here, but in words with z or c before e/i (e.g. ansiedad has a d, but compare ansiedad y preocupación → preocupación /pɾe.o.ku.paˈθjon/).
español → /es.paˈɲol/
- es-pa-NYOL, with ñ like “ny” in “canyon”.
- Stress on -ñol.

And the full sentence:

No quiero sufrir ansiedad cuando estudio español.
→ /no ˈkje.ɾo suˈfɾiɾ an.sjeˈðað ˈkwan.do esˈtu.ðjo es.paˈɲol/

Could I use mientras instead of cuando, as in No quiero sufrir ansiedad mientras estudio español? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

No quiero sufrir ansiedad mientras estudio español.

Both cuando and mientras are possible, but there’s a small nuance:

cuando estudio español
Focuses on the time point or situation: “when(ever) I study Spanish.”
It can feel a bit more general or event-like.
mientras estudio español
Literally “while I study Spanish,” focusing more on the duration of the activity, the time you are engaged in it.

In many contexts they’re almost interchangeable here.
For a general habit, cuando estudio español is slightly more common, but mientras estudio español is also perfectly natural and maybe feels a bit more like “during the time I’m studying.”

Does sufrir ansiedad sound natural in everyday Spanish, or is it very medical/formal? Are there more colloquial ways to say this?

Sufrir ansiedad is natural and common, but it can sound a bit serious or intense, as if anxiety is a significant problem.

More colloquial or softer options include:

No quiero tener ansiedad cuando estudio español.
I don’t want to have anxiety when I study Spanish.
No quiero ponerme nervioso / nerviosa cuando estudio español.
I don’t want to get nervous when I study Spanish.
No quiero agobiarme cuando estudio español. (very typical in Spain)
I don’t want to get overwhelmed / stressed out when I study Spanish.

So:

sufrir ansiedad → quite strong, often used when talking more seriously about anxiety.
tener ansiedad, ponerse nervioso, agobiarse → feel more everyday/colloquial, especially agobiarse in Spain.