Breakdown of El hablar en público todavía me da un poco de miedo.
Questions & Answers about El hablar en público todavía me da un poco de miedo.
Yes, you can say Hablar en público todavía me da un poco de miedo, and it’s actually more common in everyday speech.
Adding el before an infinitive (like hablar) turns the verb into a more explicit, “noun‑like” subject:
- Hablar en público = speaking in public (used as a general action)
- El hablar en público = the act of speaking in public / public speaking
So:
- Hablar en público todavía me da un poco de miedo. → Completely natural, neutral.
- El hablar en público todavía me da un poco de miedo. → Feels a bit more formal/abstract, as if you’re talking about “the activity of public speaking” in general.
Both are grammatically correct. The version without el is more typical in spoken Spanish.
The basic meaning is the same, but the nuance changes slightly.
Hablar en público
- More direct and neutral.
- Very common in speech.
- Feels like you’re just naming the activity: “speaking in public”.
El hablar en público
- Sounds more formal, bookish, or abstract.
- Emphasises “the fact/act of public speaking” as a concept.
- More likely in written language, essays, or careful speech.
In everyday conversation in Spain, people will usually say:
- Hablar en público me da miedo.
- Hablar en público todavía me cuesta.
You would hear el hablar en público in more formal contexts or if the speaker wants a slightly elevated style.
Spanish very often uses the infinitive as a noun, especially to express activities in general:
- Fumar es malo. = Smoking is bad.
- Conducir de noche es peligroso. = Driving at night is dangerous.
- Hablar en público me da miedo. = Public speaking scares me.
Nouns like la oratoria or el discurso are more specific:
- la oratoria = the art of public speaking, rhetoric
- un discurso = a speech (a specific talk)
The sentence is about the general activity of speaking in public, not about rhetoric as a discipline or one particular speech, so (el) hablar en público is the most natural choice.
Structure:
- me = to me (indirect object pronoun)
- da = gives (3rd person singular of dar)
- un poco de miedo = a bit of fear
Literal idea:
“Public speaking still gives me a bit of fear.”
In Spanish, this dar + miedo structure is very common:
- Las arañas me dan miedo. = Spiders scare me. (lit. give me fear)
- Esa película me da mucho miedo. = That film really scares me.
So:
El hablar en público todavía me da un poco de miedo.
= Public speaking still scares me a bit.
Because in Spanish the natural verb with miedo is dar, not hacer.
Correct patterns are:
dar miedo = to scare, to cause fear
- Los payasos me dan miedo. = Clowns scare me.
tener miedo (de / a) = to be afraid (of)
- Tengo miedo de hablar en público. = I’m afraid of speaking in public.
Hacer miedo is not used in standard Spanish with this meaning. You’d almost never hear me hace miedo from a native speaker; it sounds wrong.
So, natural options:
- Hablar en público me da miedo.
- Tengo miedo de hablar en público.
In Spanish, when un poco is followed by an uncountable noun, you normally need de:
- un poco de agua = a little water
- un poco de azúcar = a little sugar
- un poco de paciencia = a little patience
- un poco de miedo = a bit of fear
Without de (un poco miedo) is ungrammatical here.
You only drop de when un poco works more adverbially, usually with an adjective/adverb:
- Estoy un poco cansado. = I’m a bit tired.
- Habla un poco rápido. = He speaks a bit fast.
With a bare noun like miedo, you must say un poco de miedo.
Yes, you can move todavía around somewhat:
- El hablar en público todavía me da un poco de miedo.
- Todavía el hablar en público me da un poco de miedo.
- El hablar en público me da todavía un poco de miedo.
All are grammatically possible, but they don’t sound equally natural.
- Option 1 is the most neutral and common.
- Option 2 is less common; it puts more emphasis on todavía (“still, public speaking scares me”).
- Option 3 puts a slight emphasis on todavía in the middle; you might hear it, but option 1 is safer.
In everyday speech, the simplest and most natural placement is:
- Hablar en público todavía me da un poco de miedo.
In this sentence, todavía and aún can usually be interchanged:
- El hablar en público todavía me da un poco de miedo.
- El hablar en público aún me da un poco de miedo.
Meaning: “Public speaking still scares me a bit.”
Nuances:
- In modern spoken Spanish (including Spain), todavía is more common and sounds very natural.
- aún can sound a little more formal or literary in some contexts, though people do use it in speech as well.
- When aún means even (not still), you can’t replace it with todavía:
- Aún más difícil. = Even harder. (not todavía más difícil in that sense)
In your sentence, both are correct; todavía is just the more “everyday” choice.
Because en público is a fixed expression meaning “in public / in front of people”.
- hablar en público = to speak in public, to do public speaking
The other options mean something different:
- en el público = literally “in the audience / inside the public” — not what you want
- al público = to the public (direction towards people)
- Presentó el producto al público. = He presented the product to the public.
So:
- Hablar en público me da miedo. = Speaking in public scares me.
- Hablar al público would focus more on “speaking to the audience” as a target, not on the idea of public exposure in general.
In Spain, in everyday conversation, people are much more likely to say:
- Hablar en público todavía me da un poco de miedo.
El hablar en público sounds a bit:
- more formal
- more written
- or like you’re trying to sound careful/academic
It isn’t wrong, and you might hear it in speeches, classes, or written texts. But if you want to sound natural in casual conversation, you’re safer with the version without el:
- Hablar en público me da miedo.
Yes, El hablar en público todavía me asusta is grammatically correct.
Comparison:
dar miedo = to cause fear, to be scary
- Hablar en público me da miedo. = Public speaking scares me.
asustar = to frighten, to startle, to scare (often sounds a bit stronger or more sudden)
- Hablar en público me asusta. = Public speaking frightens me.
Nuance:
dar miedo can be slightly more neutral or descriptive:
- Las alturas me dan miedo. = I’m afraid of heights.
asustar can sound a bit more emotional or intense, though context matters.
Both are fine here; me da (un poco de) miedo is very idiomatic for ongoing, general fears.
Infinitives used as nouns in Spanish are treated as masculine singular by default. So:
- el fumar, el beber, el conducir, el hablar…
You will not say la hablar. The gender isn’t about the action itself; it’s just a grammatical convention: infinitive-as-noun = masculine.
Examples:
- El fumar es malo para la salud.
- El conducir de noche es peligroso.
- El hablar en público me da miedo.
Spanish -ndo forms (hablando, comiendo, viviendo) are gerunds, and they are not used as nouns the way English -ing forms are.
- You can’t say El hablando en público me da miedo. (ungrammatical)
To make the action into a noun-like subject, Spanish uses the infinitive:
- Hablar en público me da miedo. = Speaking in public scares me.
- Nadar es relajante. = Swimming is relaxing.
- Leer antes de dormir me ayuda. = Reading before bed helps me.
So whenever English uses an -ing word as a subject (Smoking is bad, Driving is tiring), Spanish normally uses the infinitive.