Me da pena cuando mi amiga está triste.

my

Breakdown of Me da pena cuando mi amiga está triste.

• me: me
• estar: to be
• triste: sad

Questions & Answers about Me da pena cuando mi amiga está triste.

What does me da pena mean here, and is it a literal translation of English I feel sad?

Not exactly. Me da pena is a very common Spanish expression that literally means something like it gives me sorrow/pity or it makes me feel sorry/sad.

In this sentence, it means that the speaker feels sadness or pity because of their friend’s situation.

So:

• Me da pena = It makes me feel sad / I feel sorry
• It is more idiomatic than a word-for-word match with English I am sad

Spanish often uses this dar + emotion pattern:

• Me da miedo = It scares me
• Me da rabia = It makes me angry
• Me da pena = It makes me feel sad / sorry

What is me doing in the sentence?

Me is an indirect object pronoun meaning to me.

So:

• me = to me
• te = to you
• le = to him/her/you (formal)
• nos = to us
• os = to you all
• les = to them/you all (formal)

In Me da pena, the idea is that something gives sadness to me.

You can swap the pronoun to change who feels the emotion:

• Te da pena = It makes you feel sad
• Le da pena = It makes him/her feel sad
• Nos da pena = It makes us feel sad

Why is it da and not doy?