"Sad" in Spanish is triste. A man and a woman are both triste, and a group is tristes. For a feeling you have right now, pair it with estar: Estoy triste, I'm sad.
Written by Isabella García, Language Content Manager at WordyUpdated October 4, 2026
Hear "triste" in a real scene
A stranger asks the obvious question. The video starts and stops on that line.
¿Por qué estás triste?
Why are you sad?
A man is already drinking at the bar at ten in the morning, and a young man who doesn't know him asks straight out what's wrong. Estás triste uses estar because it's about his mood right now.
From The Good Doctor · Spanish audio
Triste and the words around it
Six ways to talk about feeling down.
Spanish
English
estar triste
to be sad, to feel sad
ponerse triste
to get sad
¡Qué triste!
How sad!
una noticia triste
a piece of sad news
la tristeza
sadness
estar de bajón
to feel down (casual, Spain)
Tip: When a friend tells you bad news, the quickest kind reply is ¡Qué triste!
Grammar: triste, tristes
Four points to use it right.
One ending for both genders
un chico triste, una chica triste. Only the number changes: los niños tristes.
Estar for a mood
Estoy triste hoy. I'm sad today. Use estar when you talk about how someone feels at the moment.
Ser for sad things
Es una película triste. For a movie, a song or a story that makes people sad, use ser.
To look sad
Use parecer + triste: Pareces triste, you look sad. Parece triste, he or she looks sad.
Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
Pareces triste.
You look sad.
¿Por qué estás triste?
Why are you sad?
Parece triste porque no hay baloncesto.
He looks sad because there's no basketball.
Es una canción muy triste.
It's a very sad song.
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗una chica trista
✓una chica triste
Triste ends in -e and has no separate feminine form.
✗Soy triste (I'm sad today)
✓Estoy triste
Soy triste describes a gloomy person by nature. For today's mood, use estar.
✗trist (pronunciation)
✓TREES-teh
Say the final e clearly. Spanish never swallows a vowel at the end of a word.
Practice: 3 quick exercises
Free, and you don't need an account.
1 of 3 · Watch and choose
What do you hear in the video?
The other 34 exercises on this topic are in the app.
How to remember it
Say triste and picture a lonely tree that has to stay out in the rain all night.
Triste. The word is the same for a man or a woman, and the plural is tristes.
How do you say "I'm sad" in Spanish?
Estoy triste. Use estar because it's about how you feel now, and add muy for "very": Estoy muy triste.
How do you say "don't be sad" in Spanish?
No estés triste. To a group, say No estéis tristes in Spain or No estén tristes in Latin America.
How do you say "that's sad" in Spanish?
¡Qué triste! A calmer version is Es muy triste.
Learn "sad" in Spanish from real movie scenes
Download Wordy for free and join 500,000+ learners. The app has 15,000+ clips from movies and TV shows, and it brings each word back for review before you forget it.
