I envy you vs. I'm jealous | WordReference Forums

While often used as if they were synonymous, 'envy' means that you covet something that you do not possess, while 'jealousy' is the fear that ... 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Ienvyyouvs.I'mjealous Threadstarter Shingo Startdate Jun13,2021 S Shingo SeniorMember Japanese Hello! Ihaveaquestion. Inasituationwhereafriendsaysthatsomethinggreathashappenedtohimorher,likewinningalotteryorreceivinganexpensivepresent,whichphrasewouldyousay,"Ienvyyou"or"I'mjealous"?Supposingthatyoudidn'treallyenvythemorweren'tjealousandyoujusttriedtoshowthemthatyouarehappyforthem.Somepeoplesaythephrase"Ienvyyou"hasmorenegativenuancesthanthephrase"I'mjealous."Isthatright?   Lastedited:Jun13,2021 bennymix SeniorMember Now,Ontario,Canada.California;Princeton,NJ. English(American). Haveyoucheckedadictionaryanditsexamples,e.g.Cambridge. ENVY|meaningintheCambridgeEnglishDictionary​https://dictionary.cambridge.org›dictionary›envy   S Shingo SeniorMember Japanese bennymixsaid: Haveyoucheckedadictionaryanditsexamples,e.g.Cambridge. ENVY|meaningintheCambridgeEnglishDictionary​https://dictionary.cambridge.org›dictionary›envy Clicktoexpand... Thankyou! Iknowwhatthetwowordsmean.Ithoughtthetwophrases(especially"Ienvyyou")hadnoproblemindailyconversations. However,Ireadsomearticlessayingthatmostpeopleusethephrase"I'mjealous"ratherthan"Ienvyyou." Theysaythat"Ienvyyou"wouldsoundtoostrongortoonegative.Iwouldliketocheckifthatisright.   S1m0n SeniorMember BC,Canada English Whileoftenusedasiftheyweresynonymous,'envy'meansthatyoucovetsomethingthatyoudonotpossess,while'jealousy'isthefearthatyouwilllosesomethingthatyoudo. Soinyourexample,"Ienvyyou'iscorrect,and'I'mjealous'iswrong.However,thedistinctionislostonagreatmanynativespeakers.   bennymix SeniorMember Now,Ontario,Canada.California;Princeton,NJ. English(American). 'envy'isnotascommonawordinordinaryspeech.ButIdon'tthinkthefeelingisstronger,necessarily.E.g.Shewaskilledbyherjealoushusband.   bennymix SeniorMember Now,Ontario,Canada.California;Princeton,NJ. English(American). Hereisalong,expert,officialdiscussion: Jealousvs.Envious [UsagenoteprovidedbyMerriam-WebsterDictionaries.SourceaddedbyDonnyB-moderator]   Lasteditedbyamoderator:Jun13,2021 S Shingo SeniorMember Japanese bennymixsaid: Hereisalong,expert,officialdiscussion: Jealousvs.Envious Clicktoexpand... Thankyou,Bennymix! Ithought"Ienvyyou"hasthesamemeaningas"I'mjealous." NowIunderstandtheyaredifferent,inastrictsense. Thearticleyoureferredtoalsosuggeststhattheword"jealous"ismoreversatile. Thankyou!   S Shingo SeniorMember Japanese Shingosaid: Thankyou,Bennymix! Ithought"Ienvyyou"hasthesamemeaningas"I'mjealous." NowIunderstandtheyaredifferent,inastrictsense. Thearticleyoureferredtoalsosuggeststhattheword"jealous"ismoreversatile. Thankyou! Clicktoexpand... Ireadthefollowingthread(jealousorenvy?)beforeIstartedthisthread.   I iamcool SeniorMember AmericanEnglish PersonallyIwouldsay"Ienvyyou"becauseit'smoreaccurate. Idon'tthink"Ienvyyou"hasmorenegativenuance. Idothinkthathearing"I'mjealous"ismorecommoninmyexperience,especiallyinformally,andIthinkthiscompoundstocontinuallyinfluencepeopletobemorelikelytousethisphrase.   W WordyMcWordface SeniorMember English-SSBEStandardBritish 1.InmoderneverydayEnglish,wetendtouse'envy'and'bejealous'toexpressaverysimilaridea,butsometimesindifferentcontexts. Forexample,youmightsaythatyouenvyafriendwhohasasupportivefamily,astableincomeandarewardingcareer.Thisisacalmacknowledgementthattherearethingsintheirlifethatarebetterthaninyours.Youaren'tsayingthatyoudeservetheirlifemorethantheydo:you'reacknowledgingdifferencebetweentheirlifeandyours. 'Jealous',ontheotherhand,oftenfeelsmorepettyandnegative.Weoftentalkaboutjealousybetweensiblings,wherethereisrivalryandenmitywithinafamily,especiallywhereyoufeelresentfulthatyoursiblingreceivessomethingthatisrightfullyyours. Inyourexampleofthelotterywin,personally,Iwoulduse"I'msojealous".It'sawayofsaying"IwishI'dwon!".Thisissaidinalight-heartedmanner,ofcourse. 2.Wealsohavetheseparate,historicalmeaningoftheword'jealous':theideaofnotwantingsomeoneelsetohavewhatyouhave.You'llcomeacrossthisoldermeaningincertainsetcollocations,forexample,'ajealoushusband'or'guardsomethingjealousy'.Thefactthatthismeaningof'jealous'stillexistsdoesnotmeanthattheusagedescribedin#1isnecessarilywrong:itisjustdifferent.Usageevolves,andtheEnglishlanguageisflexibleenoughtoallowonewordtohavetwomeanings.   Lastedited:Jun13,2021 S Shingo SeniorMember Japanese WordyMcWordfacesaid: 1.InmoderneverydayEnglish,wetendtouse'envy'and'bejealous'toexpressaverysimilaridea,butsometimesindifferentcontexts. Forexample,youmightsaythatyouenvyafriendwhohasasupportivefamily,astableincomeandarewardingcareer.Thisisacalmacknowledgementthattherearethingsintheirlifethatarebetterthaninyours.Youaren'tsayingthatyoudeservetheirlifemorethantheydo:you'reacknowledgingdifferencebetweentheirlifeandyours. 'Jealous',ontheotherhand,oftenfeelsmorepettyandnegative.Weoftentalkaboutjealousybetweensiblings,wherethereisrivalryandenmitywithinafamily,especiallywhereyoufeelresentfulthatyoursiblingreceivessomethingthatisrightfullyyours. Inyourexampleofthelotterywin,personally,Iwoulduse"I'msojealous".It'sawayofsaying"IwishI'dwon!".Thisissaidinalight-heartedmanner,ofcourse. 2.Wealsohavetheseparate,historicalmeaningoftheword'jealous':theideaofnotwantingsomeoneelsetohavewhatyouhave.You'llcomeacrossthisoldermeaningincertainsetcollocations,forexample,'ajealoushusband'or'guardsomethingjealousy'.Thefactthatthismeaningof'jealous'stillexistsdoesnotmeanthattheusagedescribedin#1isnecessarilywrong:itisjustdifferent.Usageevolves,andtheEnglishlanguageisflexibleenoughtoallowonewordtohavetwomeanings. Clicktoexpand... Thankyouforyourdetailedexplanation,McWordface! Ididn'tknowdifferencesbetween"envy"and"jealous." WhenIreadthefollowingadvicefromanEnglishnativespeaker,IwonderedifIhadbeenusingthewordenvyinawrongway. ThefollowingurlislinkedtoaJapanesearticle,mostofwhichiswritteninJapaneseandsomepartofwhichiswritteninEnglish.SoIquotesomeEnglishpart. "Ienvyyou..."はドン引き！？／いいな～うらやましい！のネイティブ英語表現|翻訳会社の翻訳者派遣：アークコミュニケーションズ "....Despitethis,nativespeakershavecometoassociate'jealousy'ashavingthesamemeaningas'envy'.So,thephraseyou'llmostcommonlyhearis"I'mjealous",oftenincludingtheadverb'so'. A:"Herhusbandboughtheranewcarforherbirthday." B:"Wow.I'msojealous." "I'mjealousofpeoplewhocanlearnalanguagesoquickly." Youprobablywon'thearnativespeakerssaythephrase"Ienvyyou",however.Thereisn'treallyanyproblemwiththisphrase;it'sjustthatI'veonlyheardnon-nativepeopleuseit!Therefore,Irecommendstickingtotheword'jealous'." Doyouagreewithhisopinion?   S Shingo SeniorMember Japanese iamcoolsaid: PersonallyIwouldsay"Ienvyyou"becauseit'smoreaccurate. Idon'tthink"Ienvyyou"hasmorenegativenuance. Idothinkthathearing"I'mjealous"ismorecommoninmyexperience,especiallyinformally,andIthinkthiscompoundstocontinuallyinfluencepeopletobemorelikelytousethisphrase. Clicktoexpand... Thankyou,Mr.iamcool! Whensomeonetalksaboutwhathashappenedtothem,maybeIshouldsay"That'sgreat!"or"That'scool!"sothatIwillavoidconfusionormisunderstanding.   Lastedited:Jun13,2021 W WordyMcWordface SeniorMember English-SSBEStandardBritish Shingosaid: Thankyouforyourdetailedexplanation,McWordface! Ididn'tknowdifferencesbetween"envy"and"jealous." WhenIreadthefollowingadvicefromanEnglishnativespeaker,IwonderedifIhadbeenusingthewordenvyinawrongway. ThefollowingurlislinkedtoaJapanesearticle,mostofwhichiswritteninJapaneseandsomepartofwhichiswritteninEnglish.SoIquotesomeEnglishpart. "Ienvyyou..."はドン引き！？／いいな～うらやましい！のネイティブ英語表現|翻訳会社の翻訳者派遣：アークコミュニケーションズ "....Despitethis,nativespeakershavecometoassociate'jealousy'ashavingthesamemeaningas'envy'.So,thephraseyou'llmostcommonlyhearis"I'mjealous",oftenincludingtheadverb'so'. A:"Herhusbandboughtheranewcarforherbirthday." B:"Wow.I'msojealous." "I'mjealousofpeoplewhocanlearnalanguagesoquickly." Youprobablywon'thearnativespeakerssaythephrase"Ienvyyou",however.Thereisn'treallyanyproblemwiththisphrase;it'sjustthatI'veonlyheardnon-nativepeopleuseit!Therefore,Irecommendstickingtotheword'jealous'." Doyouagreewithhisopinion? Clicktoexpand... Yes,Idoagree.Thosearenaturalexamplesofthemodernusageof'jealous'.Youarefarmorelikelytohearanativespeakersay"I'mjealous"inthosecontextsthan"Ienvy..".   S Shingo SeniorMember Japanese WordyMcWordfacesaid: Yes,Idoagree.Thosearenaturalexamplesofthemodernusageof'jealous'.Youarefarmorelikelytohearanativespeakersay"I'mjealous"inthosecontextsthan"Ienvy..". Clicktoexpand... Thankyou!   W WordyMcWordface SeniorMember English-SSBEStandardBritish WordyMcWordfacesaid: Yes,absolutely.Thosearenaturalexamplesofthemodernusageof'jealous'. Clicktoexpand... Shingosaid: Thankyou! Clicktoexpand... You'rewelcome. Bytheway,onecommonuseof'envy'isinthenegativeform,torefertoanunenviablesituation.Forexample,let'ssaythatyourcompanyunfortunatelyhastocancelabookingmadebyanimportantclient.Ifit'syourcolleague'stasktoinformtheclientofthisproblem,you'dsay"Idon'tenvyyou",meaningthatyouwouldn'tliketohavetodothisjob.   sinukg SeniorMember Malayalam WordyMcWordfacesaid: 1.InmoderneverydayEnglish,wetendtouse'envy'and'bejealous'toexpressaverysimilaridea,butsometimesindifferentcontexts. Forexample,youmightsaythatyouenvyafriendwhohasasupportivefamily,astableincomeandarewardingcareer.Thisisacalmacknowledgementthattherearethingsintheirlifethatarebetterthaninyours.Youaren'tsayingthatyoudeservetheirlifemorethantheydo:you'reacknowledgingdifferencebetweentheirlifeandyours. 'Jealous',ontheotherhand,oftenfeelsmorepettyandnegative.Weoftentalkaboutjealousybetweensiblings,wherethereisrivalryandenmitywithinafamily,especiallywhereyoufeelresentfulthatyoursiblingreceivessomethingthatisrightfullyyours. Inyourexampleofthelotterywin,personally,Iwoulduse"I'msojealous".It'sawayofsaying"IwishI'dwon!".Thisissaidinalight-heartedmanner,ofcourse. 2.Wealsohavetheseparate,historicalmeaningoftheword'jealous':theideaofnotwantingsomeoneelsetohavewhatyouhave.You'llcomeacrossthisoldermeaningincertainsetcollocations,forexample,'ajealoushusband'or'guardsomethingjealousy'.Thefactthatthismeaningof'jealous'stillexistsdoesnotmeanthattheusagedescribedin#1isnecessarilywrong:itisjustdifferent.Usageevolves,andtheEnglishlanguageisflexibleenoughtoallowonewordtohavetwomeanings. Clicktoexpand... Suppose,myfriendgetshighmarksintheexamthanme.Inthiscontext,canIsaytohim"Ireallyenvyyou"or"Iamreallyjealousofyou"?   S Shingo SeniorMember Japanese sinukgsaid: Suppose,myfriendgetshighmarksintheexamthanme.Inthiscontext,canIsaytohim"Ireallyenvyyou"or"Iamreallyjealousofyou"? Clicktoexpand... Hello,Sinukg! Consideringwhattheotherpeoplecommentedinthisthread,Ithinkyoucouldsayeitherofthem.However,"I'mjealousofyou"mightsoundmorecasual.   Lastedited:Jun13,2021 Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. Share: Facebook Twitter Reddit WhatsApp Email Share Link Forums EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Top