# Jealousy vs. Envy



## 123xyz

How do you say "jealousy" and how do say "envy" in Turkish? So for, I've found "kıskançlık" and "haset", but I can't seem to understand which is which, and it even appears that the two are used interchangeably to some extent, whereas jealousy and envy are quite two different things. Namely, jealousy implies fearing losing a loved one to someone else and/or being frustrated due to not receiving sufficient attention from him/her on account of him/her being preoccupied with that someone else (there is a perceived threat involved), whereas envy implies wishing to have something that someone else has and coveting it (and possibly resenting the person that has it). By the way, I'm also curious about the verbs, namely "kıskanmak" vs. "haset etmek". 

Thank you in advance


----------



## themadprogramer

kıskanmak = haset etmek = jealousy

The closest thing to envy is : "özenmek", though that can also mean "to act like someone" or "to change one of your features to be like them"

An example:
Benim evimi kıskanıyor. (He's jealous of my house)
Onun güzelliğine özeniyorum. (I desire his/her beauty, I envy their beauty)


----------



## Rallino

As a native speaker of Turkish, I don't percieve a difference between envying and being jealous. In both cases, it refers to the feeling that you experience when other people have access to something or someone and you don't. I could easily use _kıskanmak_ in both cases.


----------



## 123xyz

Ahmet Akkoç,



> Benim evimi kıskanıyor. (He's jealous of my house)



This is not the type of jealousy I was talking about. I would call this envy. Indeed, in English (as in so many other languages, which I find quite impractical), "jealous" can be used to mean "envious", but I was looking for "jealous" in the sense that I explained in my initial post, which can hardly have anything to do with houses under usual circumstances. An example sentence with the sense I was looking for would be "she gets jealous when her boyfriend goes out for a coffee alone with a female friend". 

Either way, what's the difference between the two examples that you provided? In both cases, there is envy, except that in the first case, a house is being desired, whereas in the second, beauty is being desired. So, for practical purposes, the two examples are equal, and I don't see why you've used "kıskanmak" in one but "özenmek" in the other. Surely the choice between the two verbs doesn't depend on whether a noun is concrete or abstract... Thus, presumably the two verbs can be freely swapped between the two sentences. If not, could you clarify?

Rallino,




> As a native speaker of Turkish, I don't perceive a difference between envying and being jealous. In both cases, it refers to the feeling that you experience when other people have access to something or someone and you don't. I could easily use _kıskanmak in both cases._



What about the difference that I pointed out in my initial post? As I've written already, "jealous" effectively contains "envious" within itself, but it also has an altogether different meaning that "envious" doesn't. I don't agree about both terms simply referring to what you feel when other people have access to something or someone you don't. Namely, in the case of "jealous", someone is stepping on your perceived territory and jeopardizing your position, regardless of whether you do or don't have access to whatever. In the case of "envious", you don't have (sufficient) "access" and you wish you were in the position of the person having it. Let's see an example:

I'm in love with Mary and I'm *jealous* of John. - I'm in love with Mary but John is making romantic advances toward her and I resent him for it, as I feel that he's ruining my own chances with her.
I'm in love with Mary and I'm *envious* of John. - I'm in love with Mary but she's with John; I wish I were him because he's such a lucky guy.

Ultimately, it's quite possible that I'm _both_ jealous _and _envious of John. 

In summary, I find that "jealous" and "envious" are radically different. I see that they can be placed under some general umbrella definition, but using umbrella definitions, we might as well even arrive at the conclusion that fear and anxiety are the same thing. Either way, it appears that Turkish simply doesn't make the distinction, regardless of its existence, just as I feared before posting here, because Turkish speakers seemingly never felt a need for it to be represented. Oh well, I'll resort to circumlocution when I need to convey it.

Thank you for the replies, anyway.


----------



## adelan

In addition to all, envy also could be translated as "imrenmek" with a positive meaning, namely;

You are so successful. How I envy you!

Çok başarılısın, sana ne kadar imreniyorum.

(I haven't seen the last entry of the 123xyz while writing this, so maybe seems meaningless, now  )


----------



## Rallino

I was going to suggest 'imrenmek', as well. I think it conveys the meaning the OP seeks.


----------



## 123xyz

It's not meaningless - "imrenmek" seems quite useful 
However, we're still left with nothing for "jealous" (nothing that doesn't mean "envious" as well, but oh well).


----------



## themadprogramer

On the contrary *123xyz* I do think you can be jealous of someone's stuff. 

The thing is like you said, jealousy has somewhat hatred involved as well. 
Envy on the other hand is just wishing to be in someone's place, or have something they have.

So in the case that person A despises his originally named neighbor person B, and knows all his stuff are made of gold, whereas his are silver, it wouldn't be incorrect to say that A's jealous of B's possessions.


----------



## Ahmed Han

"İmrenmek" has a positive meaning just like "envy". It doesn't imply any evil thoughts or feelings.

Example usage:

"Sendeki bu matematik bilgisine çok fazla imreniyorum." / "I envy your mathematical knowledge profusely."


----------



## Codswallop

Ahmed Han said:


> "İmrenmek" has a positive meaning just like "envy". It doesn't imply any evil thoughts or feelings.
> 
> Example usage:
> 
> "Sendeki bu matematik bilgisine çok fazla imreniyorum." / "I envy your mathematical knowledge profusely."



'Gıpta etmek' would be an alternative to 'imrenmek' for 'to feel envy'


----------



## Gemmenita

Codswallop said:


> 'Gıpta etmek' would be an alternative to 'imrenmek' for 'to feel envy'



Yes, that's what I wanted to say too.
You know... there are already a difference between 'jealousy' and 'envy'.
Jealousy is a negative human caracter, whereas envy (gıpta) is not negative.

But in Turkish, 'Jealousy' has also one more meaning: in case of kıskanmak. ( it is not as negative as the above 'Jealousy' but rather an act in the catagory of 'gayret')


----------

