Meaning & use
often feel blue
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
to experience sadness frequently or on many occasions.
Grammar: Used with a subject like I, she, they; the adverb often can also come after feel: feel blue often.
Patterns
- someone often feels blue
- someone often felt blue
- someone often feels blue about something
Since moving to a new city, she often feels blue on weekends.
He often felt blue during the long, dark winters.
They often feel blue when they remember their old friends.
phrasefixed phrase
to be sad quite regularly, especially for no clear reason.
Grammar: Often used in the simple present to describe a habit or pattern, not a single moment. For one moment, say 'I feel blue right now'.
Patterns
- someone often feels blue for no reason
- someone often feels blue these days
My brother often feels blue for no apparent reason, even when things are going well.
She often feels blue these days, so she has started keeping a mood diary.
Do you often feel blue in the winter?
Common combinations
- often feel blue
- Many teenagers often feel blue because of school pressure.
- sometimes feel blue
- I sometimes feel blue after watching sad movies.
- really feel blue
- After losing the match, the whole team really felt blue.
- feel blue about something
- He often feels blue about not being able to travel.
- feel a bit blue
- She often feels a bit blue on rainy days.
- feel blue for no reason
- He often feels blue for no reason at all.
Synonyms and how they differ
- often feel down
- Very similar in meaning, but 'feel down' is slightly more common in British English and can also mean physically low.
- often feel sad
- More direct and neutral; it can be used in formal writing, unlike 'feel blue'.
- often feel low
- Similar, but 'feel low' often suggests a longer-lasting mood and is a bit more serious.
Opposites
Commonly confused: often feel blue or feel blue? often feel blue or be blue?
often feel blue vs feel blue
This is the base idiom; 'often feel blue' just adds the adverb 'often' to show frequency.
often feel blue vs be blue
'Be blue' can also mean to be sad, but it is less common and can sound old-fashioned; 'feel blue' is the usual phrase.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses the phrase correctly.
Choose one answer.
The subject 'She' takes the third-person singular verb 'feels', so 'often feels blue' is correct. 'Often feel' is plural, 'often feeling' lacks a main verb, and 'often felt' is past tense but 'rains' is present.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “often feel blue”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.