Tener Ganas de

In lesson 6.4, the phrase "tener ganas de" is translated as both “I feel like” and “I have desires of." I feel like these can be different things in English. 

The example of “I feel like going out” is simple enough, shows a feeling of desire. But, I used the phrase once to try to say something like “I feel like I'm getting better at understanding Spanish." This doesn't show desire, just a feeling. I got the impression that wasn't correct usage. Is it also used that way?

¡Hola Daryl-O1!

Thanks for your question! I'll dive right in.

Tener ganas de is only used to mean “to feel like” in a way that demonstrates desire - as in, Tengo ganas de cantar “(I) feel like singing” or even Tengo ganas de un café “(I) feel like a coffee.” In general, it gets the same idea across as querer “to want.”

If you want to use “to feel like” in the sense of “to feel as though" or "to have the impression that," then there isn't any desire present, so it doesn't line up with tener ganas de. Instead, you'll need to use a different phrase, such as tener la impresión de que “to have the impression that,” or even simply creer que “to believe / think that” or pensar que “to think that.”  

I hope that this is helpful! Let me know if you still have any questions.

Saludos,

Liss