It Confuses Me in Spanish | Say It Without Sounding Odd

The daily way to say it is “Me confunde,” and “Me desconcierta” works when you mean something throws you off.

You’re reading a sentence, watching a show, or listening to someone speak and your brain just stalls. You want one clean line in Spanish that feels normal, not translated. Good news: Spanish gives you a few solid options, and the right one depends on what kind of “confused” you mean.

In English, “It confuses me” can mean you don’t understand, you mixed two things up, or you got thrown off by unexpected details. Spanish splits those ideas more often, so picking the closest match makes your Spanish sound natural.

What “It confuses me” usually means

Before you pick words, pin down the feeling. Most of the time, English speakers use this sentence in one of these ways:

• You don’t understand a point yet. Your mind feels foggy.
• You mixed up two people, items, dates, or ideas.
• You feel thrown off, unsure what to do next.

Spanish can express all three, but it often uses different verbs or structures. That’s why one “perfect” translation can sound odd in some contexts.

It Confuses Me in Spanish: Natural Phrases And Nuance

If you want the closest, daily translation, start here:

• Me confunde. (It confuses me.)
• Esto me confunde. (This confuses me.)
• Me confunde esto. (This confuses me.)

All three work. The difference is rhythm and what you want to stress. Esto me confunde puts the emphasis on “this.” Me confunde esto keeps attention on your reaction first, then names the cause.

The verb confundir can mean mixing things up or throwing someone off. The Real Academia Española lists senses like mixing items so they can’t be distinguished and also “to disconcert someone.” That second sense is the one you want for the “this is throwing me off” meaning. RAE’s entry for “confundir” shows both ideas clearly.

When “Me confunde” sounds perfect

Use Me confunde when the source of confusion is a thing, a statement, a rule, or a situation:

• “That explanation confuses me.” → Esa explicación me confunde.
• “This chart confuses me.” → Este gráfico me confunde.
• “Your answer confuses me.” → Tu respuesta me confunde.

It also fits when you’re mixing two things up: Confundí A con B means “I mistook A for B.” The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas entry on “confundir” notes this common pattern with con.

When “Me confunde” sounds a bit off

Sometimes English uses “It confuses me” where Spanish prefers a different verb:

• If you mean you don’t understand, Spanish often leans on no entiendo or no lo tengo claro.
• If you mean you feel rattled or unsure what to do, Me desconcierta can sound closer than Me confunde.

This isn’t about rules for rules’ sake. It’s about matching what a Spanish speaker expects to hear in that moment.

Pick the right Spanish based on the type of confusion

Here are the most common “buckets” and the phrases that fit each one. Read them out loud. If your mouth stumbles, swap the option.

Type 1: You don’t understand yet

If you mean “I’m not getting it,” these options often land better than a direct translation:

• No entiendo. (I don’t understand.)
• No lo entiendo. (I don’t understand it.)
• No me queda claro. (It isn’t clear to me.)
• No lo tengo claro. (I don’t have it clear.)

No me queda claro is handy when the “it” is a concept, a policy, a math step, or a reason.

Type 2: You mixed two things up

This is where confundir shines. Spanish likes the “A with B” structure:

• Confundí a Marta con Laura. (I mistook Marta for Laura.)
• Te confundí con otra persona. (I confused you with someone else.)
• Me confundí de día. (I got the day wrong.)

Notice the reflexive form confundirse for “I got it wrong / I mixed it up.” That’s a smooth way to take blame without sounding dramatic.

Type 3: Something throws you off

If the feeling is “this is messing with my head,” try:

• Me desconcierta. (It throws me off.)
• Me descoloca. (It knocks me off balance.)
• Me deja desorientado/a. (It leaves me disoriented.)

Me desconcierta is widely understood across regions. Me descoloca is common in Spain and some parts of Latin America, with a slightly informal feel.

Type 4: Your feelings are mixed

English speakers sometimes say “It confuses me” when they mean “I have mixed feelings.” Spanish usually says that directly:

• Tengo sentimientos encontrados. (I have mixed feelings.)
• No sé qué pensar. (I don’t know what to think.)

So far you’ve seen the main options. Next comes the part that makes your Spanish sound like Spanish: word order and pronouns.

Word order: “Esto me confunde” vs “Me confunde esto”

Spanish lets you move pieces around more than English. These are all fine:

• Esto me confunde.
• Me confunde esto.
• Me confunde. (when “it” is obvious from context)

Pick based on emphasis:

• Start with Esto when you want to point at the cause: “This part right here.”
• Start with Me when you want to share your reaction first, then name the cause.

In conversation, people often add a tiny marker to make it flow: Esto me confunde un poco or Me confunde un poco. If you’re writing, you can be more direct.

Table: Fast picks for common situations

Use this table as a menu. Match the situation to the phrase, then adjust the last noun to fit your topic.

Situation	Spanish phrase	Why it fits
You can’t follow an explanation	No me queda claro.	Signals lack of clarity, not a mix-up.
A rule feels messy	Esto me confunde.	Natural for “this throws me off.”
You mistook one person for another	Te confundí con otra persona.	Uses the common “A con B” pattern.
You got a detail wrong	Me confundí de fecha.	Reflexive form puts the mistake on you.
The instructions feel contradictory	No lo entiendo.	Direct, daily, no extra tone.
A surprise response throws you off	Me desconcierta.	Closer to “it unsettles me.”
You have mixed feelings	No sé qué pensar.	Matches the real meaning behind the line.
The speaker changes topics fast	Me pierdo.	Colloquial way to say you lose the thread.

“Confuso” vs “confundido”: what to say about yourself

English lets you say “I’m confused.” Spanish gives you two common options:

• Estoy confundido/a.
• Estoy confuso/a.

Both exist, yet they don’t always feel interchangeable. The RAE describes confuso with senses like “unclear” and “perplexed,” which helps explain why estoy confuso/a can feel more like mental muddle than a simple mix-up. See RAE’s entry for “confuso”.

In daily talk, estoy confundido/a is often the safer pick for learners. If you use either one, add what confused you and the line becomes clearer:

• Estoy confundido con los horarios.
• Estoy confusa con esta parte.

Gender and agreement in one line

These adjectives change with the speaker:

• Estoy confundido (speaker is male)
• Estoy confundida (speaker is female)
• Estoy confuso (male)
• Estoy confusa (female)

If you don’t want to deal with adjective agreement, switch back to a verb phrase: No entiendo, No me queda claro, or Me pierdo.

Pronouns: why Spanish flips the idea

English treats “it” as the subject: “It confuses me.” Spanish often treats the confusing thing as the subject too, but the “me” sits in front as an object pronoun: Me confunde. That “me” is doing a lot of work.

Once you get comfortable with this pattern, you can build tons of sentences with the same feel:

• Me preocupa. (It worries me.)
• Me molesta. (It bothers me.)
• Me encanta. (I love it.)

If you like learning through common usage questions, the Instituto Cervantes publishes learner-friendly material on frequent doubts. See “Las 100 dudas más frecuentes del español”.

That’s why Me confunde sounds so normal. It’s the same grammar Spanish uses for feelings and reactions all day long.

Table: Sentence templates you can copy

These templates handle most real-life moments. Swap the bracketed part for your topic and you’re done.

What you mean	Template	Natural add-on
You don’t understand	No entiendo [esto/eso].	¿Me lo puedes explicar?
It isn’t clear	No me queda claro [el punto/la razón].	¿Qué significa exactamente?
This throws you off	[Esto/Eso] me confunde.	¿Puedes decirlo de otra manera?
You mixed two things up	Confundí [A] con [B].	Perdón, me equivoqué.
You got it wrong	Me confundí de [día/número].	Lo leí mal.
You feel thrown off	Me desconcierta [que + frase].	No sé qué hacer.

Mini-checklist before you say it

When you’re not sure which phrase to use, run this short mental check:

1. Am I mixing two things up? Use confundir A con B or me confundí.
2. Am I missing the meaning? Use no entiendo or no me queda claro.
3. Am I thrown off by the situation? Use me confunde or me desconcierta.

Then say your line and add one more detail. That extra detail is what makes you sound like you’re speaking, not translating.

Common learner mistakes that make the sentence feel translated

Using “soy” instead of “estoy”

Soy confundido sounds like a permanent trait. Most of the time you mean a temporary state, so use estoy confundido/a.

Dropping the object pronoun

English can say “It confuses.” Spanish needs the person: Me confunde, Nos confunde, Te confunde. If you leave it out, the sentence feels incomplete.

Forgetting the “con” in mix-ups

If you mean you mistook one thing for another, Spanish tends to use con: Confundí el lunes con el martes. The RAE’s DPD guidance on “confundir” shows this structure in real usage.

Practice lines that sound natural in daily talk

Read these out loud, then swap the nouns for your own situation:

• Esta parte me confunde.
• No entiendo lo que quieres decir.
• Me confundí de hora.
• Me desconcierta que cambies de idea.
• No me queda claro el motivo.

Make your sentence match the moment

“It confuses me” isn’t one sentence in Spanish. It’s a small set of choices. Pick the one that matches what’s happening, then add one detail. That’s the trick.

If you want the safest default, use Esto me confunde for “this throws me off,” and use No entiendo when the problem is meaning. When you’ve mixed things up, switch to Confundí A con B. That’s Spanish doing what it does best: saying the same human feeling with the right shape for the moment.