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I've had trouble finding a phrase in Esperanto that can be used the same as "I don't feel like it." I've considered "emas", but I think that would describe my personality and not a temporary state. I suppose "volas" is also an option, but it feels more direct and stiff.

Here are more examples I'd like to translate:

I don't feel like dancing.

I feel like eating out tonight.

Suspiciously enough, he suddenly felt like going for a walk.

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  • I would use something like "Mi (vere) ne emas danci" and "Mi (vere) ne emas manĝi ekstere" I have often heard this usage..
    – Bill Chapman
    Commented Sep 23, 2016 at 9:46

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emi is fine. To emphasise that it's not your personality you can say ĵus nun mi ne emas.

EDIT: After a discussion with trustworthy competent Esperantists it turns out that my use of ĵus is wrong in that context. It should be ĝuste nun mi ne emas.

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    Doesn't ĵus imply something that already happened? Wouldn't ĝuste be better here?
    – Lyubomir Vasilev
    Commented Sep 22, 2016 at 14:09
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    No. emas is present tense. And ĝuste has a completely different meaning.
    – Johannes Mueller
    Commented Sep 22, 2016 at 14:16
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    I think “ĝuste nun” is the right phrase. You couldn't use “ĝuste” on it's own like the English ‘just’, but together it is like ‘precisely now’. It has many results in tekstaro.com. I would agree with @LyubomirVasilev that “ĵus” implies the past.
    – Neil Roberts
    Commented Sep 22, 2016 at 14:59
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Take it with a grain of salt, but as I understand it, one would simply say that he/she doesn't want to do it. It's as simple as that. Sentences like "Mi ne volas danci." for example, is what I usually see.

You say that you dislike this because it's direct and "stiff", and that is understandable, but remember that directness is what we want in Esperanto, even if it doesn't sound casual enough at first. You will get used to things like this with time, and it won't sound so rigid anymore, I'm sure of it!

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