Te Quiero - I Love You Te Amo - I Love You

[Mark_Frobose]

Saludos a todos - Hello all

Please bear in mind that Spanish offers two ways of saying 'I love you'

'Te quiero', which literally means 'I want you' but actually means 'I love you' in a general sense

and the all spiritual, deep and enduring 'Te Amo' which means that I love you from the very bottom of my soul.

The two verb infinitives involved here are:  querer - to want and amar - to love

Enjoy - Que disfruten

Mark Frobose

[melissas]

Hi Mark,

I've studied Spanish for several years, and this one has always bothered me a little bit. Based on the fact that querer means to want, I've sort of always assumed that this is a phrase I would say to my spouse, but not say, my parents. Or could I actually say "Te quiero" to my parents without it being weird?

[Mark_Frobose]

Hola Melissas,

Buena pregunta - Good question

You may say 'Te quiero' to your parents, your friends, your children, boyfriend, significant other.

No problem.  It is really the informal of 'I love you'.

'Te amo' would probably not be good to say to the folks.  Stick with 'Te quiero'.

'Te amo' would be great with boyfriends and husbands though.

Please email me or post more questions.

I'm here to serve.

¡Qué pases un lindo fin de semana! - I hope you have a beautiful weekend!

Marcos

www.frobose.com

[peg_loves_books]

Many times I will say 'te amo' to mi nuera, because she is so wonderful.  She accepts it fine, but now am wondering if I should only say 'te quiero'? 

muchas gracias.

[Mark_Frobose]

Hi Peg,

Great question.

While it's not incorrect to say 'Te amo' to your nuera, most Spanish speakers would

probably say 'Te quiero'.

Ojalá que esto te ayude.  (I hope this helps you)

Mark Frobose