Just think about the situation – the Love Phrases are quite advanced and need to be applied at the right time. Then even if you do say your phrase the other person will give you an answer, maybe they want to carry on the conversation or even start flirting with you. If you don’t know what to say next you are going to feel pretty stupid!

You might imagine that you can make up for a lack of language skills by studying their body language and then the eye contact can do the rest of the work.

They might but you can’t know ahead of time.

Learning at least the basics can you a lot more than just memorizing some Spanish love phrases. There are a few free courses that are worth trying – then you can decide if you want to go on to learn more Spanish later.

The English language doesn’t have different words for different types of love like other languages do, so they have to resort to thoroughly explaining themselves, but love itself can sometimes be complicated to explain as many would agree.

In ancient Greek there were actually four different words to describe different kinds of love and even then the definitions couldn’t be completely separated from each other. Spanish has a description for love a bit more profound than what one would express in English, but still isn’t as explicit as ancient Greek. For some reason, certain languages embrace the meaning of love better than others. There are even languages where the word “love” doesn’t even exist in the vocabulary.

In Spanish, the word love or “amor” (ah-mohr) is often used to describe romantic love but can also be used to describe a very deep bond between 2 people (i.e. father and child, God, etc.) or between someone and something (i.e. country, job, etc.) To describe a love that exists but isn’t romantic or excessively deep, one would use the word “querer” (k-rehr). You could use this word to describe a love between brothers, friends, humanity, etc. To tell someone “I love you” in Spanish you have to make sure you know the meaning of the two words and you differentiate the kind of love you are trying to express. “Te amo” (teh ah-mo) causes a deeper reaction than “Te quiero.” (teh kee-eh-roh) because it means more. If you would like to intensify any one of the two phrases you could add the word “mucho” (moo-cho) which means “a lot”. So you would say “Te amo mucho” or “Te quiero mucho”.

In English it’s become quite common to hear “I love you” and it’s begun to lose much of its profoundness. In Spanish this isn’t the case. Saying “I love you” in Spanish isn’t something that is just thrown around lightly, especially in the romantic sense. To say “Te amo” brings with it a sort of responsibility towards the person you are saying it to. With those words you’re confessing strong loyalty and profound feeling towards that other person. This intense definition is often why some people actually get scared off at the sound of those two little words, especially when you’re dealing with a commitment phobic man or woman for that matter.

Now, if you’ve been dating someone for a little while and you feel a very intense attraction and a connection with the other person but aren’t sure the other person feels the same about you or it’s just too early to tell whether it’s desire or undying love, you can test your waters with “Te quiero.”, which still means “I love you” in Spanish but isn’t as intense.

Once you do get to the point of a strong bond and mutual romantic love, saying “I love you” for the first time is something divine. Hearing those words from the object of your affection has a natural way of wrapping you up in a blanket of passion. Making you rise above the moon and the stars. A feeling so sublime you feel like you’re on top of the world. Saying “I love you” in Spanish, in my opinion, has a more romantic side to it since you can actually differentiate the kind of love you are confessing.

So if you want to make sure you’re undying love isn’t misunderstood, try saying “I love you” in Spanish. “Te amo.” Now who wouldn’t fall in love with that?

Below is not a definitive list but a good overview as to the range of Spanish words and phrases that are used to say “I love”.

In English you would say “I love this picture” (me gusta mucho este cuadro) to state a strong feeling towards it. Clearly that use of the word ‘love’ is different to the romantic or passionate meaning. The phrase Gusta (o) mucho also translates as “like a lot”.

In English you could also say ‘I love to paint’ (me encanto pintar) again that’s quite a different meaning. Encantar is used to indicate a strong like.

Another variation would be “Te adoro” (“I adore you”) and is an emphatic twist that could work for both the romantic and the non-romantic versions. It is part of the Spanish need to exaggerate through language. This phrase also applies to things we like a lot in general (no affection involved), for example: Adoro las noches estrelladas (I love starry nights).

“Te quiero” is used to express emotional love but not necessarily romantic love. Making it a very frequently used phrase, which reflects the warm-hearted nature of Spanish speakers in a phrase that is highly emotional but not “romantically loaded”.

Finally to say I Love you and mean the full romantic expression you would use “Te amo”. Its romantic and passionate essence make it a word that is not very frequently heard in everyday speech and therefore has a deep value when used correctly.

As you can see there is quite a range of phrases that can be used to match the subtle differences of the meaning and situation. These will take a while to get used to and will need some practice to get right! The results I’m sure you’ll agree will be well worth the effort.

So if you want to learn how to say I love you in Spanish, you need to be clear about the difference between the two main verbs Te Quiero and Te Amo. There is also the context in which you say them. Get these wrong and you can set yourself up for huge risk!

“Te quiero” is the standard phrase to express affection and care for another person. An emphatic twist to it would be, “te quiero mucho” or “te quiero un montón” (both meaning, “I love you very much”) and does not necessarily convey romantic interest. This is the phrase you’d use for family members or close friends and has a colloquial feel to it.

If you want to take it up a notch, “Te amo” is your phrase. This is the real equivalent to the “L” word in English. When you say it or you hear it, we’re talking major leagues. This is the word women in love want to hear, this is the word men take too long to articulate. Its romantic and passionate essence make it a word that is not very frequently heard in everyday speech and therefore has a deep value when used right, which is also a reason why it would normally be said on its own, no adjectives needed (unless we’re discussing serious poetic charge) So if you hear a “te amo” from someone, bingo! If you say it to someone, kudos!

This doesn’t necessarily mean that if you say “te quiero” to your sweetheart and not “te amo” you love them less; but the complexities of the language are also a reflection of the complexities of the feeling. Think about this phrase: “Te quiero pero no te amo”. It’s even hard to translate into English (I love you as a friend but not romantically), not to mention a heartbreaking crush for whoever gets to hear it.

Lorena

www.MySpanishLovePhrases.com

Puts Passion in Your Life