# Liking and loving: gustar, encantar, querer, amar

> id: contrast.gustar-encantar-amar · category: contrast · depth: standard · levels: B1 · review: internally_reviewed

**Summary.** Things: me gusta < me encanta (no 'mucho' with encantar). People: me gustas = I'm attracted; te quiero = I love you (family, friends, partners); te amo = deep romantic love.

These verbs sit on a scale of intensity and use the gustar grammar (the thing liked is the subject, the person an indirect object): me gusta el café, me gustan los gatos. Me gusta is 'I like'; me encanta is the step up, 'I love it' — and it is already at the top, so you never add mucho (*me encanta mucho is wrong).

With people the verbs shift meaning. Me gustas means 'I'm attracted to you', so telling a friend me gustas declares romantic interest, not friendship. Te quiero is the everyday 'I love you' across family, close friends, and partners; te amo is more intense and usually romantic or solemn.

For simply liking someone as a person, Spanish uses caer bien: me cae bien tu hermano ('I like your brother'), never me gusta (which would sound romantic). So: things → gustar/encantar; attraction → gustar; love → querer/amar; finding someone likeable → caer bien.

## Examples
- Me encanta este lugar. — I love this place.
- Tu socio me cae muy bien. — I really like your partner (as a person).
- Me cae bien tu jefe, pero su idea no me gusta nada. — I like your boss, but I don't like his idea at all.

Related: grammar.verbs.gustar-structure, usage.likes-dislikes

License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — Spanish Rules Library — spanishruleslibrary.com