5 minutos de español: Amar o querer / 5 minutes of Spanish: to love & to want. English and Spanish version. Listen our Podcast

 

How are you? Good morning, good afternoon or good evening, depending on where you are or what time you are listening to us. In these 5 minutes of Spanish in the middle of the week we are going to talk about the theme of the month, February is the month of love, so we will talk about the different verbs related to romantic love.

 

February 14 was the Día del Amor y la Amistad (Day of Love and Friendship), that's how Valentine's Day is called in Mexico.

 

Día del Amor y la amistad (Day of love and friendship) is not only a day for lovers, but also for friends and family.

 

In this month expressions such as “te quiero” I love you, “te amo” also I love you with differences que see bellow or “me encanta estar contigo” I love being with you, are phrases that we read or hear in supermarket and radio advertising.

 

Te quiero or te amo, what is the difference between querer and amar?

 

There are two verbs to talk about love: querer and amar.

We use them to express love as a couple or towards a child, family member or friend, but there are differences between the two.

 

Amar, according to the RAE, implies an intense feeling of a human being who seeks to complement himself or herself with another human being.

 

Querer, according to the same dictionary, can mean desire or inclination towards something or someone.

 

José José, the Mexican singer, said in his popular song Amar y querer, a song we have heard a lot these days!

 

Casi todos sabemos querer

Pero pocos sabemos amar

Es que amar y querer no es igual

Amar es sufrir, querer es gozar.

 

Almost everyone knows how to want

But a few of us know how to love

To love and to want are not the same

To love is to suffer, to want is to enjoy.

 

In other words, from the first stanza he tells us that they are two different verbs:

 

El querer pronto puede acabar

El amor no conoce el final

Es que todos sabemos querer

Pero pocos sabemos amar

 

Wanting can soon end

Love knows no end

It`s that we all know how to want

But a few of us know how to love

 

Leaving aside the drama of the song, “el amor” refers to a feeling more of a couple, of love between two and wanting is a little more general.

 

To your partner you say “te amo”, although you can also say it to a child: "Te amo hijo".

Or to a puppy. "Amo a mi perro."

 

In soap operas the actress dramatically says: "Te amo Pedro Antonio Lopez Diaz de Vivar”, “I have always loved you."

Or that you love some activity like studying Spanish

“Amo estudiar español” I love studying Spanish!

 

You can write on your card to your partner: te amo

But you can't tell a co-worker “te amo”, it sounds strange.

 

Querer is broader, in fact it is one of the favorite verbs for students of Spanish as a foreign language, because it serves to say many things:

 

“Quiero un café” I want a coffee

 

“¿Quieres un vaso de agua?” - Do you want a glass of water?

 

“¿Quieres estudiar español?” - Do you want to study Spanish?

 

“¿Quieres cenar conmigo esta noche?” - Do you want to have dinner with me tonight?

 

“No quiero comer esta comida.” - I don't want to eat this food

 

“Quiero conocer los pueblos cercanos” I want to visit the nearby towns

 

But, “querer a alguien” someone implies love or a feeling of affection

 

“Quiero a mis amigas.” - I want my friends

 

“Queremos a los estudiantes de español”. -We want the Spanish students

 

You can also say that you like someone, you don't know them well enough to “quererlos”, but you like them, you feel they are nice people.

 

Me caen bien los suegros de mi hijo / I like my son's in-laws

“Te quiero mucho” - I love you very much. This is a phrase that you can say to your partner, your child or friends.

 

In text messages you write it: tqm

 

In daily life we use the verb querer a lot, the verb amar is more for special moments.

 

“¿Cuándo quieres o amas a alguien? When do you “quieres” or “amas” someone?

 

Let's see 3 verbs that you must feel to know you are in love

 

“Estar enamorado” - to be in love - the word says it is a love of two: "enamora dos".

And what are these 3 verbs?

 

1 - To love is to understand the other person, if you don't understand him/her .... there is no love, you can feel affection for that person or you get along with him/her but... there is no love.

 

Entender al otro- to understand the other one

 

Sentir cariño- feel affecttion

 

Llevarte bien- get along well

 

2 - To love is to care for the other. Your partner can say many nice words to you but if he/she doesn't take care of you...he/she doesn't love you.

 

Cuidar al otro- to take care.

To take care also implies to respect, and here this verb is a cognate, it is very similar in English.

 

3 - The third one is also another cognate and it is inspirar.

Your lover has to inspire you with beautiful things, moments of emotion. If you are indifferent, there is no love.

 

Inspirar – to inspire

Ser indiferente- to be indifferent

Another verb related to inspiration is admiration. If you admire your partner for something it helps love a lot, the opposite does not.

 

The verb admire is also another cognate: to admire.

What do we call the person we love?

Mi amor- My love    Cariño- Dear    Vida mía- My life   Luz de mi vida- Light of my life  

Now this is from the soap operas we were mentioning...

 

Thank you very much for making it this far in the Podcast, if you liked it share it.

 

We love you very much!

 

Remember that we are opening Spanish courses this month of love and friendship.

You can also practice on our practice site: SpanishUp2U.

Do you want to be one of the first partners?

 

We're retiring with love. See you. Bye-bye.