Gustar

Hola a todos, I was reviewing, a perpetual state for me, and somehow how I had forgotten the different use of gustar in lesson 17.1 gustas, gustábamos. It's unlikely I would use it in that manner as I tell my wife "te quiero o te amo" but I came across this conjugation chart regarding gustar and perhaps it will be of interest. http://www.generallinguistics.com/conjugate-spanish-verbs/GUSTAR.htm Saludos, Ricardo

Well, gustábamos is the past imperfect conjugation of gustar. So, I guess it means 'we liked'. I guess that makes sense if you are talking about how we use to like something in the past.

Hola Robert, I edited my post as I forgot to paste the link. Well, according to the lesson and even back in level one, using gustar as in Me gusta María means I like María in a romantic way. I think I'll only be needing to use it in the third person with the appropriate indirect object pronoun. Saludos, Ricardo

The only gustar I know is in one of the early lessons, Ann said "Mi gustaria algo para tomar" I want something to drink. So what's the difference between querer, amar, and gustar?

Querar: to want Amar: to love Gustar: to be pleasing But as we know, those meanings don't always translate into our English uses precisely. I call my girlfriend, "mi querida," meaning "my dear." I say to her, "te quiero," meaning not, "I want you," but "I love you." (I want her also, but that is another story...) If I called her "mi amo," It might mean she was my master. (I am reading an adaptation of Lazarillo de Tormes right now. He goes through a series of masters that he calls "amo.") Me gusta...I think (but I very likely may be wrong) that one must be careful in using that expression in regard to another person. It might have sexual connotations in some places? Anyway, often reserved for things, not people..."Me gusta la comida." The food is pleasing to me, I like the food.

Philippines were occupied by Spain for three to four hundred years and the language of the Spaniards, the meztisos, the rich and the haughty and the educated was Spanish. The rest of us continued speaking our native dialects, not even Tagalog. Only about 15 percent of Filipinos speak Tagalog. We were forced to learn Tagalog in school. There is a point to this. The locals speak of querida as mistress probably an adaptation. Just a little trivia word. Among Filipinos, we call our boss, jefe, directors as "Amo". But we still say "Yo te amo" for "I love you". Of course for me, that is reserved for my spouse only. The Filipino translation is "Iniibig kita". "Mahal kita" is I like you.

In my former life I was a fire chief. My boss' secretary was Panamanian, and she always called me el jefe. I always liked that.