pensé que me amabas
/pense ke me amabas/from spelling rules
The English phrase "I thought you loved me" is expressed in Spanish as pensé que me amabas.
This phrase is used to express disappointment or betrayal when someone's actions contradict their supposed love for the speaker.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of pensé (I thought), que (that), me (me) and amabas (you were loving/you loved).
Which one should you use?
Additionally, shifting from the imperfect amabas to the preterite amaste changes the meaning from a continuous state of love to a completed action or a specific instance of love.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Mexico, someone may say Pensé que me querías instead of Pensé que me amabas. In Spain, it is also common to use me querías instead of me amabas.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses the imperfect tense amabas to describe a continuous state of being in the past.
Did you know?
- Because amar is so strong, using it in a betrayal scenario like this is a common trope in Spanish-language telenovelas to heighten the melodrama.
- In Spanish, the word querer can mean both 'to want' and 'to love'. Depending on the context, Pensé que me querías could be interpreted as 'I thought you wanted me'.
- The word que in this phrase actually comes from the Latin word 'quid', which means 'what'. It is a linguistic relative of the English word 'who'.
Examples in context
- Pensé que me amabas.I thought you loved me.This sentence is useful for practicing the phrase pensé que me amabas.Tatoeba #2828852 by marcelostockle, translation #2546820 by CK
- Pensé que me amabas, pero me mentiste.I thought you loved me, but you lied to me.
- Después de todo esto, pensé que me amabas.After all this, I thought you loved me.
Example conversation
Lucía confronts Daniel about his sudden lack of interest.
- LucíaPensé que me amabas, Daniel.I thought you loved me, Daniel.
- DanielLo siento, pero las cosas han cambiado.I'm sorry, but things have changed.
- LucíaTus acciones dicen lo contrario.Your actions say otherwise.
- DanielNo quería lastimarte de esta manera.I didn't want to hurt you this way.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries me, que, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
