amar
/aˈmaɾ/
To love in Spanish is amar.
Amar means to feel a strong sense of deep affection or romantic love. This verb can be used for people, but also for inanimate objects or concepts, such as amar la libertad (to love freedom).
Which one should you use?
There is a distinction between the different ways to express love in Spanish. While amar expresses deep, profound or poetic love, querer is the more common way to express affection for friends, family and romantic partners in everyday speech. Additionally, encantar is used to mean "to love" or "to really like" when expressing love for food, activities or hobbies and adorar (to adore) is used to emphasize a deeper, more profound love.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, the verb enamorarse is used specifically when referring to falling in love.
How does it change in a sentence?
When using amar to tell someone you love them, the most common construction is te amo (I love you) or te amo a ti for emphasis.
How do you pronounce it?
/aˈmaɾ/
Did you know?
- The verb querer is a linguistic double-agent because it means both 'to love' and 'to want'. Depending on the context, te quiero can mean 'I love you' or 'I want you'.
- In Spanish, the verb encantar is used to express 'loving' a thing or activity, but it is grammatically structured like the verb 'to please'. When you say you love a book, you are literally saying the book 'enchants' you.
- The word amar is a direct descendant of the Latin amāre, which is also the root of the English word 'amorous'.
Examples in context
- Tom jamás te amará.Tom is never going to love you.This sentence uses amar to demonstrate a future negative statement.Tatoeba #3763033 by marcelostockle, translation #3449419 by CK
- Amar es estar solo.To love is to be alone.This sentence uses amar to define the concept of love.Tatoeba #6161284 by cueyayotl, translation #6159329 by carlosalberto
- Amar es tan maravilloso.To love someone is so wonderful.This sentence uses amar to describe the feeling of love as wonderful.Tatoeba #3006044 by marcelostockle, translation #2665583 by Ricardo14
- amo la músicaI love music
- amamos a nuestros padresWe love our parents
- adoro a mi familiaI adore my family
- él adora a su parejaHe adores his partner
- te quieroI love you
- quiero mucho a mis amigosI love my friends very much
- me encanta bailarI love to dance
- me encantan los animalesI love animals
- su querencia hacia su ciudad natal es evidenteHis love for his hometown is evident
- me estoy enamorando de tiI'm falling in love with you
- se enamoró a primera vistaHe fell in love at first sight
- 50 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucía and Javier are sitting in a park on their anniversary.
- LucíaTe amo y siempre te voy a amar.I love you and I am always going to love you.
- JavierYo también te amo, Lucía.I love you too, Lucía.
- Lucía¿Es difícil amar así?Is it difficult to love like this?
- JavierNo, cuando es real es muy fácil.No, when it is real, it is very easy.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry amar, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries amar, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
