Family New relationship Someone you have feelings for Te amo Serious romantic partner Close family members When to Use Te Quiero Te quiero in English would be like the mild version of "I love you", and is also not as romantically charged as te amo, so we usually use it when we want to say that we care about someone. Who to use te quiero with: Hello everyone, in today's vlog we will talk about the differences between "Te quiero" and "Te amo". Learn how they work and when to use them. It's important Peru Spanish. May 30, 2007. #18. What you says in spanish is OK. When you say "yo te quiero" or "te quiero" it means that you apreciate the person you are telling it. But, whe you say "te amo", it means you are telling anyone that you love that person as a lover (a girlfriend or a boyfriend) or like a parent. Each phrase makes a difference in the level of intensity of the affection or the love you express to a person or an object. To avoid uncomfortable confusion, here's a little advice: Te amo: Use it with your significant other. Te quiero: Fits everybody and everything else. The question of when to say "Te quiero" and when to say "Te amo" is a big source of confusion for people learning Spanish. If you want to tell someone you love them in Spanish, what would you say "te amo" or "te quiero"? Short answers for this: It depends on your feelings for that person. It depends on who you are saying it to. CdZpa.