how does one know the difference between te amo and te llamo when spoken?

Question

how does one know the difference between te amo and te llamo when spoken?

• Wow, that's a great question. It makes me remember Isle of View. - Goyo Sep 11, 2009
• that is a great question it makes me wonder if there is other words like that - brebre_wazup Sep 11, 2009

Answer 1

In situations like that it is context but mistakes do happen. They happen in English too but because you speak English natively they are less frequent. There is a name for misunderstandings relating to these things: "mondegreen." It is the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase. Remember in the song "Bad Moon Rising" where John Fogerty's lyric is "There's a bad moon on the rise." 80% of my generation heard "there's a bathroom on the right."

Remember the movie Pretty Woman when Julia Roberts was asked what she thought of the opera and she said ït was so great I almost peed my pants" and when the woman who asked looked confused, Richard Gere covered her gaff saying: "She said she liked it almost as much as Pirates of Penzance."

If it weren't for context, one could never tell the difference at all between the preterit tense of "ser" (fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos and fueron) and the preterit tense of "ir" (fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos and fueron).

• This is one of the funniest posts I've ever read here. - Melinda112 Sep 11, 2009
• Exactly! - Robear Sep 11, 2009
• Yes, I too watched Pretty Woman. Too funny!! - Jason7R Sep 11, 2009

Answer 2

If they sound the same you have to go by what context they are used in. Just like in english, for example, to, too, and two.

• They don't sound the same though. Just my two cents. - Jason7R Sep 11, 2009

Answer 3

one is te amo and one is te "yamo".

Answer 4

If they sound the same you have to go by what context they are used in. Just like in english, for example, to, too, and two.

Well, not just like your case in English (for which the three spellings really correspond to a single pronunciation). To the best of my knowledge, nowhere in the Spanish-speaking world, are "te amo" and "te llamo" pronounced the same. The problem then becomes one of learning to hear the difference. depending on the region the "ll" in "te llamo" may be pronounced in various ways but it is pronounced and "te amo" and "te llamo" are minimal pairs.

Answer 5

And in some dialects, "te llamo" would sound like "te jamo"!

Answer 6

There is no mistaking "a" and "ll" the "a" is close to the "o" in cot (english word) and the "ll" is either a "y" sound as in the y sound in yellow or the "'j" in jump for some parts of the spanish speaking world. I would like to say it is hard to find just the right sound in English to compare to sounds in Spanish but this is as close as I can get. Hope this helps.

• I have heard ll sometimes sound like the g in beige, too. - webdunce Sep 12, 2009