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"¡Yo les quiero mucho!"

"¡Yo les quiero mucho!"

1
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In my Spanish 2 class we're reading the short story Patricia va a California, and I came across a phrase I couldn't translate: "Yo les quiero mucho". Looking up individual words, it seems as though it would translate to, "I them want much," but of course that can't be right. The closest thing I can think of that would roughly make sense is, "I want them a lot," but that doesn't make sense in the context. The paragraph is:

Patricia les da abrazos a todos. Llora un poco porque no va a ver a su familia por unos meses. Les grita:

-"¡Yo les quiero mucho! ¡Adiós!

I'd greatly appreciate any help; thanks!

13164 views
updated Oct 21, 2010
edited by Emeralda
posted by Emeralda

2 Answers

0
votes
  • It is translated to say "I love you all a lot!"
  • The "les" means "to them" or "to you all"
  • That is why the line above reads "les grita:" or "she yells to them"
  • Good example of the two uses of les
updated Oct 21, 2010
posted by alicia8
1
vote

I love you all very much. Seems like leísmo to me, seems like it should be "A ustedes los quiero mucho". But I could be wrong.

updated Sep 14, 2010
posted by jeezzle
Apparently the RAE allows this form of leísmo as a form of respect with Ud. At least that's what La Wikipedia says. - KevinB, Sep 14, 2010
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leísmo - KevinB, Sep 14, 2010
Well that is interesting. - jeezzle, Sep 14, 2010