Les gustaban or se gustaban??

Question

Hi all, i'm writing a speech and i'm trying to say 'they liked each other but maria's stepmother broke them up'. I've been told that for impersonal cases you use 'se gustaban' to say they liked each other but in this case, it is not impersonal, the characters are known.

So this is the sentence i've tried to write:

'Les gustaban uno al otro pero la madrastra de Maria les rompió'.

Is this correct or should it be se gustaban? and without the uno al otro?

thanks in advance!!

Answer 1

I am guessing this was a couple involved romantically. If this is the case, I wouldn´t use "gustar" at all; "querer" would be more appropriate and natural.

ie: "Se querían pero la madrastra de María les forzó que se cortaran."

:) - Kiwi-Girl, Oct 28, 2012

Stepmothers are not appreciated, she probably meant well. - annierats, Oct 28, 2012

Answer 2

You can say "se gustaban" and also "se gustaban el uno al otro" both are ok, and a better translation for the sentence 'they liked each other but maria's stepmother broke them up' it's this: Se gustaban el uno al otro y la madrastra de Maria los separó.

But you break lovers up, not people who just like each other. - annierats, Oct 28, 2012