Ich mag... VS ... gefällt mir
Ich lerne Deutsche, aber ich habe ein Problem. Was ist der Unterschied zwischen "Ich mag dich" und "Du gefällst mir"?
Are they the same? Or is any one of these two case-specific? Thank you!
It depends on the context. In this case I have to assume you are addressing a woman: I like you. / You look good to me.
Without this extra information they do have the same meaning:
("ich mag etwas" / "mir gefällt etwas")
Ich mag diese Aussicht.
Mir gefällt diese Aussicht.
Ich mag dich:
Ich liebe dich.
Du passt zu mir.
Du bist interessant.
Es gefällt mir, mit dir zusammen zu sein.
Du gefällst mir:
Du bist schön.
Du siehst gut aus.
Ich mag es, wie du aussiehst.
Ich mag... VS ... gefällt mir
Ich lerne Deutsch, aber ich habe ein Problem. Was ist der Unterschied zwischen "Ich mag dich" und "Du gefällt mir"?
Are they the same? Or is any one of these two case-specific? Thank you!
Basically they do have the same literal meaning. They express that you like something. As a native, it is pretty hard to tell when to use which one. It really depends on the context and the intention.
I'd say that you can always use "mögen" instead of "gefallen" but not vice-versa.
I like to sleep all day.
Mir gefällt es, den ganzen Tag zu schlafen.
Ich mag es, den ganzen Tag zu schlafen.
I like that dress.
Das Kleid gefällt mir.
Ich mag das Kleid.
It's like saying every square is a rectangle but not every rectangle is a square. In this case "gefallen" is the rectangle and "mögen" the square. Don't really know how to say it in another way.
Just remember that in cases like confessing your deeper feelings towards someone (a friend or a love) or something you can only use "mögen" or even higher "lieben"
I like you.
Ich mag dich.
In such a case "Du gefällst mir." would mean something different.
Imagine this situation. You meet someone at a party and they really know how to party well, then you could say "Haha, ich hätte nie gedacht, dass du so gut feiern kannst. Du gefällst mir." -> " Haha, I never thought you were so good at partying. I like you." There are no deeper feelings in that.
But you could also say the same with mögen which is like the square-rectangle relation.
I hope this didn't cause too much confusion. :D
