I understand that "gustarse" and "caerse bien" both mean "to like":
"Me gusta tu amigo": I like your friend.
"Me cae bien tu amigo": I like your friend.
What are the differences between these two phrases? Do they have different connotations?
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1 Answer
"Caer bien" is strictly non sexual or romantic, and is about personality.
"Gustar" usually (but not always) has romantic or sexual connotations, and is more general; you could like anything about the person (but it's often about personality anyway).
"Gustar" could be used in a non-romantic context when it would be absurd, e.g. if a strictly heterosexual male friend of yours says that some guy "le gusta" you know it's nothing sexual. In any other case I would find it a bit weird.
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1@Gustavson I think you're right, but I don't think that's the usual sense for the phrase. I've tried to give some fast rules but I'm sure there will be some exceptions not covered.– ravenFeb 16, 2020 at 18:27
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Gustar in a non romantic context can be used also when it would not be absurd to like him romantically, it depends on the full context. E.g. 'Tu amigo no me gusta ni un pelo'. If a straight woman says that to another person, a woman that is single.. it would not be absurd to like the guy a tiny bit, but this is not the case usually. In Spanish we rely a lot on the context, how we pronounce words and the tone of the sentence, so this is possible, contradicting your explanation– IriaFeb 17, 2020 at 9:39