Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Me encanta ver el horizonte desde la playa. - I love to see the horizon from the beach.

In Spanish, encantar works like gustar: the thing that pleases or delights is the grammatical subject, and the person who feels that pleasure is an indirect object, shown with me / te / le / nos / os / les.

Me encanta ver el horizonte… = Seeing the horizon… delights me.
- ver el horizonte desde la playa = subject
- me = indirect object (“to me”)
- encanta = 3rd person singular, agreeing with that subject

If you said yo encanto, it would mean I enchant / I delight (someone), which is not what you want here. You want something pleases me, not I please someone.

Who is the subject of encanta in this sentence?

The subject is the whole action ver el horizonte desde la playa (seeing the horizon from the beach).

So the structure is:

[A mí] me encanta = I love / it delights me
ver el horizonte desde la playa = the thing that delights you (the subject)

Grammatically, it’s like:

Me encanta [esto] = This delights me.
Here, esto is replaced by ver el horizonte desde la playa.

Why is it encanta and not encantan?

Encantar agrees with what you love, not with the person who loves it.

Use encanta (singular) when the subject is singular:
- Me encanta ver el horizonte. (Seeing the horizon delights me.)
- Me encanta el chocolate.
Use encantan (plural) when the subject is plural:
- Me encantan las playas. (Beaches delight me / I love beaches.)
- Me encantan los atardeceres.

In your sentence, the subject is ver el horizonte desde la playa, which is one single action, so encanta is singular.

Could I say me encanto ver el horizonte?

No. Me encanto is reflexive and means I love myself (or I am delighted with myself), which changes the meaning completely.

Me encanta ver el horizonte… = I love seeing the horizon…
Me encanto = I delight myself / I think I’m wonderful (and it sounds quite odd in everyday Spanish)

For liking things, always use me encanta / me gusta (3rd person forms), not me encanto / me gusto.

Why is it me encanta ver and not me encanta a ver?

In Spanish, when one verb is followed directly by another verb as its object, the second verb goes in the infinitive without a:

Me encanta ver el horizonte.
Quiero ver el horizonte.
Puedo ver el horizonte.

You only use a before an infinitive in specific structures (like al ver = on seeing, empezar a ver = to start seeing). Here, encantar simply takes an infinitive directly: encanta ver, not encanta a ver.

Could I say me encanta mirando el horizonte desde la playa instead of ver?

Not in the same way. In Spanish, you normally use the infinitive after verbs like gustar / encantar:

Natural: Me encanta ver el horizonte.
Sounds wrong/unnatural: Me encanta mirando el horizonte.

The gerund (mirando) is used more like English “while/when I’m watching”:

Me siento muy bien mirando el horizonte desde la playa.
= I feel really good while I’m watching the horizon from the beach.

So for “I love doing X”, Spanish prefers me encanta + infinitive: me encanta ver, me encanta leer, me encanta viajar, etc.

Why do we need el in el horizonte and la in la playa?

Spanish uses definite articles (el / la / los / las) much more often than English when talking generally about things:

Me encanta ver el horizonte.
Literally: I love to see *the horizon.*
Me encanta la playa.
Literally: I love *the beach.*

Here, el horizonte and la playa sound natural and generic, not overly specific. You can drop an article sometimes (especially in very general statements like me encanta playa in some informal slogans), but standard, natural Spanish here is with el / la.

So: Me encanta ver el horizonte desde la playa is the normal phrasing.

Why is it desde la playa and not de la playa?

Desde and de can both translate as from, but desde emphasizes the starting point or vantage point more clearly.

desde la playa = from the beach (as a viewpoint / starting point)
de la playa can mean from the beach, but is more neutral and in many contexts might be understood as of the beach (origin, belonging, etc.).

When you talk about seeing something from a place, Spanish often prefers desde:

Ver el horizonte desde la playa.
Mirar la ciudad desde la montaña.
Trabajar desde casa.

So desde la playa here is exactly right: it highlights that the beach is the place you’re looking from.

Can I change the word order, like Desde la playa me encanta ver el horizonte?

Yes, that word order is possible and correct:

Me encanta ver el horizonte desde la playa.
Desde la playa, me encanta ver el horizonte.

The most neutral, everyday order is the original one. Moving desde la playa to the beginning adds a bit of stylistic emphasis on the location, but it’s still natural.

Just don’t separate me from encanta:

❌ Desde la playa encanta me ver el horizonte. (wrong)
✅ Desde la playa me encanta ver el horizonte. (correct)

What’s the difference between ver el horizonte and mirar el horizonte?

Ver = to see (perceive visually, more passive)
Mirar = to look at / to watch (more active, intentional)

Me encanta ver el horizonte.
= I love seeing the horizon (simply having it in your field of vision).
Me encanta mirar el horizonte.
= I love looking at the horizon (more intentional, focusing your gaze).

Both are correct here. Ver feels a bit more neutral; mirar emphasizes the act of looking. In everyday speech, either one would be understood and acceptable.

Can I add a mí and say A mí me encanta ver el horizonte desde la playa?

Yes, and that’s very common. A mí is used for emphasis or contrast:

Me encanta ver el horizonte desde la playa.
= I love seeing the horizon from the beach. (neutral)
A mí me encanta ver el horizonte desde la playa.
= I (personally) love seeing the horizon from the beach. (emphasizing me)

You’d often use a mí if you’re contrasting with others:

A mí me encanta ver el horizonte desde la playa, pero a él no le gusta nada.
= I love seeing the horizon from the beach, but he doesn’t like it at all.

How would I say “I loved seeing the horizon from the beach” in the past?

You keep the structure and just change encanta to the past:

Me encantó ver el horizonte desde la playa.

Notes:

Me encantó = preterite (simple past), one specific time:
I loved it (on that occasion).
Me encantaba ver el horizonte desde la playa.
= I used to love seeing the horizon from the beach / I loved it (habitually).

So:

One specific trip: Me encantó ver el horizonte desde la playa.
A repeated habit: Siempre que iba, me encantaba ver el horizonte desde la playa.

Is there a softer, less intense way to say this than me encanta?

Yes. Me encanta is quite strong, like “I love it”. For something a bit milder, like “I really like”, use me gusta mucho:

Me encanta ver el horizonte desde la playa.
= I love seeing the horizon from the beach.
Me gusta mucho ver el horizonte desde la playa.
= I really like seeing the horizon from the beach.

Both are very natural; choose me encanta for stronger enthusiasm, me gusta mucho for a bit less intensity.