Breakdown of Amparamos a cuantos vienen al asilo porque nuestro amor es desinteresado.
ser
to be
nuestro
our
al
to the
porque
because
el amor
the love
venir
to come
cuanto
all that / as much as (relative) / the more/less (in proportional comparisons)
el asilo
shelter
amparar
to protect (to shelter or cover legally)
desinteresado
selfless
a
personal 'a' (marks a human direct object)
Questions & Answers about Amparamos a cuantos vienen al asilo porque nuestro amor es desinteresado.
Why is cuantos used here instead of todos los que?
Cuantos is a universal relative pronoun that means "all those who" or "as many as." At this level, you can use it interchangeably with todos los que or todas las personas que to sound a bit more elevated or literary. It agrees in gender and number with the noun it replaces, which is why it is the masculine plural cuantos here, referring to people in general.
Why is the verb vienen in the indicative mood, rather than the subjunctive?
When you use cuanto (or todo cuanto), the mood of the following verb depends on whether you are talking about an established fact or something hypothetical. Here, vienen is in the indicative because it refers to a routine reality: people actually do come to the shelter, and the speakers protect them. If you were talking about a hypothetical future ("We will protect as many as might come"), you would use the subjunctive: Ampararemos a cuantos vengan.
Why is there an a right before cuantos?
That is the personal a. Even though cuantos is a pronoun, it refers to human beings acting as the direct object of the verb amparamos (we protect). Whenever the direct object of a verb is a person or a group of people, Spanish requires this preposition.
Does desinteresado mean their love is "uninterested"?
This is a tricky false friend! In Spanish, desinteresado usually means "selfless," "altruistic," or "without ulterior motives" (literally, without self-interest). If you want to say someone is simply bored or lacking interest in a topic, you would be more likely to use aburrido or indiferente.
Learn Amparamos a cuantos vienen al asilo porque nuestro amor es desinteresado and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free