What’s the difference between ‘yo también’ and ‘a mí también’?

One of the things that make Spanish so hard to learn is that when translating from English into Spanish, you have to choose between more than one word or structure. And even though you would think this is common in advanced topics, the truth is that you can see it in very simple things. An excellent example of this is saying ‘me too’ in Spanish. As a result, for many new-Spanish speakers knowing the difference between ‘yo también’ and ‘a mí también’ is very challenging. Therefore, it’s very common that they confuse these structures and use them wrong.

So, what’s the difference between ‘yo también’ and ‘a mí también’? ‘Yo también’ and ‘a mí también’ means ‘me too’. However, ‘A mí también’ is used when you are the indirect object of a positive sentence. Therefore, you can use it with verbs like ‘gustar’, ‘encantar’ and ‘interesar’. 

Being able to tell the difference between ‘yo también’ and ‘a mí también’ is very important for having a fluent and natural conversation in Spanish. In this post, you are going to find out more about these structures as well as some examples that are going to help you understand them better. By the end of it, you will feel more confident about using ‘yo también’ and ‘a mí también’ correctly. 

Watch the Yo también vs a mí también video lesson

What’s the difference between ‘yo también’ and ‘a mí también’?

Although learning to agree or to say ‘me too’ is one of the most fundamental topics when learning a language, it can become a real nightmare if the language that you are learning is Spanish. Since we have to choose between ‘yo también’ and ‘a mí también’ it’s easy for new-Spanish speakers to make some mistakes. 

If you are trying to understand the difference between ‘yo también’ and ‘a mí también’, it is very likely that you have already learned the verb ‘gustar’. So what does ‘gustar’ have to do with this? As you may know, ‘gustar’ is a very special verb in Spanish. In other words, it works very different in comparison with other verbs. ‘A mí también’ is the expression that you use with verbs like ‘gustar’. 

A mí también me gustan los perros I like the dogs too

So as you can imagine, ‘yo también’ is used with the rest of the verbs. For instance:

Yo también vi esa película I watched that movie too

As you can see, the difference between these Spanish phrases is not the meaning, rather the verbs and the structures they work with. 

When to use ‘Yo también’

‘Yo también’ is the literal translation of ‘me too’. As a result, you use this phrase to agree with a positive statement that another person said. But how do you know that you need to use ‘yo también’ instead of ‘a mí también’? 

We use ‘yo también’ when we are the subject of the sentence. In other words, it means that you are the person who is doing the action. Let’s see some examples, so you have a better understanding:

Spanish	English
Tu amigo: Ayer fui a ver una película.  Tú: ¡Yo también! ¿A qué hora fuiste?	Your friend: Yesterday, I went to see a movie.  You: Me too! What time did you go?

Notice that ‘Yo también’ is used to agree with your friend’s statement. What was the action? Watching the movie. Who watched it? (subject) Both you and your friend. Here are other examples with ‘yo también’. 

Yo también trabajo en la tarde I work in the afternoon too

Yo también me baño antes de ir a la escuela I take a shower before leaving to school too

Notice that we also use ‘yo también’ with both standard and reflexive verbs. If you are struggling with reflexive verbs, here’s an excellent guide that can help you with that topic. And don’t forget that if you want to express that somebody else agrees with a positive statement, you just need to change the personal pronoun. 

Spanish	English
Tu amigo: Ayer fui a ver una película.  Tú: Carla y María también, pero yo me quedé en mi casa.	Your friend: Yesterday, I went to see a movie.  You: Carla and María went to the movies too. I stayed home, though.

When to use ‘A mí también’?

Although both ‘yo también’ and ‘a mí también’ can be confusing, new-Spanish speakers tend to use more ‘yo también’ and they forget to use ‘a mí también’. Even though the meaning of the sentence doesn’t change and native people are going to understand you, the truth is that using ‘yo también’ instead of ‘a mí también’ is not going to make sound natural and fluent. 

As mentioned before, the main difference between these phrases is the structures and the verbs they work with. In the previous section, we established that ‘yo también’ is used when you are the subject of the sentence — furthermore, this phrase work with standard and reflexive verbs. 

A mí también and the indirect object

‘A mí también’ only works with one type of structure: when you are the indirect object of a sentence. In other words, when you receive an action, feeling, or object. Let’s see some examples:

Spanish	English
Example 1 Tu amigo: ¡La maestra me suspendió! Tú: ¡A mí también!	Example 1 Your friend: The teacher suspended me!  You: She suspended me too!

So let’s break this sentence. Who is the subject? (In other words, who suspended you?) The teacher. Who was affected by this action? You. As a result, in this case, you are the indirect object.  Here are some other examples that follow this same pattern. 

A mí también me compraron unos zapatos They bought me shoes too

A ella también la suspendió la maestra The teacher suspended her too

Take Note: Notice that in English sometimes you have to be more explicit when agreeing with somebody. However, in Spanish, we can say ‘yo también’ or ‘a mí también’ and the context will help us understand what’s going on. 

“A mí también me gusta”

As mentioned before, ‘a mí también’ is used with verbs like ‘gustar’. Although they don’t follow the normal Spanish sentence structure, with verbs like ‘gustar’ you are always the indirect object (the subject it’s causing a reaction on you). As a result, if you want to agree with a positive statement, you need to use ‘A mí también’.

Spanish	English
Example 2 Tu amigo: Juan me agrada Tú: ¡A mí también! Example 3 Tu amigo: Me interesa la políticaTú: ¡A mí también!	Example 2 Your friend: I like Juan You: I like him too Example 3 Your friend: I’m interested in politics You: Me too!

There’s no doubt that in a normal conversation, you won’t have time to analyze a sentence and determining if you are an indirect object. However, the fastest way to do this is identifying if you are the subject of the sentence. In other words, did you do the action? Or you were affected by it?

Wrapping Up

In this post, we saw the difference between ‘yo también’ and ‘a mí también’ and, as we learned, both structures mean ‘me too’. However, you can’t use them interchangeably since each one of them works with different verbs and constructions. Just like other Spanish structures, mastering ‘yo también’ and ‘a mí también’ is a matter of practice, but here are some key points that you shouldn’t forget:

• Both are used to agree with a positive statement that another person said. 
• ‘Yo también’ works with normal and reflexive verbs. 
• You use ‘a mí también’ when you are the indirect object of a positive statement and you agree with it. 

Yo también compré esos zapatos I bought those shoes too

A mí también me gustan esos zapatos I like those shoes too

Related Questions

What’s the difference between ‘mi tambien’ and ‘yo tambien’? Many new-Spanish speakers confuse ‘mi también’ with ‘yo también’. However, ‘mi también’ is broken Spanish and, as a result, you shouldn’t use it. It can be confused with ‘A mí también’ which is similar to ‘yo también’ but is only used with verbs like ‘gustar’, ‘encantar’ and ‘interesar’. 

What’s the opposite of ‘también? ‘Tampoco’ is the negative form of ‘También’. Therefore, in Spanish, we use it to agree with negative sentences. For instance:

Juan no compró los libros. Yo tampoco los compré. Juan didn’t buy the books. Neither did I.