Hi Tamaho! Yes, you can say "Te quiero" to a friend but it sounds strong if you simply say "Te quiero", so usually you should add some more words just like you did so that the sentence doesn't sound like "I'm in love with you". Funnily "Te quiero mucho" doesn't sound as strong as "Te quiero" For example you could say: "Eres mi amigo y te quiero" "Te quiero porque eres mi amigo" "Sabes que te quiero" (you can add the name of your friend at the end or at the beginning of this sentence) "Te quiero mucho" (you can add the name of your friend at the end or at the beginning of this sentence, but I wouldn't add the word "amigo" in this case) I hope it helps. Cheers. ^_^

This is really an interesting question. As a latin american male, I don't think is that common to tell a friend straight out, "te quiero." Maybe more common among females. Although, I think as a little kid, it was more common to say, yo quiero mucho a mi amigo/amiga. And indeed, as Rafael mentioned above, by adding mucho, somehow te quiero doesn't sound as "romantic." Now, there are other ways to express this idea in spanish. One that comes to mind, is, estimar. it is really not the same used as English, where it would be translated as, to estimate. But in English, you use to estimate to talk about numbers, or ideas. In spanish, however, it also means, to respect, to be fond of, to think highly, and to appreciate. So all these words combined, and that's estimar. Yo estimo mucho a mi amigo. The English translation would be, I estimate my friend very much, but in English, this does not make any sense. I do have to say, this might be a bit more formal, but I have had male friend who say, "hombre, te estimo mucho." Something else people will say is, I missed you so much, "te extrané mucho." Or another expression, "echar de meno." Te eché de meno, meaning, I missed you. In addition, I have some south American friends who will say, 'hermanito'/'hermanita' or little brother/little sister and that's another way that the idea is conveyed. For example, if i haven't seen them in a long time, and then we meet, they will say, "hermanito, cómo has estado?" Little brother, how have you been?" But indeed, just saying "te quiero" among friends, specially male friends, not as common.

Yes but is more usual to your love or your boyfriend. But to a girl is very normal with friends of the genre girl. Srry for my english xD

Puedes querer a alguien sin estar enamorada, pero hay que dejar bien claro que no es amor lo que sientes por esa persona. Si no es tu novio y para evitar confusiones, puedes decir "Te quiero mucho como amigo".

I agree with Rafael. You can say "te aprecio mucho" too. Using "Te aprecio mucho", your friend won't think that you are in love with him. "Te aprecio mucho/de veras/de verdad", "sabes que te aprecio". "Te tengo en mucha estima" o "te estimo" realmente no se usan en España, son más propios de América. Dependiendo de la nacionalidad de tu amigo, le sonará más natural de una forma o de otra, pero te entenderá igualmente.