Word that sounds like i love you

i love you in different languages

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Last updated:

December 28, 2022

We English speakers are guiltiest of using “I love you” way too lightly. 

Elsewhere in the world, the word “love” is a heavy, serious and meaningful thing—definitely not to be delivered at the drop of a hat.

If you’re wondering how lovers from around the world and its diverse cultures express love and affection, then you’re in the right place.

Let’s discover how to say I love you in different languages.

Contents

  • 1. French: Je t’aime
  • 2. Spanish: Te amo
  • 3. German: Ich liebe Dich
  • 4. Chinese: 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ)
  • 5. Japanese: 愛してる (aishi teru)
  • 6. Korean: 사랑해 (saranghae)
  • 7. Arabic: ٲنَا بحِبَّك (ana bahebak)
  • 8. Hindi: मैं तुमसे प्यार करता हुँ (main tumse pyar karta hoon)
  • 9. Greek: Σ΄αγαπώ (se agapo)
  • 10. Italian: Ti amo
  • 11. Russian: Я тебя люблю (ya tebya liubliu)
  • 12. Portuguese: Eu te amo
  • 13. Hebrew: אני אוהב אותך (ani ohev otakh)
  • 14. Tagalog: Mahal kita
  • 15. Swahili: Nakupenda
  • 16. Vietnamese: Anh yêu em
  • 17. Turkish: Seni seviyorum
  • 18. Polish: Kocham cię
  • 19. Cheyenne: Nemehotatse
  • 20. Inuktitut: ᓇᒡᓕᒋᕙᒋᑦ (nagligivaget)


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1. French: Je t’aime

What better way to start this amorous list than with French? People all over the world travel to Paris to fall in love. If your paramour is of the French persuasion, just say, “Je t’aime.

You could cap the line with “my darling” at the end as a flourish. Use “ma chérie” if you’re saying it to a woman or “mon chéri” if you’re confessing your love to a man.

2. Spanish: Te amo

Spanish speakers can be incredibly passionate. You can taste that passion in their food, hear it in their music and definitely see that in their dances, like the salsa.

The words “te amo” perfectly encapsulate the spirit of lovers lost in each other’s arms. It’s an informal pronoun that expresses real intimacy. Spanish speakers don’t toss “amo” around lightly—it’s reserved for the real deal.

To put “forever” in there, you can say, “Te amo para siempre.”

3. German: Ich liebe Dich

Contrary to common misconceptions, the Deutsche do know how to fall in love. Big time!

So, if you ever in this lifetime find yourself falling for a handsome or beautiful (or beautifully handsome) German, be prepared to say, “Ich liebe Dich.

Have this one in the bag. You never know what wonderful kind of person you’ll run into in the streets of Berlin.

4. Chinese: 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ)

The Chinese have a saying: Lovers’ hearts are linked together and always beat as one.

But since it’s from a poem about lost love, you might avoid it all together and just say, “wǒ ài nǐ.

Just note that “I love you” is a little too strong in Chinese culture. Parents and children rarely say this to each other.

So letting out an “I like you” equivalent or wǒ xǐ huān nǐ is highly recommended.

5. Japanese: 愛してる (aishi teru)

“Love” is a very strong word in Japanese culture and expressions of love are not very common—apart from in television dramas.

So, only use “aishi teru” when you’re really committed to the person you’re telling it to. The Japanese don’t take that one lightly.

But if you really want to tell your partner how much you like them, you can say, “suki da,” which means “I like you.”

6. Korean: 사랑해 (saranghae)

You’ve probably heard of this one if your usual fare is Korean dramas and movies.

When you say, “Saranghae,” the answer you would be looking for would probably be “Judo sarang haeyo!” (I love you, too!)

There’s always the chance that the other person might respond with “Chin-goo ro namgo shipuyo.” (I want to stay friends).

But if they say, “Je boomonimkge insa deuriruh gayo” (I’d like you to meet my parents), then… congratulations!

7. Arabic: ٲنَا بحِبَّك (ana bahebak)

There are around 200 million Arabic speakers, with a rich culture that dates back millennia.

Arab women may be more conservative than you’re accustomed to (depending on your country and culture of origin), but make no mistake, they’re as brilliant and headstrong as any other modern woman. That’s why you need to be prepared to declare your love properly.

No matter what Arabic-speaking person you fall in love with, “ana bahebak” are the magic words.

8. Hindi: मैं तुमसे प्यार करता हुँ (main tumse pyar karta hoon)

Most marriages in India are arranged. But don’t fret, many Indians also say that love must be part of the equation.

And, hey, we’re really getting ahead of ourselves here talking about weddings (which, by the way, last three days).

The bottom line is that “main tumse pyar karta hoon” is the phrase you need if you’re a man. “Main tumse pyar karti hoon” is what you use if you’re a woman.

9. Greek: Σ΄αγαπώ (se agapo)

After a long day philosophizing and mesmerizing the crowds, Socrates would have to walk home to his equally argumentative wife. Ever wondered how he would say I love you to her?

Se agapo.” Those are the words Xanthippe would hear.

And she would probably say, “Mou leípeis,” which means “I miss you” in Greek but translates much closer to “You are missing from me.”

These words are all still used today in modern Greece.

10. Italian: Ti amo

We come now to the language of Casanova himself—Italian—which is considered by many to be the true language of love.

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Italians, regardless of gender, all speak one of the most passionate languages around. They will charm their way into your heart.

So when you hear, “Ti amo,” you’d better watch out—that Italian is out to make you fall in love.

11. Russian: Я тебя люблю (ya tebya liubliu)

From Russian with love. I’m sure James Bond (you know, 007) would agree that Russians know their way around the arts of love and seduction.

Take a page from them and learn I love you in Russian. Say the last word three times fast, and it’ll start to sound like “love, love, love.”

12. Portuguese: Eu te amo

When it comes to lists of the most romantic languages, Portuguese somehow always makes the cut. So take advantage of this and learn this ultimate phrase for expressing love in Portuguese. But take your time in saying it—it’s not a phrase that you would say during casual dating!

Another way to make a Portuguese lover swoon would be to proclaim that you really dig them with “Eu te curto muito.

13. Hebrew: אני אוהב אותך (ani ohev otakh)

Traditional views on love connected with Hebrew would point to love as an action—a solemn lifetime commitment.

And they do have the vocabulary for it. In Hebrew, expressions of love would differ depending on who is confessing love.

If you’re saying I love you to a woman,” you’d say, “Ani ohevotakh.

On the other hand, if you’re saying I love you to a man, you’d say, “Ani ohevet otkha.

14. Tagalog: Mahal kita

Tagalog is the language spoken in the Philippines.

Mahal kita” is used no matter your gender or the gender of your significant other. Although it’s mostly spoken in a romantic context, the phrase is sometimes used to express love to family members.

If you want to increase the implied intensity of that love, and mean that you really, really love the person, you can say, “Mahal na mahal na mahal kita.” 

15. Swahili: Nakupenda

Swahili is the most popular African language, with more than ten million speakers.

To say I love you in Swahili, you just need to know “nakupenda.” The longer form of this is “ninakupenda,” but it’s common to drop the “ni-.” “Nakupenda” can be used in a more general sense for anyone you care deeply about.

You can even add more intensity to it by saying, “Nakupenda sana.” (I love you very much).

16. Vietnamese: Anh yêu em

In Vietnamese, there’s a special word that expresses a deep kind of love: yêu. It’s meant for someone who you’re married to or want to be with for life.

For the full sentence, it gets trickier because you have to consider gender. If you’re a man professing your love to a woman,  you can use “anh yêu em.” For women talking to their husbands, this can be switched to “em yêu anh.”

17. Turkish: Seni seviyorum

Need the right phrase to speak directly to the heart of a Turkish significant other? Then say you love them with “Seni seviyorum.” The verb seviyorum is in the present tense, so this literally means “I am loving you.”

If you’re still in the earlier stages of dating, “Senden hoşlanıyorum” is a milder phrase to mean that you like someone romantically, usually when you’re about to get into a relationship with them.

18. Polish: Kocham cię

Did you know that Poland actually has a city of love where you can find St. Valentine’s relics? Flowers also have a specific meaning based on their color, with red flowers and roses being specifically romantic.

Here’s a tip to score with a beloved in Polish: learn how to say, “Kocham cię.” It’s a serious romantic phrase for expressing your love, so reserve it for someone who’s really special!

19. Cheyenne: Nemehotatse

The Cheyenne are a Native American tribe that lives in the Great Plains of Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota.

The Native Americans have a saying: Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart.

And when someone does capture your heart, sweep them off their feet with “Nemehotatse,” the Cheyenne way of saying I love you. Use it only when you really, truly love someone.

20. Inuktitut: ᓇᒡᓕᒋᕙᒋᑦ (nagligivaget)

We reserved the Inuit way of saying I love you for last to prove that, even at the ends of the Earth, even in the coldest places, the warmth of love and the heat of passion rings true.

Even when things are so cold that you cover your entire body several times over. Even when only your noses are exposed to the great outdoors and available for use to greet each other (as is done in the typical Inuit kunik greeting) love still finds a way.

And that rounds up our list of different ways of saying I love you.

If you want to communicate with (or really impress) your paramour, why not learn the whole darn language?

As we’ve learned above, there’s more to love than those expressions. Watch foreign movies and listen to international music to see how native speakers truly express their love.

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On the FluentU language learning program, which covers 10 languages listed above, music videos and movie scenes come with interactive subtitles to help you understand romantic phrases in context. 

Together with other learner tools, these allow you to absorb the language as it’s really used by native speakers.

So, go ahead and practice expressing yourself! 


Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)

I Love you in different languages around the world

I LOVE YOU: This simple expression has the power and influence to build lasting impressions, and to change another person’s day or life even. Feeling connection and love is a part of the human experience, something that transcends linguistic and cultural boundaries. On feeling a deep emotional connection, along with being comfortable and vulnerable, I think it is important to express this. If you love someone, why not let them know? Here’s your ultimate guide on how to say I love you in different languages around the world, that is over 100 ways in the most spoken languages of the world.

If you’re looking for how to say the word “LOVE” in other languages, check out this post.

So whether you’re looking to articulate how you feel to that one special person in a different language, or you’re a hopeless romantic pondering the concept of love and its various expressions, or you want to impress a potential love interest with your worldly sophistication, or you’re wondering how feelings are expressed by various cultures and people around the globe -> you’ve come to the right place.

Continue reading to discover the complete list on how to say I love you in different languages.

Did you know:

There is a Global Love Day,
celebrated on the 1st of May each year.

This yearly tradition is commemorated to remind humanity that love is the only energy that is real and that anything can be achieved when we attune our minds to the frequency of unconditional love.

You can learn a whole lot about a region and its cultural traditions based on the language and the way the people express themselves.

We are more interconnected than ever before, and throughout time, one thing that remains is our affinity for love and our manner of professing emotions of affection, desire, admiration, and fondness.

Bottom line, if you love someone, let them know.
Don’t keep people guessing on how you feel.

Click here to also learn how to say:
HELLO and GOODBYE in all languages around the world.

One of the best things and a key benefit of traveling is discovering a little bit of the local language and it’s always a good idea to know a few words in the language of the country you’re exploring.

So whether you find yourself in Africa, Europe, Asia, or America, I’ve got you covered, fellow travel lover. Be sure to bookmark, copy and paste, and save this post on how to say I love you in other languages for future use and ease of reference.

Each language uses different words to express love, however the feeling is usually the same. I love you, je t‘ aime, ich liebe dich, te amo! Let’s get into it lover…. ↓↓

I love you in different languages every language of world

10 Other Ways to Show Love

In addition to saying the words my love in different languages, here are a couple other ways you could show someone how you feel. After all, actions speak louder than words and often the best way to show another that you care is by action.

  1. Write a handwritten note of what they mean to you
  2. Give them a call
  3. Take them out for a drink or meal
  4. Forward a meaningful quote about smiling in love
  5. Send a little gift that has conveys a shared memory together
  6. Give them flowers
  7. Send a random text
  8. Enjoy a spa day together
  9. Send a card or post card via post
  10. Take a day trip or weekend getaway together
  11. Savor a romantic sunset together

Want to learn how to say THANK YOU too? 
Read this guide to say thank you in different languages.

I LOVE YOU IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

Here’s your ultimate guide: 200+ ways on how to say I Love You in different languages around the world.

With pronunciation.

In brackets you will find how to pronounce the word as it can often be difficult to know how to vocalise the word just by reading or looking at the direct translation.

Are you ready to take a trip around the world and learn how to express I love you in a different language?

I have included I love you in all the languages I could think of. If you don’t spot your language, let me know (in the comments) and I will be happy to add it to this list.

Let’s go… Scroll to the bottom for a little bonus! ↓↓

Click here to also learn how to say:
GOOD MORNING, GOOD NIGHT, and FAMILY around the world.

I love you in other language every word

How do you say I LOVE YOU in other languages? I love you in every language of the world here ↓

Speaking of I love you in all languages, here’s how to tell someone they are beautiful in another language:
Beautiful in different languages

Here’s how you say “I Love you” in:

Afrikaans

  • liefde
    — love
  • to say I love you in Afrikaans use either:
    Ek is lief vir jou or ek het jou lief.

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language of Southern Africa mostly derived from Dutch. It developed as Dutch settlers and indigenous African mixed languages beginning in the 17th century.

Today, an estimated 15 to 23 million people call Afrikaans their mother tongue. It is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia and can also be heard in parts of Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Aklan

  • Ginahigugmo ko ikaw

Aklan also known as Aklanon is an Austronesian language spoken by 460,000 Aklanon people in the province of Aklan on the island of Panay in the Philippines.

Albanian

  • dashuri is the Albanian word for love
  • te dua
    — I love you

Albanian is an Indo-European language, spoken mainly in Albania and Kosovo, though it is also spoken in other areas of the Balkans. With about 7.5 million speakers, it comprises an independent branch within the Indo-European languages and is not closely related to any other language in Europe.

Aleut

  • Txin yaxtakuq
    — is the Aleut word for I love you

Aleut or Unangam Tunuu is a member of the Eskimo-Aleut language family, spoken by the Aleut people living on the Alaskan Peninsula, and on the Commander, Aleutian, and Pribilof Islands. It is the only language in the Aleut branch of the Eskimo–Aleut language family.

Alsatian

  • Ich hàbb dir lïab
    — is the Alsatian word for I love you

Alsatian is a West Germanic language spoken by around 900,000 people, mainly in the Alsace region of northeastern France.

Altai

  • Мен сени сӱӱп jадым
    — is the Altai phrase for I love you in all languages, pronounced (men seni syyp ĵadım)

Altai is a language belonging to the Turkic language family and is officially spoken in the Altai Republic of Russia.

Amharic

  • ፍቅር (fik’iri)
    — is the Amharic word for love
  • I love you in Amharic:
    እወድሃለሁ iwedihalehu or afekrishalehou
    for a man

    Ewdeshalehu
    for a woman

    Ewedachihualehu
    for a group of people

Amharic is a Semitic language and the official language of Ethiopia. It can also be heard in Egypt and Eritrea, as well as in Israel, Sweden, Canada, and the United States.

Arabic

حب (Habb)
— This is the general word for love in Arabic and also the the root of the Arabic terms of endearment habib (for men) and habibi (for women). It can be used to describe romantic love, or love for family, things or activities.

عشق (‘Ishq)
— this word is used to describe the feeling you have when the initial love you feel for someone gets deeper. When in the honeymoon phase of love and are feeling a passionate love for someone, ’ishq is the word to use.

شغف (Shaghaf)
— This word is used to describe the feeling of being crazy deep in love with someone. It is reserved for an intense love or lust.

حنان (Hanaan)
— has several meanings, including compassion, care, and tenderness.

How to express your love in a different language and say I love you in Arabic:

  • ahabak أحبك
  • أنا احبك
    translates to: You are the love of mine.
    How it’s pronounced depends on the gender of the person speaking:

    ana ahibbak أنا بحبَك
    as a woman

    ana ahibbik أنا بحبِ
    as a man

There are slight regional variations in pronunciation, too. For example, in Palestine or Jordan, people add a “b” sound to say ‘Ana bahibbak’ (as a woman) or ‘Ana bahebik’ (as a man) or ‘Benhibik’ when saying ‘I love you’ to someone of the same sex as themselves.

If you want to reply to someone that told you they love you, you can use the same terms mentioned and add “Aydan” after it, which means “too”

Arabic (العربية) is a Semitic language spoken by over 420 million people as their first language in areas including North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and other parts of the Middle East. Many more people can also understand it as a second language. Modern Standard Arabic is the liturgical language for 1.6 billion Muslims and is the official written form of the language with the Arabic alphabet, which is written from right to left.

Aragonese

  • T’aimo
    — I love you in Aragonese

Aragonese, or Aragonés, is a language in the Romance language family that is native to Spain and spoken by just over 10, 000 people in the Pyrenees valley of Aragon.

Aramaic

  • ani oheb etkha

Aramaic ארמית is a member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family that originated among the Arameans in the ancient region of Syria. It has a 3,000-year history and is still spoken by small groups of people in different parts of the Middle East.

Arapaho

  • Biixoo3é3en

Arapaho is one of the Plains Algonquian languages from the Algic language family, spoken by the Arapaho of Wyoming and Oklahoma.

Armenian

How to say love in Armenian:

  • սեր
    — love in Armenian, pronounced (ser)
  • Yes sirum yem k’yez or Yes kez sirum em
    — means I love you
  • kezi chat ge sirem
    — often used in Western Armenian

Armenian is an Indo-European language spoken in the Republic of Armenia, as well as in large communities of Armenian diaspora by around 6.7 million people.

Assamese

  • moi tumak val pau
    — I love you in Assamese

Assamese is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the northeast Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language. Native to India and Bangladesh, it is spoken by over 23 million people.

Assyrian

  • Maghbinnakh
  • Makhbannoukh

Assyrian, also known as Syrian or neo Aramaic is the East Semitic dialect that evolved from ancient Akkadian after 1950 B.C. As a Semitic language, it originated from the middle eastern region and is related to Arabic and Hebrew.

Asturian

  • Quiérote

Asturian is a West Iberian Romance language spoken by around 400,000 people in Asturias, Spain.

Australian

  • I love you

Australia has no official language, however Australian English is the variety of English spoken here.

Azerbaijani

  • Sevgi means love
  • how to say I love you in Azerbaijani:
    Mən səni sevirəm
    pronounced MAN sa-NI seh-vi-RAM

Azerbaijani or Azeri is the primary and official language of Azerbaijan by its 8.8 million native speakers. It is also widely spoken in Northern Iran and to a small extent in southern Dagestan, the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia, eastern Turkey, in Shia cities of Iraq, like Karbala and Kirkuk. The language is a Turkic language and is highly intelligible with modern-day Turkish.

Balinese

  • Titiyang tresna sareng ragane

Balinese belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian language family and is spoken by around 3.3 million people on the Indonesian island of Bali as well as the regions of Nusa Penida, Lombok, Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi.

Basque

  • maitasun — love
  • maite zaitut
    is how to say I love you in Basque

Basque (euskara) is a language spoken in the Basque Country (Gipuzkoa, Araba, Bizkaia) and Navarra (in Spain) as well as in the French Basque Country (Labourd, Soule and Basse-Navarre). Linguistically, Basque is a language isolate and is unrelated to the other languages of Europe.

Bashkir

  • мин hине яратам
    — min hine yaratam

Bashkir is an endangered language belonging to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic languages. Closely related to the Tatar and Kazakh languages, it is spoken by around 1.4 million native speakers in Russia, as well as in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, and other neighboring post-Soviet regions.

Bavarian / Austrian German

  • to say I love you in Bavarian use:
    I liab di
  • I mog di narrisch gern
    — means I am crazy about you

Bavarian is a regional dialect of German spoken in the German state of Bavaria, western Austria, and Northeastern Italy by over 14 million people. It uses German grammar, but takes several root words from Latin.

Belarusian

  • Каханне
    — pronounced kachannie is the Belarusina word for love
  • I love you: я цябе кахаю
    pronounced (ja ciabie kachaju)

Belarusian is the official language of Belarus. This East Slavic language is also spoken in Russia, Ukraine and Poland.

Bengali

  • The Bengali noun for love is ভালবাসা.
    — it sounds like (bha-LO-bashah) with the first “b” having a very soft sound.
  • Āmi tōmāẏa bhālōbāsi আমি তোমাকে ভালোবাসি
    pronounced: Amee toe-ma-kee bhalo-bashee translates to I love you different language

Bengali বাংলা is the only official language of Bangladesh, one of the 22 official languages of India, and the sixth most spoken language in the world. It is spoken as a first language by the majority of the population in Bangladesh, as well as people in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Bhojpuri

  • hum tohse pyaar kareni
    — is how you express I love you in Bhojpuri

Bhojpuri is an Indo-Aryan language, considered to be one of the most rapidly growing languages in the world, spoken in northern-eastern India and the Terai region of Nepal.

Bislama

  • Mi lavèm yu

Bislama is an English-based creole language and one of the official languages of the island of Vanuatu with around 10,000 native speakers.

Bodo

  • Love: अननाइ Mwjang mwnnai
  • I love you:
    Ang nwngkou gwsw thwyw or Ang nwngkhou mwjang mwnw

Bodo बर’/बड़ is the Sino-Tibetan language spoken primarily by the Bodo people of Northeast India, Nepal, and Bengal. It is official language of the Bodoland Autonomous region and co-official language of the state of Assam in India.

Bosnian

  • ljubav is the Bosnian word for love
  • I love you is said with:
    Volim te

Bosnian, a south Slavic language of the Indo-European family, is the official language of Bosnia and is essentially the same language as Croatian and Serbian. All three languages used to be known as Serbo-Croatian before the break-up of Yugoslavia.

Brazilian Portuguese

  • The word for love is amar
  • I love you in all languages is expressed with:
    eu te amo
    — pronounced: u tee ah-moh

Brazilian Portuguese (Português do Brasil) is the variety of Portuguese dialect spoken in Brazil. It is spoken by virtually all of the 200 million inhabitants of Brazil and spoken widely across the Brazilian diaspora. European Portuguese differs from the Brazilian variety in pronunciation, as well as in some vocabulary.

Breton

  • Karantez is the word for love
  • To say I love you in Breton use either:
    Karout a ran ac’hanout
    Da garout a ran
    Me az ka

Breton is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language spoken in Brittany in the northwest of France.

Bulgarian

  • Любов
    pronounced (lyubov) is the Bulgarian word for love
  • Обичам те (Obicham te)
    — is how to say I love you

Bulgarian is a South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the country’s only official language and Bulgarian is written with Cyrillic.

Burmese

  • Love in Burmese is hkyithkyinnmayttar
  • I love you:
    မင်းကိုချစ်တယ် mainnkohkyittaal
    — Nga nint ko chit dae
    — Nga nint go chit tel

Burmese is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar where it is an official language and the language of the Bamar people, the country’s principal ethnic group.

Cambodian Khmer

  • ស្នេហា (sne hea) means love in Khmer
  • I love you:
    ខ្ញុំ​ស្រលាញ់​អ្នក khnhom​ sralanh​ anak
    Soro lahn nhee ah

Khmer is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. With over 16 million speakers, it is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language.

Catalan

  • Amor
    — is the word for love in Catalan
  • T’estimo
    — is how you say I love you

Catalan is a Western Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin and named after the medieval Principality of Catalonia, in northeastern of modern Spain. It is the only official language of Andorra, and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Spanish islands, and Valencia.

Cebuano

  • Love: gugma
  • I love you: gihigugma tika

Cebuano, also known as Bisaya or Binisaya, is an Austronesian language spoken in the southern Philippines region in Central Visayas, western parts of Eastern Visayas and the majority of Mindanao.

Chamorro

  • Hu guiaya hao

Chamorro is an Austronesian language, the native and spoken language of the Chamorro people, who are the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands.

Cheyenne

  • Nemehotatset

Cheyenne is the Native American language spoken by the Cheyenne people of the United States. It is part of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne are a Native American tribe that live in the Great Plains of Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota.

Chichewa

  • Love: chikondi
  • I love you:
    Ndimakukonda
    Ndimakukondani

Chichewa, also known as Nyanja, is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa. It is the national language of Malawi and is also spoken in Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Chinese Cantonese

How to say love in Chinese Cantonese:

  • 爱 ài
    — the Chinese word for love
    pronounced (eye)
  • 我愛你 ngóh oi néih
    I love you
    pronounced (Ngo Jung E Nei)

    Cantonese speakers almost never use this exact phrase, as it is considered too formal. Showing love in Chinese culture is by action. Instead, 我鍾意你 is used to express love. Also, you’ll often hear “錫” (kiss) used in place of love, as a form of euphemism instead.

Cantonese is a variety of Chinese originating from the city of Guangzhou and its surrounding area in Southeastern China. Belonging to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages, it is the traditional prestige variety of the Yue Chinese dialect group, which has about 68 million native speakers.

Chinese Mandarin

How to say I love you in Chinese Mandarin:

  • 爱 (ài)
    — the Chinese word for love
    pronounced (eye)
  • 我爱你 Wǒ ài nǐ
    I love you, pronounced (wuh eye nee)

    Saying I love you is taken seriously in Chinese culture. Couples only use this once they’re in a committed relationship and parents and children rarely say this to each other.

    I like you is more commonly used as: wǒ xǐ huān nǐ

Mandarin Chinese is the official language of Mainland China and Taiwan, and is one of the official languages of Singapore. Mandarin is often placed first in lists of languages by number of native speakers with almost a billion speakers.

Cimbrian

  • Ich liibe-dich

Cimbrian is a language of Germanic origin spoken by more than 2,000 people in Northern Italy. It is related to Bavarian and refers to any of several local Upper German varieties spoken in the region, with the speakers of the language referred to as Zimbern.

Cornish

  • My a’th kar

Cornish is a Southwestern Brittonic language that forms part of the Celtic language family. It became an extinct language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century and underwent a revival in the 20th century.

Corsican

  • Love in Corsican: Amore
  • I love you:

    Ti tengu caru
    (said by a female)

    Ti tengu cara
    (said by a male)

Corsican is a Romance language from the Italo-Dalmatian family that is spoken predominantly on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, one of the best islands to visit. Corsican is closely related to Tuscan and to the Florentine-based Italian.

Croatian

Say I love you in Croatian:

  • ljubav
    — is the Croatian word for love
  • I love you: Volim te

Croatian or Hrvatski is a South Slavic language spoken mainly in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, some parts of Serbia, and the neighbouring countries by about 5.5 million people.

Czech

  • Love: láska or milovat
  • I love you: Miluji tě

Czech is a Western Slavic language which is mutually intelligible with Slovak. It is mainly spoken in the Czech Republic with over 10,5 million speakers.

Other languages I Love you different language

Danish

  • Love: kærlighed or elsker
  • Jeg elsker dig
    — used to say I love you in Danish and pronounced (yay els-ka dah)

Danish is a Scandinavian language and the only official language of the Kingdom of Denmark. Closely related to Swedish and Norwegian, it is spoken in Denmark and in some parts of Greenland and northern Germany.

Dhivehi

  • varah loabi vey
    — is the phrase for I love you in Dhivehi

Dhivehi or Maldivian is an Indo-Aryan language spoken on the islands of Maldives where it is an official language.

Dogri

  • Minjo tere naal pyar hega

Dogri is a Northern Indo-Aryan language spoken by around five million people in India, mainly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir.

Dutch

  • liefde
    — the Dutch word meaning love
  • Ik hou van jou
    — I love you in Dutch, pronounced as (ick how fon yow)

Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by about 27 million people world-wide mostly in the Netherlands and northern Belgium.

Dzongkha

  • nga gi che lu ga

Dzonkha or Bhutanese is the sole official and national language of the Kingdom of Bhutan. This Sino-Tibetan language is spoken by over half a million people in Bhutan and is written with the Tibetan alphabet.

Elfdalian

  • Ig tyttjer um dig
  • ig elsker dig

Elfdalian also called Övdalian is a North Germanic Indo-European language spoken by up to 3,000 people in the Älvdalen region of Sweden.

English

  • I love you

Ten other way to express love in English:

  1. I adore you
  2. I’ve got feelings for you
  3. I care about you
  4. I’m crazy about you
  5. I am in love with you
  6. I’ve fallen for you
  7. You turn me on
  8. I’m head over heels for you
  9. You are worth the wait
  10. We are soulmates

English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in Anglo-Saxon England in the early Middle Ages. It is spoken in many countries around the world with over 375 million native speakers. English is the second most spoken language, and the most international language in the world.

Estonian

  • Love: armastus
  • I love you: Ma armastan sind

Estonian is a Finno-Ugric language spoken as the official language in Estonia. It is closely related to Finnish.

Faroese

  • elska or kærleiki is the word for love
  • I love you: Eg elski teg

Faroese is a North Germanic language spoken as a first language by Faroe Islanders, residing on the Faroe Islands and in other areas, mainly Denmark.

Farsi / Persian

  • عشق (eshgh)
    — the Persian word meaning love
    pronounced (EH-shk) or simply (EH-sh)
  • Different language of I love you in Persian:

    Dooset dâram دوست دارم

    Also…

    Most Formal: Man Ashegh e To Hastam
    Formal: دوستت دارم Doostat Daram
    Colloquial: عاشقتم Ashegh et am

Persian is an ancient language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. It is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and used officially within Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.

Fijian

  • Au domoni iko
    — used to say I love you, in a romantic setting.
  • Au lomani iko
    — used to express love for family or other close relations.

Fijian is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family. It is an official language of Fiji spoken by some 350,000–450,000 ethnic Fijians as a native language.

Finnish

  • Rakkaus is the Finnish word for love
  • Minä rakastan sinua
    — is how to say I love you in Finnish, pronounced (mee-na rah-ka-stahn see-noo-ah)

Finnish is a Finno-Ugric language spoken only in Finland as the official language and by ethnic Finns elsewhere in Scandinavia.

Flemish

  • To say I love you in Flemish, use:

    ik zie je graag
    — ik hou van je

Flemish is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language, native to the historical region of Flanders in northern Belgium. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch, Belgian Dutch, or Southern Dutch spoken by over 6 million people.

French

  • (l’)amour is the French word for love
    it’s pronounced like (ahm-OOR)

How to say I love you in French:

  • Je t’aime
    — the standard way of expressing love, pronounced (Zhuh tem)
  • Je t’adore
    — used to say, I adore you
  • T’es l’amour de ma vie
    — translates to ‘you’re the love of my life’ and is used to express romantic love to your significant other
  • Je suis fou amoureux de toi
    — If you want to be dramatic and say ‘I am madly in love with you’
  • Mon coeur bat la chamade pour toi
    — another love expression meaning ‘My heart beats loudly for you’

French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family spoken by over 354 million people in France and around the world. It is the third most spoken language in Europe, the official language of 29 countries, spoken in parts of Africa, North America, and South America.

Take that special someone to the City of Love and stay at one of these best Eiffel Tower view hotels.

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Frisian

  • Love: Leafde
  • I love you in Frisian:
    Ik hald fan dy

The Frisian languages are a closely related group of Germanic languages, spoken by about 500,000 Frisian people, who live on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany.

Friulian

  • Ti vuei ben

Friulian or Friulan is a Romance language of the Rhaeto-Romance family. It is spoken in the Friuli region of northeastern Italy with around 600,000 total speakers.

Fula

  • N’jaraama

Fula, also referred to as Fulani or Fulah, is a Senegambian branch of the Niger-Congo language family spoken by more than 40 million people in Central and West Africa.

Galician

  • Quérote

Galician is a Romance language spoken by around 2.4 million people in Galicia, a region in northwestern Spain, where it is the official language.

Georgian

  • სიყვარული siq’varuli
  • მიყვარხარ mikvarhar
    — I love you in Georgian

Georgian is the official language of Georgia and the country’s most widely spoken language with over 4.1 million people.

German

  • (die) Liebe
    — the German noun that translates to love
    It’s pronounced like (LEE-buh)

How to say I love you in German:

  • Ich habe dich gerne
    — used to tell someone you love them in an ‘I care for you’ kind of way.
  • Ich hab dich lieb
    — used for family and friends as this translates to, ‘I have love for you’.
  • Ich liebe dich
    — this is solely used to express love between lovers.
    descended from Middle High German, pronounced as (ik lee-bah dik)

German Deutsch is the official language of both Germany and Austria and one of the three official languages of Switzerland. German belongs to the West Germanic group of the Indo-European language family. One of the major languages of the world, German is a native language to almost 100 million people worldwide and the most widely spoken native language in the European Union.

Gilbertese Kiribati

  • I tangiriko

Gilbertese, also called Kiribati, is an Austronesian Oceanic language spoken mainly in Kiribati, but also on the islands of Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

Greek

Greek has three main words for love:

  • Έρωτας (Erotas) 
    — this refers only to romantic love or dating. Known as Έρως (Eros) in Ancient Greek, it is the root of the English word erotic
  • Aγάπη (Agape)
    — the Greek noun for love, pronounced as (ah-GAH-pee). In modern Greek, it’s used to express love for family or a romantic partner. In Ancient Greek, this word described a spiritual or charitable love, for example the love that God has for man.
  • Φιλία (Philia)
    not used as often today as it was in Ancient Greek, this is the general word for non-romantic love between equals, such as between friends and family, or the love for activities.

How to say I love you in Greek:

  • Σ΄αγαπώ Se agapó
    — pronounced (seg-app-oh)

Greek (ελληνικά) belongs to the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Greece, the islands of Greece, and Cyprus an an official language.

It has the longest documented history of any living Indo-European language, spanning more than 3000 years of written records. There are about 13.1 million speakers of Greek worldwide and it is recognised as a minority language in Albania, Armenia, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine.

Greenlandic

  • Asavakkit
    — is the Greenlandic word for I love you in all languages

Greenlandic falls under the Eskimo–Aleut language family, spoken by around 57,000 Greenlandic Inuit people in Greenland.

Gujarati

  • પ્રેમ (Prēma) is the Gujarati word for love
  • I love you:
    Huṁ tanē prēma karuṁ chu

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is part of the greater Indo-European language family.

Haitian Creole

Say I love you in Creole:

  • Mwen renmen ou

Haitian Creole (kreyòl ayisyen)) is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12 million people worldwide and the only language of most Haitians. Along with French it is one of the official languages of Haiti.

Hausa

  • Ina son ka

Hausa language, the most important indigenous bridge language in West and Central Africa, spoken as a first or second language by about 40–50 million people. It belongs to the Western branch of the Chadic language family within the Afro-Asiatic language phylum. It is spoken mainly in northern Nigeria and Niger, and also in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Congo, Eritrea, Germany, Ghana, Sudan and Togo.

Hawaiian

How to say I love you in Hawaiian:

  • Aloha
  • Aloha wau ia oe
    In Hawaiian used to say I love you, pronounced (a-loh-ha vaoo ea-ah oh-eh)
  • Aloha No Au Ia ‘Oe
    — this translates as I truly love you
  • Nau ko`u aloha
  • Aloha Aku No, Aloha Mai No

The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaiʻi, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the State of Hawaii.

Hebrew

  • Love: אהבה
  • Ani ohevet otcha
    — I love you in Hebrew, said by a male
  • Ani ohev otach
    — I love you in Hebrew, said by a male, said by a female

Hebrew is a Northwest Semitic language spoken by over nine million people worldwide. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors. It is written using its own script from right to left.

Hindi

How to say I love you in Hindi:

  • प्यार pyar or मोहब्बत mohabbat are the Hindi words for love
  • main tumse pyar karta hoon
    — the phrase used to express love to a woman.
  • main tumse pyar karti hoon
    — to express love to a man

Hindi (हिन्दी) is an Indo-European language spoken in India, Nepal, and throughout the Indian diaspora. Hindi is descended from Sanskrit, sometimes called “the mother of all languages.” While there are 22 official languages and over 1,000 dialects of India, Hindi and English take precedence in government affairs. It is a link-language for over half of India’s population.

Hmong

  • Love: hlub
  • I love you:
    Kuv hlub koj

Hmong is a Hmong-Mien language spoken by about 2.6 million people in China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, USA, and French Guiana.

Hopi

  • Nu’ umi unangwa’ta
    — I love you in Hopi
    Pronounced “Goo (rising tone) Hloo (high tone) Gah (falling tone)

Hopi is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Hopi people in northeastern Arizona, USA.

Hungarian

How to say I love you in Hungarian:

  • Love: szerelem
  • Szeretlek
    — how to say I love you in Hungarian

Hungarian is a Uralic language of the Ugric branch spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighbouring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union.

Icelandic

  • ást is the icelandic word for love
  • Eg elska þig
    — is how to say I love you in Icelandic
    pronounced (jeg elska thig)

Icelandic (íslenska) is a North Germanic language spoken in Iceland as its official language. It’s most closely related to Faroese and Western Norwegian and has around 314,000 speakers. The language is more conservative than most other Western European languages.

Igbo

  • Love: Ihunanya
  • I love you: a hụrụ m gị n’anya

Igbo is the principal native language of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria with around 45 million speakers and over 20 dialects.

Indonesian Bahasa

  • cinta
    — the Indonesian noun and verb for love, pronounced like (CHEEN-tah)

    I love you:
  • aku cinta kamu
  • saya cinta kamu

Indonesian (bahasa Indonesia) is the official language of Indonesia.With over 230 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is a group of varieties of Malay, an Austronesian language that has been used as the common language in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Indonesia uses the Latin alphabet system and Arabic numerals.

Inuktitut

  • ᑕᑯᑦᓱᒍᓱᑉᐳᖅ
    — is the word for love
  • ᓇᒡᓕᒋᕙᒋᑦ Nagligivaget
    is the phrase for I love you in Inuktitut, pronounced as (asavakkit)

Inuktitut is an Eskimo-Aleut language spoken in Arctic territories and the topmost span of North America including Alaska and Northern Canada.

Irish

Here are a few of the numerous Irish words to express love:

  • Grá
    — this is the all-purpose word for love in Irish that can be used in generally the same way as the English word. It can be used to express love for things, people, places, etc
  • Cion
    — used as a form of affection”, such as the love you might have for a child.
  • Searc
    — used for describing romantic love
  • Cumann
    — used to highlight the love and companionship that exists between friends.
  • Taim i’ ngra leat
    — means I love you in Irish

Irish (Gaeilge) is one of the three Goidelic languages, along with Scottish Gaelic and Manx. This Goidelic branch together with the Brythonic branch (Welsh, Cornish and Breton) form the Celtic language family.

Italian

How to say I love you in Italian:

  • Amore
    is the Italian noun for love, and it’s pronounced as (ah-MOH-ray)
  • Ti amo
    — translates to I love you, pronounced as (Tee ah-mo)
    this phrase should be reserved for couples or those in a serious and committed relationship.
  • Ti voglio bene 
    — also translates as I love you but unlike ti amo, it can be used with a wider range of people, that include family, friends, and new relationships. The literal translation is I want you well.
  • Mi sono innamorato di te
    — means I’m in love with you or I’ve fallen in love with you
    Unlike in English, there is a specific verb in Italian for to fall in love: innamorarsi.

Italian (Italiano) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family spoken by over 90 million people, the vast majority of which are in Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, and the islands of Italy. It is the official language of Italy, San Marino, and the Vatican City.

Did you know:
La Festa di San Valentino (Valentine’s Day) originates from Italy?

Japanese

There are two main words for expressing love in Japanese, but the usages of each are highly dependent on a variety of cultural factors.

  • 愛 (Ai)
    — can be used to refer to several types of love that including family, friendships, and love of things or activities.
    It’s pronounced like “aye” or “eye.”
  • 恋 (Koi)
    — this word usually relates to a physical or romantic love.

How to say I love you in Japanese:

  • Aishiteru
    pronounced (ay-she-tay-ee-roo)

Please note that love is a very strong word and expressions of love are not very common in Japanese culture. Aishiteru should only be used when really committed to the other person you’re telling it too.

The Japanese don’t take that one lightly. So, if you really want to tell someone how much you like them, say:

  • 大好き (daisuki)
    — which means “I like you a lot.”

Japanese (日本語 Nihongo) is an East Asian language of the Japonic language family. It is spoken by about 125 million people, mostly in Japan, where it is the official and national language.

Jamaican

  • Mi luv yuh
  • Boonoonoonoos is a Jamaican saying to express love, meaning “special person”

Jamaican Patois, often also referred to as Jamaican Creole, is an English-based creole language with West African influences spoken mainly in Jamaica. Belonging to the English Creole language family, it is spoken by the the majority of Jamaicans with over 3 million native speakers.

Javanese

  • tresna is the word for love
  • I love you:
    Aku tresna sampeyan
    Kulo tresno marang panjenengan (formal)
    aku terno kowe (informal)

Javanese is the language of the Javanese people of the island of Java, in Indonesia that is the native language of more than 98 million people.

Kannada

  • ಪ್ರೀತಿ Prīti is the word for love
  • I love you: Nānu ninnannu prītisuttēne

Kannada, spoken by nearly 45 million native speakers, is a Dravidian language of the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, and by significant linguistic minorities in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala and abroad.

Kanuri

  • Nya Raakna
    — is the Kannada phrase for I love you

Kanuri is language within the Saharan branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family spoken by approximately four million people in Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.

Karelian

  • Mie šilma šuvačen

Karelian is a Finno-Ugric language of the Uralic language family, spoken in Karelia republic of northwestern Russia.

Kashubian

  • Kuechum ce

Kashubian is a member of the West Slavic group of Slavic languages with around 100,000 speakers in Poland.

Kazakh

  • Love: Махаббат (maxabbat)
  • I love you: мен сені жақсы көремін (men seni jaqsı köremin)

Kazakh is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia and the official language of Kazakhstan. The language comprises 21 million native speakers including regions of Bayan-Ulgii in Mongolia and the Dzungarian region of Xinjiang, China.

Kikuyu

  • nĩngwendete

Kikuyu or Gĩkũyũ is a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo language family that is spoken as a first language by over 6.6 million Agĩkũyũ people in Kenya.

Kinyarwanda

  • ndagukunda

Kinyarwanda, an official language of Rwanda, is a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo language family that is spoken by at least 10 million people in Rwanda, DR Congo, and Uganda.

Kirundi

  • Ndagukunda

Kirundi, or Rundi, is a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo language family, spoken by over 9 million people in Burundi where it is the official language. It is also spoken in parts of Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in Uganda.

Korean

I Love You in Korean:

  • 사랑 (sa rang)
    — is the Korean word for love
  • saranghae
     — pronounced (sah-rahn-gh-aee) and written as 사랑해
  • judo sarang haeyo
    — means I love you too

Korean, an East Asian language, is the official language of South Korea (Republic of Korea) and North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) spoken by more than 75 million people.

Kurdish

  • Love: evîn
  • I love you: Ez hej te dikim

Kurdish is spoken by about 30 million Kurds in western Asia including parts of Kurdistan, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria. It is one of the Indo-Iranian languages, ranks as the third largest Iranian language, after Persian and Pashto.

Kyrgyz

  • Love: Сүйүү (süyüü)
  • I love you: Мен сени сүйөм (Men seni syuem)

Kyrgyz is a member of the Kipchak branch of the Turkic language family spoken by over 4 million speakers mainly in Kyrgyzstan, and also in China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Turkey.

Different language I love u

Lao

  • Love: hak ຮັກ
  • I love you in Lao: Khoi huk chau ຂ້ອຍ​ຮັກ​ເຈົ້າ

Lao is the main language of Laos. It is a Kra–Dai language serving as a common language among all citizens of Laos, who speak approximately 90 other languages, many of which are unrelated to Lao. Modern Lao is heavily influenced by the Thai language and comprises over 30 million native speakers.

Latin

  • Amor
    — is the Latin word for love
  • Te amo
    — how you say I love you in Latin

Latin was the dominant language of the Roman Empire from 6th century BC to 600 AD. When the Roman Empire collapsed, Latin evolved into the various languages that we know today. Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Romanian all consider Latin as their parent tongue. Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages.

Latvian

Say I love you in Latvian:

  • mīlestība translates as love
  • Es tevi mīlu is how to say I love you

Latvian (latviešu valoda) is an Indo-European Eastern Baltic language spoken in the Baltic region. It is the official language of Latvia and one of the official languages of the European Union.

Lebanese

  • حب (hubb) is the Lebanese word for love
  • I love you is dependent on the gender:
    Bahibak for male
    Bahibik for female

Lebanese is a variety of North Levantine Arabic, indigenous to and spoken primarily in Lebanon. With significant linguistic influences borrowed from other Middle Eastern and European languages it is spoken by over 5,7 million native speakers.

Limburgish

  • Ik hald van dich

Limburgish is a member of the East Low Franconian group of the Germanic languages considered a variety of German or Dutch by many people. It is spoken by around 1.6 million people in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Lingala

  • Love: Bolingo
  • I love you: Nalingi yo

Lingala is a Bantu language spoken throughout the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a large part of the Republic of the Congo by over 70 million people.

Lithuanian

I love you in Lithuanian:

  • Meilė is the word for love in Lithuanian
  • I love you: að myliu tave (As Myliu Tave)

Lithuanian (lietuvių kalba) is an Eastern Baltic language spoken in the Baltic region as the official language of Lithuania. It is also one of the official languages of the European Union spoken by just under 3 million native speakers. The language is one of the oldest in the world.

Luxembourgish

  • Love: Léift
  • I care about you/like you: Ech hunn dech gär

Luxembourgish is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 390,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide.

Luganda

  • I love you: nkwagala

Luganda, a Bantu language, is an official language of Uganda along with English and Swahili. It is spoken primarily in Kampala, but may be understood in much of the country and in the African Great Lakes region.

Macedonian

  • Love: љубов (ljubov)
  • I love you: Te Sakam

Macedonian, the official language of the Republic of North Macedonia, is a south Slavic language spoken as a first language by 2 million people.

Malagasy

  • Love: Fitiavana
  • I love you: Tiako ianao

Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar belonging to the Austronesian Malayo-Polynesia family of languages spoken by 25 million people.

Malay

  • love: Cinta

    I love you:

  • Saya cinta padamu
  • Saya cinta awak
  • Saya sayang awak

Malay (Bahasa Melayu) is an Austronesian language spoken as the sole official language of Malaysia and Brunei. It is also heard in Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand at a total of 250 – 300 million speakers.

Malayalam

How to say I love you in Malayalam:

  • സ്നേഹം (snēhaṁ) is the word for love in Malayalam
  • I love you:
    ñān ninne snēhikkunnu
    njan ninne premikunnu

Malayalam (മലയാളം) belongs to the Dravidian language family, spoken mostly in the Southern Indian states of Kerala and Lakshadweep. Around 36 million people use this language, which is one of the 22 official languages of India.

Maltese

Say I love you in Maltese:

  • Love: Imħabba
  • I love you: Jien inhobbok

Maltese, a language of central Semitic origin written in the Latin script, is the national language of Malta. It is spoken by around 420,000 people on the Mediterranean islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino. The Maltese language developed from Sicilian Arabic, Over the centuries, it has incorporated many words derived from English, Italian and French.

Maori

  • Love: Aroha
    — pronounced: ah-roh-huh. Always roll your r’s when enunciating Māori words
  • I love you: e aroha ana ahau ki a koe

Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of New Zealand. it has also gained recognition as one of New Zealand’s official languages.

Marathi

  • Love: प्रेम (prem)
  • I love you: Me tula prem karto

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 83.1 million Marathi people of Maharashtra, India. It is the official language and co-official language in the Maharashtra and Goa states of Western India, respectively, and is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India.

Marshallese

  • Ij io̧kwe eok

Marshallese, also known as Ebon, is a Micronesian language spoken in the Marshall Islands by about 44,000 people. It is an official language of the Marshall Islands, along with English, and is used as the language of instruction in most primary schools.

Mauritian Creole

  • Mo kontant twa
    — is the Mauritian Creole word for i love you

Mauritian Creole or Morisien, the de facto language of Mauritius, is a French-based creole language that is closely related to the Rodriguan, Seychellois, and Chagossian Creoles.

Mongolian

How to say I love you in Mongolian:

  • love: Хайр (khair)
  • I love you: Би чамд хайртай (Bi chamd khairtai)

Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia and both the most widely-spoken and best-known member of the Mongolic language family. It is an Altaic language spoken by approximately 5 million people in Mongolia, China, Afghanistan, and Russia.

Montenegrin

  • Volim te
    — the words for I love you in many languages

Montenegrin, the official language of Montenegro, is a South Slavic language spoken by almost 250,000 people in the country.

Moroccan

  • Tanbghik تنبغيك
  • Kanbghik كنبغيك
  • Ana moajaba bik انا معجب بك

Moroccan Arabic, also known as Darija, is a form of vernacular Arabic spoken in Morocco. It is part of the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum, with over 30 million native speakers.

Nahuatl

  • Nitlazotla tehuatl

Nahuatl is a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It was the language of the Aztecs and the Toltecs. Variations of Nahuatl are spoken by around 1.7 million Nahua people of Central Mexico and the USA and Nahuatl remains the most widely-spoken group of Native American languages in North America.

Nauruan

  • Nga ebonu

Nauruan is an Austronesian language, spoken natively on the island country of Nauru by around 6,000 people.

Navajo

  • Ayóó’ánííníshní

Navajo is an American Indian language of the Athabascan family, spoken by around 170, 000 Navajo people in the Southwestern United States regions of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado.

Ndebele

  • Ngiyakuthanda

Ndebele, an African language of the Nguni group of Bantu languages, is spoken by around 5 million Northern Ndebele people of Zimbabwe.

Nepali

  • love: माया Maya
    — pronounced as Maayaa
  • I love you: म तिमीलाई माया गर्छु  Ma timīlā’ī māyā garchu

Nepali (नेपाली), is an Indo-Aryan language of the sub-branch of Eastern Pahari written in Devanagari script It is the sole official language of Nepal and one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. While most Nepalese people speak at least some Nepali, there are more than 100 different languages and dialects spoken in Nepal.

Neapolitan

Love in Neapolitan:

  • ti amo

Neapolitan is a Romance language of the Italo-Dalmatian group spoken across much of southern Italy by 6 million people. It is related to but generally not mutually intelligible with Italian.

Nkore

  • Ninkukunda

Nkore or Runyankore is a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo language family spoken by approximately 2.3 million Nkore people of south-western Uganda.

Northern Sotho / Sepedi

  • Ke a go rata

Northern Sotho is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one of the 11 official languages. It is spoken by about 4.2 million people in the South African provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

Norwegian

Say I love you in Norwegian:

  • Love: kjærlighet
  • I love you: Jeg elsker deg

Norwegian (norsk) is a Germanic language derived from Old Norse spoken primarily in Norway by over 5 million people where it is the official language.

Odia

  • Love: ପ୍ରେମ prēma
  • I love you: mu tumoku bhala paye

Odia is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha where it is the official language.

Oromo

  • Sin jaalladha’

Oromo is a Cushitic language spoken by about 30 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Egypt. It is the third largest language in Africa.

Palauan

  • A kultoir er kau

Palauan is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by almost 20,000 people in the Republic of Palau, where it is one of the two official languages, alongside English. It is also heard in Guam and Northern Mariana Islands.

Papiamento

Love in Papiamento:

  • Mi ta stimabo
    — is how to say I love you in Papiamento

Papiamento is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean by less than 500,00 native speakers. It is the most-widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands, having official status in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.

Pashto

  • meena means love in Pashto
  • I love you: za ta sara meena kawom

Pashto is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European family spoken in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. It is an official language of Afghanistan along with Dari.

Polish

Say I love you in Polish:

  • love: miłość
  • I love you: kocham cię
    — pronounced as kohaaam chye

Polish (polski) is a West Slavic language spoken by about 45 million people. Said to be one of the hardest languages to learn, it is the official language of Poland. It is understood and can be used for communication in the western parts of Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania.

I love you in every language

Portuguese

  • amor
    — the Portuguese noun for love. The pronunciation is (ahm-OOR)

How to say I love you in Portuguese:

  • Te amo
    — pronounced (tay-ah-mo)
  • Amo te
    — pronounced (ah-moh tee)

Portuguese (português) is a Romance language spoken as the official language of Portugal and Brazil. It is also the official language of Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé e Principe, Angola, Mozambique, and the co-official language of East Timor, and Macau. There are around 200 million native Portuguese speakers.

Punjabi

  • ਪਿਆਰ pyaar
    — the Punjabi word for love. The pronunciation (pee-AHR)
  • I love you: maiṁ tuhānū pi’āra karadā hāṁ

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language with more than 130 million native speakers in the Indian subcontinent and around the world. It is the 10th most spoken language in the world.

Romanian

  • dragoste
    — the Romanian word for love
  • te iubesc
    — pronounced as (tay you-besk) means I Love you in Romanian

Romanian (limba română) is a Balkan Romance language spoken by approximately 24–26 million people as a native language, primarily in Romania and Moldova, and by another 4 million people as a second language. Although it descended from Vulgar Latin, Romanian was influenced by Slavic and Greek languages in the Middle Ages. It is an official and national language of both Romania and Moldova.

Romansh

  • Jeu carezel tei

Romansh is a Romance language spoken predominantly in the Swiss canton of the Grisons and Graubünden. Romansh, recognized as an official language of Switzerland, is considered an endangered language.

Russian

How to say I love you in Russian:

  • любить liubit’
    — the Russian noun for love, which is pronounced like (loo-BOHV).
  • Я люблю тебя ya lyublyu tebya
    — pronounced as (Yay loo-bloo teb-yeh)

Russian is an East Slavic language spoken by 300+ million people worldwide. It is  is an official language in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Many other people in Central Asia, the Baltic states, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe know it as a second language. Commonly written in Cyrillic, it is the 8th most widely spoken language in the world.

Samoan

  • oute alofa ia te oe
    — a commonly used sentence to say “I love you” in Samoan that can be used to express your feelings to your partner, parents, or friends.

Samoan is the official language spoken in the Samoan Islands, which is made up of the Independent State of Samoa and the American Samoa. The language is the most spoken of the Polynesian language family with a total of 510,000 speakers worldwide.

Sanskrit

  • त्वां कामयामि (tvāṃ kāmayāmi)
    — a commonly used phrase for I love you in Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a 4,000-year-old classical language that belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. Known as ‘the mother of all languages,’ Sanskrit is the root of many, but not all, Indian languages.

It is also the liturgical language of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. Sanskrit has less than 15,000 native speakers at present and is mostly used by Hindu priests during religious ceremonies.

Sardinian

  • ti amo

Sardinian or Sard is a Romance language spoken by over 1.5 million inhabitants of the Mediterranean island of Sardinia in Italy.

Scottish Gaelic

  • Love: Gràdh
  • I love you: Tá grá agam ort

Scots Gaelic is a Goidelic language of the Celtic and Indo-European language family, native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish.

Serbian

  • Love: љубав (ljubav)
  • I love you: Volim te

Serbian is a South Slavic language spoken mainly in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and Macedonia by about 9 million people. Serbian is the official and main language of Serbia and Montenegro.

Sesotho

  • kea u rata

Sesotho (Sotho) is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho-Tswana group, spoken primarily by the Basotho in Lesotho, where it is the national and official language, South Africa, where it is one of the 11 official languages and in Zimbabwe where it is one of 16 official languages.

Seychellois Creole

  • Mon kontan Ou
    pronounced as (moi-kon-tan-ou)

Seychellois Creole, or Seselwa, is a French-based creole language of the Seychelles where it is one of the official languages.

Shanghainese Wu

  • Love: 我爱侬 (ngu eh nóng)
  • 吾老欢喜侬额 (Ngu long hushin long lah)

Shanghainese, part of the Sino-Tibetan language family, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the central districts of the City of Shanghai and its surrounding areas by 10 – 14 million speakers.

Shona

  • Ndinokuda

Shona, one of the most widely spoken Bantu languages, is the main language in Zimbabwe.

Sicilian

  • T’amu
  • Ti vogghiu

Sicilian is a Romance language spoken by more than 4 million speakers on the island of Sicily in Italy.

Sindhi

  • Man tokhe prem karyan ti
  • Man tokhe prem karyan to

Sindhi, an Indo-Aryan language, is the official language of the Pakistani province of Sindh and spoken by over 25 million Sindhi people.

Sinhala

  • Love: ආදරය
  • I love you: mama oyāṭa ādareyi

Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 16 million Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka and is one of two official languages of Sri Lanka.

Slovak

  • milovať or láska translate to love
  • Ľúbim ťa
    — I love you in Slovak, pronounced (loo-bim ta)

Slovak, the official language of Slovakia, is a West Slavic language where it is spoken by approximately 5.6 million people.

Slovenian

  • ljubezen is the Slovenian word for love
  • I love you: Ljubim Te
    — pronounced (LYOOBIM TEH)

Slovenian, an Indo-European language of the South Slavic language branch is the official and national language of Slovenia spoken by less than 3 million people.

Somali

  • Love: Jaceyl
  • Waan ku jeclahay
    — I love you in Somali, pronounced as (one ku je la hi)

Somali, an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by over 16 million people, is an official language of Somalia, a national language in Djibouti, and a working language in the Somali Region of Ethiopia.

Spanish

A number of different words in Spanish to express the concept of love include:

  • Querer
    — a general term to use when you love a person, including friends, family or romantic interests.
  • Amor
    — a much stronger version of querer, and is only used in a romantic way
    pronounced ah-MOHR
  • Encantar
    — This word is used to indicate a strong like, particularly when referring to activities.

How to say I love you in Spanish:

  • Te amo
    — pronounced (Tay-ah-mo)
  • Te quiero
    — pronounced (Tay key-aero)

Both can be used when it comes to letting your loved ones know how you feel, although te amo, which comes directly from Latin, is the stronger of the two. 

Spanish is the second most widely used language in the world natively spoken by more than 437 million people including Spain, most of Central and South America, Mexico, and the USA.

There are over 21 countries in the world that have Spanish as their official language. It is a Romance language that originated in the Iberian Peninsula.

Sundanese

  • abdi bogoh ka anjeun

Sundanese is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by about 39 million people mainly in western Java in Indonesia. There are also speakers in Banten, Jakarta, parts of western Central Java and southern Lampung. It is the third most-spoken language in Indonesia.

Swahili

  • Pendo or kupenda is the Swahili word for love
  • nakupenda
    — I love you in Swahili, used formally and pronounced as (nah-koo pen-dah)
  • ninakupenda
    — a more informal way to express love to someone

Swahili is a Bantu languages spoken by the Swahili communities in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Swati

  • Ngiyakutsandza
    — I love you in Swati, pronounced (near-good-t-sands-a) 

Swati is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini and South Africa by the Swazi people. It is the official language of Swaziland (along with English) and since 1994 one of the nine indigenous languages to enjoy official recognition in South Africa. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 2.4 million.

Swedish

How to say I love you in Swedish:

  • kärlek
    — the Swedish noun for love.
    pronounced as (shar-LYEHK).
  • jag älskar dig
    — translates to I love you, pronounced like (Ya ell-scar dey)

Swedish is a North Germanic language, closely related to Norwegian and Danish spoken by around 10 million people. A descendant of Old Norse, it is the national language of Sweden and the official language of the Åland Islands.

Swiss German

  • Love: Liebe
  • I love you in many languages: Ich lieb Di

Swiss German is the collective name for the great variety of Upper German dialects spoken in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg, in parts of Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Alsace in France.

Tagalog Filipino

  • Love: Pag-ibig
    — pronounced as pah-GEE-big
  • I love you: Iniibig kita
  • Mahal kita
    — used regardless of the gender. Although it’s mostly spoken in a romantic context, the phrase is sometimes used to express love to family and friends

Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a quarter of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by the majority. Its standardized form, officially named Filipino, is the national language of the Philippines, and is one of two official languages alongside English.

Tahitian

  • Ua Here Vau Ia Oe

Tahitian belongs to the Eastern Polynesian language group, spoken mainly on the Society Islands in French Polynesia and Bora Bora.

Taiwanese Hokkien

  • Wa ga ei li

Taiwanese Hokkien is the Hokkien dialect of Min Nan as spoken by about 70 percent of the population of Taiwan.

Tajik

I love you in Tajik:

  • Love: Ишқ
  • I love you: Ман туро дӯст медорам
    (man turo dūst medoram)

Tajik is the main language of Tajikistan, closely related to Farsi and Kurdish. Since the late 1930s, it is written using a variant of the Cyrillic script.

Tamil

A number of different words in Tamil to express the idea of love include:

  • அன்பு (Anpu)
    — the general term for love. It can describe romantic love, affection, friendship or devotion.
  • காதல் (Katl)
    — used for expressing romantic love
  • பாசம் (Pachm)
    — the feeling of deeply connected love such as family or parental love.
  • I love you: nāṉ uṉṉai kātalikkiṟēṉ

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken in southern India, Sri Lanka and Singapore by about 67.5 million people. It can also be heard in Mauritius and Malaysia.

Tarifit

  • ḥemmleɣk (hem-lark)
    said to a male
  • ḥemmleɣkem (hem-lar-kem)
    said to a female

Tarifit is spoken by 8 million speakers in Arrif (Northern Africa) and Europe.

Tatar

  • Love: Сөю
  • I love you: Min sini söyäm or Min sezne yaratam

Tatar (татарча), the national language of the Tatars, is a Turkic language spoken mainly in the Russian republic of Tatarstan as well as Siberia by about 7 million people in Central Asia. It refers to the Volga-Kipchak Kipchak subgroup of the Turkic group of languages. 

Telugu

  • ప్రేమ (prēma)
    — is the Telugu word meaning love
  • nēnu ninnu prēmistunnānu

Telugu is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and the union territories of Puducherry by 75 million Telugu people.

Tetum

  • Hau hadomi O

Tetum is an official language of Timor-Leste belonging to the Austronesian language family and spoken by just under 400,000 people.

Thai

How to express love in Thai:

  • ความรัก (kwam rak) is the Thai noun for love
    — pronounced as (kwahm rahk) with soft “k” sounds, almost like an “h”
  • รัก (Rák)
    — another word for love

I love you in Thai:

  • Chan rak Khun
    — said by a female
  • P̄hm rạk khuṇ
    — said by a male

Thai ภาษาไทย, the sole official and national language of Thailand, spoken by 50 million people, belongs to the Tai group of the Kra–Dai language family of Southeast Asia.

Tibetan

  • བརྩེ་དུང་། is the Tibetan word for love
  • I love you:
    ང་རང་ལ་བརྩེ་བ་ཡོད། (nga rang la zeywa yue)
    ང་རང་ལ་དགའ་གྱིས། (nga rang la ga khi)

Tibetan is an official language of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. The Tibetic languages are a cluster of Tibeto-Burman languages descended from Old Tibetan, spoken across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas.

Tigrinya

  • ይፈትወካ`የ! (Yfetwekaye)

Tigrinya is a Semitic language commonly spoken by around 9.85 million people in Eritrea and in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia.

Tok Pisin

  • mi laikim yu tru

Tok Pisin, more commonly known as New Guinea Pidgin, is a creole language spoken throughout Papua New Guinea, where it is an official language. It is the most widely used language in the country, spoken by around 120,000 people.

Tongan

  • Ofa atu

Tongan is an Austronesian language of the Polynesian branch mainly spoken in Tonga, where it is the official language.

Tsalagi Cherokee

  • Gvgeyuhi
    — The word gvgeyui, pronounced (guh-gay-you-ee), means both “I love you” and “love” as a noun, in the Cherokee language.
    — In some dialects the word gvgeyui means love while gvgeyuhi means I love you.

Cherokee (Tsalagi) belongs to the Iroquoian language family. The Cherokee language is unique among Native American languages in that it is both a written and spoken language.

Tshivenda

  • Ndi a ni funa

Tshivenda or Venda is a Bantu language spoken by the Venda people of South Africa where it is an official language.

Tsonga

  • Ndza ku rhandza

Tsonga is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people totalling 12 million people mainly in South Africa, but also Mozambique and Eswatini.

Tswana

  • Ke a go rata

Tswana is a Bantu language spoken by about 4.4 million people in Bostwana, where it is the national and majority language, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The majority of speakers, about 3.6 million, live in South Africa, where the language is officially recognised.

Turkish

I love you in Turkish:

  • aşk
    — the Turkish noun for love, pronounced like ahshk.
  • I love you: seni seviyorum

Turkish is a Turkic language believed to be of the Altaic language family spoken mainly in Turkey, Northern Cyprus, Cyprus, and other countries of the former Ottoman Empire by about 88 million people.

Tuvaluan

  • Au e fia fai ki a koe

Tuvaluan is a Polynesian language that is native to Tuvalu, Fiji, Kiribati, and Nauru.

Twi

  • Me dɔ wo

Twi, or Akan kasa, is a dialect of the Akan Niger-Congo language family spoken by the Akan people in southern and central Ghana.

Ukrainian

I love you in Ukrainian is:

  • любов (liubov)
    — the Ukranian word for love
  • I love you: ya tebe lyublyu

Ukrainian is an Eastern Slavic language spoken mainly in Ukraine by about 51 million people.

Urdu

  • محبت (muhab-butt) or پیار (py-yaar)

    I love you in Urdu as a male:

  • mein ap say muhabat karta hoon
    or
  • mein ap say pyaar karta hoon

    I love you in Urdu as a female:

  • mein ap say pyaar karti hoon
    or
  • mein ap say muhabat karti hoon

Urdu is the official national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is a member of the Indo-Aryan group within the Indo-European family of languages and is mutually intelligible with Hindi.

Uyghur

  • sizni yahshi kOrman

Uyghur is a Turkic language of the Karluk branch written in a Uyghur Perso-Arabic script. It is spoken primarily by 10 million Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.

Uzbek

  • Love: Sevgi
  • I love you: Men Seni Sevaman

Uzbek is a Turkic language that is the official national language of Uzbekistan spoken by around 27 million people.

Vietnamese

How to express love in Vietnamese:

  • Love: tình yêu
  • I love you in Vietnamese:

    Em yeû anh (said by a female)
    Anh yeû em (said by a male)

Vietnamese is an Austroasiatic language spoken mainly in Vietnam, where it is the national and official language, by about 82 million people.

Welsh

How to say I love you in Welsh:

  • Love: cariad
  • I love you: ‘Rwy’n dy garu di

Welsh is a Brittonic language of the Celtic language family spoken natively in Wales, and by some in England.

Woiworung

  • Wominjeka

Woiworung is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Kulin Nation of Central Victoria.

Wolof

  • Bugg naa la
    — The general statement for I love you

    You could also use:

  • Dama la buga
  • Sopp naa la
    — more along the lines of I admire you. Used when dating.
  • Nopp naa la
    — the more serious kind of love between partners

Wolof is a national language of Senegal, where it is spoken by approximately 5.4 million people as a first language. It belongs to the Atlantic group of the Niger-Congo language family and is the native language of the Wolof people.

Xhosa

  • Love: uthando
  • I love you: ndiyakuthanda

Xhosa is a Nguni Bantu language with click consonants and is one of the official languages of South Africa. It is spoken as a first language by approximately 8.2 million people and by another 11 million as a second language in South Africa, mostly in Eastern Cape Province.

Yiddish

  • love: ליבע (libe)
  • I love you: Ikh hob dikh lib

Yiddish is the historical language of the Ashkenazi Jews originating during the 9th century in Central Europe. Belonging to the Indo-European language family, it is spoken by 1.5 million people.

Yoruba

  • Love: ifê, olufê
  • I love you: Mo ni fe re

Yoruba is a pluricentric language spoken in West Africa with the number of speakers estimated between 30 and 40 million. It is a language spoken principally in Nigeria and Benin, with communities in Sierra Leone, Liberia, other parts of Africa.

Zulu

  • Love: uthando
  • I love you: ngiyakuthanda

Zulu is a member of the Bantu/Nguni family of languages. It is one of the official languages of South Africa spoken by about 10 million people mainly in Zululand and northern Natal in South Africa and also in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, and Eswatini.

Continue reading to discover how to say I love you in a different language

I love You in Other Languages — BONUS

Love Sign Language I love you in different languages

American Sign Language (ASL)

How to say I love you in American Sign Language:

  • Love for living beings: This word is signed by crossing your arms over your chest and “hugging” yourself
  • Love for actions or objects: This word is signed by kissing the back of your fist
  • To sign I love you: Spread out your hand and bend down the middle finger and the ring finger, leaving the others up and out.

American Sign Language is a complete, natural language that has the same linguistic properties as spoken languages, with grammar that differs from English, expressed by movements of the hands and face.

British Sign Language (BSL)

How to say I love you in British Sign Language:

  • Love: Flat hands cross over on left side of chest.
  • To sign I love you: put up your thumb, index finger and pinkie finger, while keeping your ring finger and your middle finger down. Hold the hand out, palm facing away from you and move it back and forth slightly.

British Sign Language is a sign language used in the United Kingdom as the first or preferred language of some deaf people. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands, body, face, and head.

Dothraki

  • Anha zhilak yera norethaan

Dothraki is a constructed fictional language spoken by the Dothraki, a nomadic people in the fictional world of George Martin’s fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and its television adaptation the Game of Thrones.

Elvish Sindarin

How to say I love you in Elvish:

  • Love: Meleth or melmë
  • I love you: Gi melin or Ni meleth le 

Elvish Sindarin is one of the fictional languages created by J. R. R. Tolkien for use in his fantasy stories set in Arda, primarily in Middle-earth. Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin.

Espetanto

  • Love: Amo
  • I love you: Mi amas vin

Esperanto is an artificially constructed language and belongs to no linguistic family, with most of its vocabulary coming from the Romance languages. This phonetic language is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language.

Klingon

Say I love you in Klingon:

  • bangwI’ SoH
    pronounced (bahng-WI’ shokh)

    The fictional Klingon language reportedly has no words for love. The closest translations include unhate and honour, but nothing for love.

Klingon is a language that was made for the Klingons in the Star Trek movie. It is a constructed language, and not one that developed naturally. Only a few people can speak the Klingon language well enough to talk in it.

Lojban

  • mi prami do

Lojban is a carefully constructed spoken language created by the Logical Language Group in 1987. Lojban is proposed as a speakable language for communication between people of different language backgrounds. With its 1350 root words that can be easily combined to form a vocabulary of millions of words, it is considered as easy to learn.

Minionese

  • Tulilio Ti Amo

Minionese spoken by the minions of the Despicable Me movie series appears to be a polyglot language which borrows words and grammatical rules from many different languages.

Na’vi

  • Nga Yawne Lu Oer
    — translates to: You beloved are to me

Na’vi is a constructed language, created for the fictional Na’vi, the humanoid inhabitants of the moon Pandora in the 2009 film Avatar.

Quenya

  • Melinyel Amin mela lle

Quenya is one of the fictional languages devised by J. R. R. Tolkien and used by the immortal Elves in the Lord of the Rings and as inspiration for countless travel quotes. Tolkien began devising the language around 1910 and restructured the grammar several times until Quenya reached its final state. The vocabulary remained relatively stable throughout the creation process.


LEARN THESE OTHER WORDS TOO!

MY LOVE: How to say my love in other languages

LOVER: different languages for lover

LOVE: The word for love in different languages

LIGHT: The word for light in different languages

GOOD DAY: Read this guide to say good morning different languages

HELLO: Read this guide to say hi in every language of the world

THANK YOU: Read this guide to say thanks in every language of the world

CHEERS: How to say cheers in different languages

FRIENDSHIP: Learn the word friends in different languages

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL: Learn how to say beautiful in different languages

FAMILY: Learn how to say family in different languages

Aaaaaaaand now you know how to say I love you in every language of the world!

OVER TO YOU GUYS!

What is I love you in your language? And how do you say I LOVE YOU in different languages? Extra points if you can speak several languages… Let me know in the comments.

If you see an error here or if your language is missing from this list, please comment and let me know!

Go ahead now and spread that love <3

Rai x

Legion Media; pikisuperstar/freepik

The Russian language is rich for words to express any feelings, especially romantic ones. Here is your Valentine Day’s list of the best phrases you can tell your significant other!

1. Я люблю тебя

Not everyone likes extra wording and too ornate, complicated speeches. So the easier is often the better. The win-win option to confess your love to someone is a simple “I love you”, or Ya lyublyu tebya, as it is pronounced in Russian. 

An old way to refer to a beloved person with respect would be: Ya lyublyu vas — this is how Russian noblemen would talk about love. And as foreigners often joke, this sounds like “Yellow blue bus” in English! Just remember this weird phrase — and you’ll be the most romantic person ever!

2. Я влюблен(а)

Russians have several different “grades” of love. If you say “I love you/Я люблю тебя” too early, you’ll just be perceived as a not serious person, or the receiver of your feeling might think you’re joking or pranking them.

Ya vlyublen [v tebya] (for a male speaker) and Ya vlyublena [v tebya] (female form) is literally translated as: “I am in love [with you]”. But, this confession is not as strong as LOVE; it’s rather just an enamored person, infatuated by someone. 

3. Я тебя обожаю

This is a big and comprehensive expression of love, which means an absolute admiration by someone. “I adore you” or Ya tebya obozhayu is a very strong declaration of love, but it is more appropriate to use if you already said “I love you” before and when you are already in a relationship. 

At the same time, Ya tebya obozhayu can easily be said to a friend when they’ve cracked a good joke and made you laugh. And Ya obozhayu can be used for anything that you LOVE, from your new phone to your dog, or even just a coffee.

4. Я схожу по тебе с ума 

“I’m crazy about you”, or Ya skhozhu po tebe s uma. This phrase is probably the most difficult to pronounce, but a very nice and strong sentiment. Usually, those who aren’t ready to say “I love you” can use this phrase, because it’s without any real commitment. As we say in Russia: “To promise marrying doesn’t equal marrying” (and this is also what the title of the movie He’s Just Not That Into You is known as in Russia).

On the other side, this phrase is very appropriate and suitable for passion and sex. And yes, a person can also be crazy about jazz music or a new coat, not only a woman/man.

5. Ты мой/моя единственный/ая

You’re my only! Who doesn’t dream of hearing it? And this is translated in Russian with the phrase: Ty moy edinstvenny (to a man) and Ty moya edinstvennaya (to a woman). 

No word or phrase can express the level of love, loyalty and dedication better than this. Everything fades into the background and all the thoughts of a speaker are devoted to a single person. Can anything be a more sincere confession of love? Hardly!

6. Я готов/а на все ради тебя

“And you? What are you gonna do for love?” asks actress Natalie Portman in a Dior perfume advert. In Russia, we also consider that love is not about words, but primarily about actions. 

So saying Ya gotov na vse radi tebya (or Ya gotova na vse radi tebya if a woman says it) means you are ready to do anything for your beloved one. Another option is even stronger: Ya svernu gory radi tebya — which means I will move mountains for you. A romantic phrase, isn’t it? 

7. Я тебя никому не отдам

Besides that you’re the only one, Russians would rather promise not to let anyone else “have” you. Ya tebya nikomu ne otdam literally translates as: “I won’t give you out to anyone” and actually means that “I won’t let you go” and “I will fight for your love in the event someone else is vying for it”.

While old-fashioned ladies or gentlemen would rather appreciate this phrase, the young and free people could possibly perceive it as a kind of threat and a toxic relationship. In any case, be careful with the way you express your feelings in any country!

P.S. And don’t forget: If you give flowers to a Russian girl, there should be an odd number!!! (An even number of flowers is only acceptable at funerals in Russia…) 

If using any of Russia Beyond’s content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.

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Do Americans Say ‘I Love You’ Too Much?

How those three little words sound around the world

Valentine’s Day signs in Tokyo, Japan (Yuya Shino / Reuters)

I love saying “I love you.” I’ll say “love ya” to my parents when I’m about to get off the phone with them, and “love you!!” to my wife as she’s heading out the door for work (“love you???” on Gchat means I’ve gotten myself into trouble with her and I’m searching for a way out). I tell my son I love him, and he doesn’t even get it—he’s an infant.​ I’ve been known to proclaim that I love sushi and football and Benjamin Franklin (I mean, how could you not love Ben?).

Many people in this world would find my behavior rather strange. That’s because Americans are exceptionally promiscuous when it comes to professing their love. In the United States, “I love you” is at once exalted and devalued. It can mean everything … or nothing at all. This is not universally the case.

The disconnect was on display during a recent season of The Bachelor, when the host, Chris Harrison, was dumbfounded by the refusal of the reality show’s star, Juan Pablo Galavis, to say “I love you” to Nikki, a woman he had just plucked from a pool of female contestants after a surreal, months-long, on-camera courtship. This was nothing less than Bachelor blasphemy. Galavis, who is Venezuelan-American, later explained that there are numerous ways in Spanish to express your deep affection for a romantic partner—phrases like te quiero (“I like you”) and te adoro (“I adore you”). “I’ve learned that ‘love’ is used a lot in the States for everything: ‘I love that burger, I love my shoes, I love a friend,’” he said. “To me, if it’s overused, it loses meaning.” (For the record: I’m not trying to make excuses for Juan Pablo. There’s a compelling case to be made that his feelings for Nikki never even approached te quiero levels.)

In China, younger people are beginning to use wo ai ni (“I love you”)—something largely unheard of among older generations. “We said, Wo xihuan ni (‘I like you’),” the psychology professor Kaiping Peng told the journalist Roseann Lake, recalling his dating days during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Until recently, “you just showed love through holding hands, kissing, or maybe writing or doing something nice—but you never said it.”

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Here’s how distinct America’s situation is: In 2014, four Chinese researchers devoted a study to how the use of “I love you” had become a “daily phenomenon” in the States—directed even at pets and Facebook friends, and deployed for purposes ranging from apologizing to ending phone calls. Their goal was to help teachers in other countries explain the phrase to perplexed students learning English as a foreign language. “In our own experience, as teachers of English in China, we often try to avoid the explanation and practice of the locution I love you even though it appears in the textbook we are teaching,” they wrote. “We do not want to embarrass ourselves or our students.”

Some of the most insightful research on this topic has been conducted by Elisabeth Gareis and Richard Wilkins, both professors of communication at Baruch College. In a 2006 study based on an online survey of American and international students in the United States, Gareis and Wilkins found that relative to American students, international students reported less frequent declarations of “I love you” between romantic partners and from parents to children. Most respondents whose native language was not English said they used the English words ‘‘I love you’’ more often than the equivalent expression in their native language.

Gareis and Wilkins invited respondents to elaborate on how they thought about the phrase. Here’s what one Chinese-American woman wrote:

Every time when I go back home, my father always go to kitchen and asks me what I want to eat. He doesn’t say anything but make food for me quietly. It is very touching every time when I see my father does it. Love doesn’t have to be express verbally. …

In China, men are always the heads of the families. The women were taught to obey their father, husband and son. Therefore, men are very dominating. In order to show men’s power, they don’t say ‘‘I love you’’ easily because it is considered emotional when they say it.

A Syrian-American man:

‘‘I love you’’ is a more serious and committing term in other cultures. Middle eastern girls I know who hear that from a guy automatically think marriage.

A Polish woman:

I know that if I would tell my parents straightforward that I love them they would not feel comfortable, same thing with my sister. We [Polish people] know we love each other but we don’t say it straight to somebody’s face if it is not our husband or wife. …

I tell my son every day that I love him and he tells me the same thing. He was born here [in the United States] and I think it is easier for him and for me to use English ‘‘I love you’’ than if I would have to tell him in Polish. I don’t know how to explain this. I do mean real love when I tell him this, but it sounds different if I think about it in Polish. Maybe the way I was brought up has an influence.

A Colombian-American man (contradicting Juan Pablo, I should add):

It’s something that Latin people don’t really hold back on verbally. The word [“love»] is sometimes thrown around like a love struck teenager.

A Hungarian woman from Romania:

[Saying “I love you”] shows the weakness of the person who couldn’t control herself/himself and had to burst out. …

My partner is American who feels the urge of declaring his love to me verbally and nonverbally way too often. And he is hurt by my reaction or lack of response. It took me four years, but I learned that it is important to him, so I let him say it, and I say it back, surprisingly easily. English is not my first, second or third language, saying ‘‘I love you’’ means nothing to me. I wouldn’t dare say it in Hungarian to anyone. …

I must say things are changing lately. For 30 years I only heard on TV anybody saying ‘‘I love you.’’ … Since I’ve been studying in the US, my father started to write me text messages on my cell phone ending in ‘‘I love you.’’ My Mom expresses the same in the end of her e-mails. It’s a huge step in my family and for my culture. They still don’t say it to my sister, who lives in the same city [abroad].

So what explains all this variation? The Chinese researchers who studied the ubiquity of “I love you” in American English cited the anthropologist Edward Hall’s theory of “low-context” and “high-context” cultures, where the style of communication reflects a low or high level of common experiences. If the level of shared cultural context is high, much can be left implicit or unsaid. To generalize: A relatively young, individualistic, demographically diverse country like the United States is low-context; an older, collectivist, more demographically homogeneous country like China is high-context.

“Chinese values hold that direct and open verbal declaration”—like saying “I love you”—“is considered shallow and frivolous,” the researchers wrote. “Conversely, an indirect style of communication is considered civilized and sophisticated since actions speak louder than words.”

But this explanation only goes so far. In a 2010 study, Gareis and Wilkins discovered that “I love you” was used more frequently in U.S. relationships than in German ones, even though German culture has been categorized as lower-context. They attributed the difference in part to the fact that in English there is one all-purpose word for love, while in German there are different expressions—“I hold you dearly,” for instance—for different sorts of love (and the literal German equivalent of “I love you,” Ich liebe dich, is perceived by many Germans as either excessively formal or indicative of a serious romantic commitment).

Gareis and Wilkins also point out that widespread declarations of love in the United States, and the emotional openness associated with them, have actually developed only recently, perhaps stemming from the lovefest of the 1960s and the feminist and men’s-liberation movements in the second half of the 20th century. And they’ve spread to other parts of the world, and particularly to younger generations in other countries, through American pop culture and new technology.

“There seems to be an inflationary process within and beyond the United States, especially with respect to the use of the English locution ‘I love you,’” they wrote in 2006. “Reasons provided by the respondents include a movement toward greater openness concerning the expression of feelings, parenting advice to express love more consciously, the ease of sending love declarations via new technology (e.g., text messaging), and—for the increase of verbal love expression beyond the United States—the worldwide influence of US popular culture (through movies, TV, pop music, etc.).”

Gareis and Wilkins offer a great example of these trends: In 2003, McDonald’s launched its “I’m lovin’ it” marketing campaign in Germany, translating its slogan literally as Ich liebe es​. Guardians of the German language were not pleased. “An American is relatively quick in expressing love for profane things and therefore is able to give his/her heart to fast food. The German translation ‘Ich liebe es,’ however, is just too strong to be squeezed into a styrofoam box together with a fatty burger,” one journalist argued.

But is it really not OK to love a Big Mac? Is there really a “right” way to express love? What strikes me about all these differences is not the merits of each approach, but rather the splendid variation, which enrich the definition of love itself. Several years ago, in an article for The New York Times, Jennifer Percy recalled how her German-speaking boyfriend tried to explain the phrase ich habe mich gerade wieder in dich verliebt (“I just fell in love with you again”), and why she shouldn’t be insulted when he said it to her—why she shouldn’t be distressed by the suggestion that his love flickered in and out. The expression “actually means a moment when you realize again why you are in love with someone,” Percy wrote. It’s a feeling many of us have experienced, but one that “I love you” doesn’t quite convey.


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Saying «I love you» in a different language adds an element of mystique and exoticism that saying it in English just doesn’t have. The European languages are great places to start to express how you feel. Start at Step 1 to learn to successfully tell someone you love them in French, German, and Italian.

  1. Image titled Say "I Love You" in French, German and Italian Step 1

    1

    Master the basics. As with any language, there are dozens of ways to tell someone you love them. Start small and work your way up. You may be nervous to begin with, so it’s best to start simple.

    • «I love you» is «Je t’aime.» It sounds like zhuh — tem. This is the strongest way to tell someone you care.[1]
    • «I adore you» is «Je t’adore.» It sounds like zhuh — tah — door (the r is very soft and should only be hinted at).[2]
    • «I want you» is «Je te désire.» It sounds like zhuh — tuh — duh — zai — uh.
  2. Image titled Say "I Love You" in French, German and Italian Step 2

    2

    Practice, practice, practice. As with anything, practice will make saying these words so much easier. The sounds in French aren’t the same as in English; practice the accent along with the words.

    • Almost every translation website has an audio option. Listen to a native speaker say the words and emulate the exact sound. There are also plenty of videos on the web that can show you the exact mouth and tongue formation to nail the sound.

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  3. Image titled Say "I Love You" in French, German and Italian Step 3

    3

    Get creative. If you’ve got the «Je t’aime» down, go a little above and beyond to express your feelings. There are many more poetic, meaningful ways to show your emotions.

    • Add terms of endearment. Just like you might say, «I love you, babe,» or «I love you, sweetheart,» the same goes in French. «Mon amour,» «ma/mon chéri(e),» and «mon bébé» will spruce up the phrase. That’s «my love,» «my darling,» and «my baby», respectively. «Ma chérie» is for a woman; «mon chéri» is for a man.
      • The possessive adjectives «mon» and «ma» (my) have to agree with the gender of the term of endearment — not your own gender nor necessarily that of the person you’re talking to. Generally speaking, masculine terms of endearment can be used for men and women, while feminine terms of endearment can only be used for women.
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  1. Image titled Say "I Love You" in French, German and Italian Step 4

    1

    Get the sounds right. Different variations of German may pronounce «Ich» («I») different ways, and generally it’s impossible to write correctly in English. It’s [ɪç] in the IPA, a phoneme that doesn’t exist in English.

    • However, English used to have this phoneme. Put your mouth in position to sound out the word «human.» That very first sound—where air is coming out for the «h» but your mouth is ready to say the «u»—is the most similar to [ç]. Now put an «ih» in front to get the proper pronunciation of «Ich.»[3]

      • Many websites may write «ish» or «esh.» This is close, but not perfect. Think of «sh,» but put the middle of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, spread it out, and make the «sh» sound. It may sound funny at first.
  2. Image titled Say "I Love You" in French, German and Italian Step 5

    2

    Put the whole phrase together. Now that you have «Ich,» you can work on the whole phrase: Ich liebe dich.[4]

    • «Liebe» is a bit easier. The second syllable, «buh» has a hint of an «r.» Think of the sound in «burn.» «Liebe» should sound somewhere between lee-buh and lee-bur.
    • «Dich» has the same sound as «Ich.» Put a «d» in front of it and you’re ready!
  3. Image titled Say "I Love You" in French, German and Italian Step 6

    3

    Make it effortless. Practice it over and over until you’re making those [ç]’s and touching lightly on that invisible «r.» Ich liebe dich, Ich liebe dich. Getting it?

    • Don’t be tempted to use «du» instead of «dich.» «Du» does mean you, yes, but that’s for the nominative case. German uses cases (English used to) and here, «you» needs to be in the accusative case.
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  1. Image titled Say "I Love You" in French, German and Italian Step 7

    1

    Know the subtle differences. In Italian, there are two main phrases to say that you love someone: Ti amo and Ti voglio bene. Their differences are slowly morphing as the language changes and evolves.[5]

    • «Ti amo» implies a sexual relationship. An element of lust is present.
    • «Ti voglio bene» is considerably less sexual. It’s more «I care for you.» As a human, as someone you’d risk your life for. It’s both less serious because it’s less passionate, but more serious because of the sense of commitment.
  2. Image titled Say "I Love You" in French, German and Italian Step 8

    2

    Pick your phrase and get the pronunciation down. Once you decide which one is more appropriate, start practicing how to say it. «Ti amo» is a bit easier than «Ti voglio bene,» but both can be easy.

    • «Ti amo» is pretty straightfoward: tee ah-mo. Simple as that!
    • «Ti voglio bene» sounds like tee VOH-lee-oh BAY-neh. Think of the vowel in «bay» without the «y.»
  3. Image titled Say "I Love You" in French, German and Italian Step 9

    3

    Say it. You’ve got it down pat, you’ve been practicing, and now you’re ready! When the moment is ripe, go for it. All your hard work will surely pay off.

    • If it’s appropriate, add a «cara mia.» That’s «my darling.» Imagine it: cara mia, ti voglio bene. You can practically hear the hearts pounding from over here.
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Add New Question

  • Question

    How do I say «hi» in Italian?

    Community Answer

    You can say hi in two ways: you say «ciao» to your friends and your parents, but you say. «buon giorno, buon pomeriggio or buona sera» to your teacher or someone that you don’t know very well.

  • Question

    How do I say, «my best friend» in french?

    Niels Zwaan

    Niels Zwaan

    Community Answer

    Mon meilleur ami (if your friend defines himself as male), or Ma meilleure amie (if you friend defines herself as female).

  • Question

    What Italian word sounds like «chez» in French?

    Community Answer

    Perhaps the word you’re looking for is «cioè,» which literally translates to «that is» or «that is to say,» as in «i.e.» A word that is spelled in a similar way to «chez» is «che,» which is basically a pronoun meaning «that,» «who,» or «which.»

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  • Practice saying it to yourself before you say it to the person at least 2-3 times. You don’t want to end up mispronouncing it and inadvertently saying something else!

  • Breathe. Odds are they’ll know that you’re making an effort, even if it’s not perfect.

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