How do you say “I love you” to your other half? Is it a peck on the cheek every morning? Perhaps decadent flowers and a card, even when it’s not your anniversary? Or maybe it’s whisking them away on a romantic weekend to their favourite place? We all have different ways to say I love you, but most of us will remind our significant other every day with the simple phrase, ‘I love you.’ But if you’re looking for a more romantic and creative way to profess your feelings of desire this Valentine’s Day, you could always try learning how to say I love you in different languages!
Of course, we know you don’t have time to learn to say “I love you” in every language across the globe, but it’s a charming idea to write a romantic note on your Valentine’s Day card written with “I love you” in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, or Japanese? Why not all five? So, put some time aside and warm up those vocal cords – we’re teaching you how to say “I love you” in different languages.
How to say I love you in different languages
Looking for a romantic sentiment with a difference, pondering what to write in an anniversary card, or just crossing the language barrier with your multilingual significant other? We’re here to help – here’s how to say I love you in different languages from across the globe.
- French: Je t’aime
- Italian: Ti amo
- German: Ich liebe dich
- Dutch: Ik hou van jou
- Swedish: Jag älskar dig
- Finnish: Mina rakastan sinua
- Chinese: 我爱你 (Wo ai ni)
- Korean: 사랑해 (Saranghae)
- Russian: Я люблю тебя (Ya lyublyu tyebya)
- Greek: S’agapo
- Swahili: Naku penda
- Hawaiian: Aloha wau ia ‘oe
How to say I love you in the most romantic languages
If you’re declaring your love, then it seems fitting to do it in a suitably romantic language. Here are a couple of the most romantic languages, bound to sweep any potential paramour off their feet.
Spanish
If you want to tell your partner you love them in Spanish, you can say either “te quiero” or “te amo”. We’d suggest going with the latter if you want it to feel more intimate, as te amo is reserved specifically for deep affection.
French
For those wanting to brighten their partner’s day with a few French whispers, “je t’aime” is how the French tell their other half they love them.
Italian
And perhaps proving why Mediterranean accents are so popular in general, “ti amo” is also how you say “I love you” in Italian. Now, we’re not saying one country copied the other, but the similarities are uncanny.
Portuguese
Moving on to Spain’s other neighbour, when it comes to love in different languages, the Portuguese like their declarations to be a bit more linguistically challenging. “Eu amo você” is “I love you in Portuguese, and if you get the pronunciation right, it really rolls off the tongue.
Japanese
Last, but by no means least, Japanese is a complex but beautiful language – we won’t assume that you can read Japanese kanji, but the literal translation of “I love you” is 愛してる, translated as ai shiteru. However, this is an intense and weighty declaration of love – so most Japanese people would express their love in a slightly more informal way, saying either 大好き, (‘daisuki’), or 大好きだよ, (‘daisuki da yo’), meaning roughly ‘I like you’ and ‘I like you a lot’.
How to say I love you in sign language
If you want to express your love to someone who’s Deaf or hard of hearing, then learning the appropriate sign language is a great way to show how you care.
How to say I love you in British Sign Language
- Point to your chest for ‘I’
- Cross your hands flat against your chest for ‘love’
- Point to the other person for ‘you’
How to say I love you in American Sign Language
Sometimes regarded as the international sign for ‘I love you’, as well as an important sign for the Deaf community, the sign for ‘I love you’ is a combination of the way you’d spell the letters I-L-Y, standing for ‘I love you’!
- Spread out the fingers on one hand
- Bend your middle finger and ring finger down to touch your palm, keeping your other fingers pointed
- Direct your hand towards the person you’re talking to
Other ways to profess love in different languages
If these romantic ways to say I love you have got you feeling even more inspired to get for your anniversary or for Valentine’s Day, don’t you worry. Like with English, we know there are far more ways for people to say they love you. In different languages, it’s no different.
In fact, you could argue that love in different languages can be expressed in more unique and charming ways than English allows. That’s why we’ve included our favourite romantic statements from each language for you to try out in a romantic Valentine’s Day card.
Spanish includes some truly beautiful statements to get across just how much someone means to you, but our favourite is also the cutest. “Eres mi media naranja” translates almost exactly to “you are my half orange”, an adorable and unique way to tell someone they’re your soulmate.
As for our favourite French saying, this one is much closer to the heart. Literally, in the case of translation. “Mon coeur bat la chamade pour toi” is the equivalent of saying “my heart beats loudly for you”, essentially saying that someone makes your heart race.
If you err more on the side of dramatic proclamations, you could always opt for the Italian saying, “sono pazzo di te”, or, “I’m crazy for you”. But if the purest romance is what you’re after, saying “não sou nada sem você” is the Portuguese for “I’m nothing without you”.
Finally, if you’re thinking of popping the question in another language and want something different to will you marry me, the Japanese have the saying “boku no myōji ni kaete moraemasen ka?” Meaning, “will you change your surname to mine?”
Poetic ways to say I love you
We could go on and teach you how to say “I love you” in every language possible, but expanding on the theme of ways to say “I love you” in different languages, we’ve also handpicked a few poetic works you could read your partner with their Valentine’s Day gift. After all, isn’t poetry a love language all of its own?
For two absolute classics, we’ve selected “A Red, Red Rose”, by Robert Burns, and “She Walks in Beauty”, by Lord Byron. These pieces of poetry might be well over a century or more old, but the message and emotions they convey are as powerful now as it was during their creation.
Other excellent works of poetry also include, “How Do I Love Thee?”, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “When You Are Old”, by William Butler Yeats, and “Annabel Lee”, by Edgar Allan Poe. Of course, there are many out there for you to choose from, so by all means, go out there and find the perfect poem that encapsulates your feelings.
How to say I love you with quotes
Last of all, learning how to say I love you in different languages is all well and good, but sometimes someone has already said it better in good ol’ fashioned English. Here are four romantic quotes that truly resonated with us.
To some, Leo Christopher is a renowned author and poet. But even if you don’t know who he is, his statement, “I swear I couldn’t love you more than I do right now, and yet I know I will tomorrow”, is one to make your partner blush with joy.
But if you want a great phrase from someone everybody’s heard of, you can’t go wrong with Audrey Hepburn’s, “the best thing to hold onto in life is each other”. Meaningful and cute in equal measure, and the perfect quote for a cute Valentine’s Day card.
To truly bring a tear to your other half’s eye, you could opt for, “if I know what love is, it is because of you”, by Hermann Hesse.
And if you want a quote that truly expresses how much someone means to you, then the statement “where there is love, there is life”, by Mahatma Gandhi, is exactly what you need.
And there we have it – hopefully, you know exactly what you want to say to your partner, but if you’re still not sure, check out our guides on what to write in a Valentine’s Day card or what to write in a first anniversary card.
Naturally, if you want to try even more romantic things with your partner this Valentine’s Day, have a flick through the rest of the thortful blog to inspire you with Valentine’s Day ideas.
