How to Say "I Love You" in 165+ Languages
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Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote Sonnet 43 — How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I've counted more than 165 ways to say I love you in different languages, and I present them in this Hub.
A cautionary note: I have not included a pronunciation guide. Before you utter I love you to your loved one in a language that is not your primary language, be certain you know the correct pronunciation. If you speak the words using the incorrect inflection in your voice, you might be saying something entirely different, and will create a lot of trouble for yourself.
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Sonnet 43 — How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
By Elizabeth Barrett Browning
(3/6/1806 – 6/29/1861)
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Note: Since Elizabeth Barrett Browning died more than 100 years ago,
her poetry is in the public domain and can be legally presented here.
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A
Afghani: Dos-tit Darome
Afrikaans: Ek is lief vir jou; Ek het jou lief
Albanian: Te dua
Aleut: Txin Yaktakuq
Amharic: Afekrishalehou
Arabic:
Ana Behibak [to a male]
Ana Behibek [to a female]
Armenian:
kezi chat ge sirem [western Armenian)]
yes kez sirum em [eastern Armenian]
yes kez shat em siroom
Aromanian: Ti voi
Avallaen: vüväloiek dü quuo
Azerbaijanian: Men seni severam
B
Bambara: M'bi fe
Bangla: Aamee tuma ke bhalo aashi
Basque: Maite zaitut.
Belarusian: Ya tabe kahayu
Bengali: ami tumake bhalo bashi
Berber: Lakh tirikh
Bhojpuri: ham tahara se pyar karila
Bicol: Namumutan ta ka
Bisaya: Nahigugma ko nimo
Bosnian: volim te; ja te volim
Breton: Karout a ran ac'hanout / Da garout a ran / Me az kar
Bulgarian: Obicham te
Burmese: Nga nint ko chit dae; Nga nint go chit tel
C
Cambodian:
kh_nhaum soro_lahn nhee_ah
Bon sro lanh oon
Cantonese: Ngo oi ney
Catalan: T'estimo
Cebuano: Gi Gugma Kita
Chamorro: Hu Guiya Hao
Chanchal: main Tere bina main ji nahi pauga
Cherokee: Tsi ge yu i
Cheyenne: Ne mohotatse
Chichewa: Ndimakukonda
Chinese: Wo ie ni
Cimbrian: Ich liibe-dich
Corsican: Ti tengu caru [to male]
Cornish: My a’th kar
Croatian: Volim te; Ja te volim
Czech: miluji te
D
Danish: Jeg elsker dig
Dhivehi: Aharen Kalaa Dhekeh Loabivey
Dutch: Ik hou van jou
E
Efik: Mmema fi
Elvish: Amin mela lle
English: I love you
Esperanto: Mi amas vin
Estonian: Ma armastan sind
Ethiopian: Afgreki'
F
Faroese: Eg elski teg
Fijian: Au domoni iko / Au lomani iko
Finnish: Mina rakastan sinua
Flemish: ik zie je graag; ik hou van je
French: Je t'aime
Frisian: Ik bin fereale op dy; Ik hâld fan dy
Friulian: Ti vuei ben
G
Galician: Ámote
Georgian: Me shen mikvarkhar
German: Ich liebe dich
Greek: S'agapo
Greenlandic: Asavakkit
Guarani: Rojhayhû
Gujurati: Tane Prem Karoo Choo
H
Haitian Creole: Mwen renmen w
Haoussa: Ina sonki
Hawaiian: aloha au i'a o'e
Hebrew:
ani ohev otach [male to female]
ani ohevet otcha [female to male]
Hiligaynon:
Palangga ko ikaw
Guina higugma ko ikaw
Hindi: Hum Tumhe Pyar Karte hae
Hmong: Kuv Hlub Koj
Hungarian: Szeretlek (I love you.)
Én is szeretlek téged (I love you, too.)
Hokkien: Gwa ai di
Hopi: Nu' umi unangwa'ta
I
Iban: Aku sayau nuan?
Icelandic: Ég elska þig
Ilocano: Ayayatenka / Ipatpategka / Ikarkarayoka
Ilonggo: Palangga ko ikaw
Indonesian: Saya cinta padamu
Inuit: Negligevapse
Iranian (Persian): Tora dust midaram
Irish Gaelic: Ta gra agam ort
Italian: Ti amo
J
Japanese: Kimi o ai shiteru
Javanese: kulo tresno panjenengan
K
Kannada: Nanu nimmege preti maditi idini
Kapampangan: Kaluguran daka
Kazakh: Men seny jaksy kuremyn
Khmer:
bong sralun on [male to female]
on sralun bong [female to male]
Kirundi: Ndagukunda
Kiswahili: Nakupenda
Konkani: Tu magel moga cho
Korean: Tangsinul sarang ha yo
Kurdish: Ji te hez dikîm
L
Latin: Te amo
Latvian: Es tevi miilu
Lebanese: Bahibak
Lithuanian: Tave myliu
Low Saxon: Ik hou van di
Luxembourgeois: Ech hunn dech gär; Ech si frou mat dir
M
Malay: Saya cintakan mu / Aku cinta padamu
Malayalam:Njan Ninne Premikunnu
Maltese: Inħobbok / Inħobbok hafna / Jien inħobbek
Maori: Kei te aroha au ki a koe
Marathi: Me tula prem karto
Mohawk: Kanbhik
Mongolian: Bi chamd khairtai
Moroccan: Ana moajaba bik
N
Nahuatl: Ni mits neki
Navajo:Ayor anosh'ni
Ndebele: Ngiyakuthanda
Nepali: Ma timlai maya/prem garchu
Norwegian:
Jeg elsker deg [Bokmaal]
Eg elskar deg [Nynorsk)]
O
Occitan:
T’aimi
T’estimi
P
Palauan: A Kultoir er Kau
Pandacan: Syota na kita
Pangasinan: Inaru Taka
Papiamento: Mi ta stimabo
Pashto: za la ta sara meena kawom
Persian (Iranian): Doo-set daaram
Polish: Kocham Ciebie
Portuguese: Amo-te, Eu te amo, Eu gosto de você, Eu amo você
Portuguese (Brazilian): eu te amo
Punjabi: mẽ tenū̃ piār kardā hā̃
Q
Quechua: canda munani (love to you)
My thanks to Lord De Cross for this translation.
R
Romanian: Te ubesk
Russian: Ya tebya liubliu
S
Samoan: Ou te alofa ia te oe
Sardinian: Deo t'amo / Deu t'amu
Scottish Gaelic: Tha gra\dh agam ort
Serbo-Croatian: Volim te
Sesotho: Ke a o rata
Setswana: Ke a go rata
Shona: Ndinokuda
Sindhi: Maa tokhe pyar kendo ahyan
Sioux: Techihhila
Slovak: Lu`bim ta
Slovenian: Ljubim te
Somali: Waan ku jecelahay
Spanish: Te quiero; Te amo
Swahili: Ninapenda wewe
Swedish: Jag alskar dig
Swiss-German: Ich lieb Di
T
Tagalog (Filipino): Mahal kita
Tahitian: Ua Here Vau Ia Oe
Taiwanese: Wa ga ei li
Tamil: Nan unnai kathalikaraen
Tatar: Min sini yaratam
Telegu: Nenu ninnu premistunnanu
Tetum: Hau hadomi O
Thai:
Chan rak khun [to male]
Phom rak khun [to female]
Timorese: Hau hadomi
Tongan: u ou 'ofa 'ia koe
Tswana: Ke a go rata
Turkish: Seni Seviyorum
U
Ukrainian: Ya tebe kahayu
Urdu: mai aap say pyaar karta hoo
Uzbek: Men seni sevaman
V
Vietnamese:
Anh ye^u em [to female]
Em ye^u anh [to male]
W
Walloon: Dji t'veû vol'tî
Welsh: Rwy'n dy garu di
X
Xhosa: Ndiya kuthanda
Xitsonga: Ndza ku rhandza
Y
Yiddish: Ikh hob dikh
Yoruba: Mo ni fe
Z
Zulu: Ngiyakuthanda
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If you know how to say I love you in a language I have inadvertantly missed, please post the translation in a comment. I'll be happy to update my Hub with your addition to the list.
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CommentsLoading...
alocsin,
Thanks for your very kind words and for pointing out the correct spelling.
The inspiration for my creating the language Hubs stemmed from the fact that Hubbers come from many cultures and live all over the world. If anyone posts translations in their comments I haven't included in this Hub, I'll be happy to update my list.
Wow! To think of all of the various expressions out there to say "I love you"... I admit I only knew the Spanish, Latin, Italian, and French phrases ('Romantic' languages...tee hee).
I like your warning to be careful with pronunciation. You don't want to say something else inadvertantly!
To think at one time I had "How do I love thee?" memorized... :)
Thanks for sharing!
ThePracticalMommy,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
I can't think of a specific example at the moment, but I do know that the same phrase can have several meanings in a given language, depending upon which words are emphasized and the inflection in the speaker's voice.
I'm glad Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnet is in the public domain and that I was able to use it.
I was looking for the Nepali words. Do you know the language? have you been to Nepal?
How fun is this! Different languages are so interesting, and this is definitely one of the most useful phrases to have. Thanks for sharing!
Vinaya,
I've traveled to more than 25 countries, but, unfortunately, not to Nepal...yet. I studied French in high school. I understand a little bit of Spanish because I live less than two hours from the border with Mexico, and many people from Mexico come to the United States to work. I don't speak Nepali.
I researched travel bookss I have at home for some of the translations. I also looked in the e-books I have on my Amazon Kindle. For other phrases, I used language translation tools I found online.
Have you ever been to the United States?
collegatariat,
Thanks for visiting this Hub and the one I wrote about classical music. Thanks, also, for the fan mail. This was a fun article to write. You can see the similarity among several of the languages; the roots of some of the words are the same.
No, but I want to. Perhaps some day when I have enough money.
Vinaya,
You've made so many friends in the United States, I'm sure you'll have a lot of people who will be glad to serve as a tour guide.
This is an amazing hub Daisy! I love it! I've heard the arabic version many, many times! Voted UP!!
Thanks, Sunshine.
This is the third Hub of this type that I've published. One of the things I like most about HubPages is interacting with people from different parts of the United States, and from different countries, backgrounds, and cultures.
I live in Southern California. A HubPages friend in Virgina suggested I join Facebook, an HP friend in Nepal suggested I join Hub Hoppers, an HP friend in Canada is singing the praises of my opera and ballet Hubs.
Wow... I was blown away with all these I LOVE YOU translations! What is your favorite from them so far? :D
thesingernurse,
All the translations are my favorites -- because of what they're saying.
I can pronounce several correctly: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, and possibly a few more. I'm not saying that I'm conversant in all those languages. It's just that I've heard them enough so I know how they sound.
Love is beautiful in any language. I really enjoyed this! Thank you for putting this together and sharing.
Thanks, Miss Olive. Is there any language that doesn't express this sentiment?
Up until yesterday, I had translations listed for languages beginning with every letter of the alphabet except Q. While reading some profiles, I noticed that Lord De Cross spoke Quechua. I sent him a message and asked that he provide a translation. Many thanks, Lord. I added Quechua to my list this morning.
(Quechua is the name of a people of the central Andes of South America and their language.)
If anyone knows how to say "I love you" in a language not on my list, please post the translation with your comment. I'll update my Hub and include your addition to the list.
What a great idea for a hub! I enjoyed this very much, and may just have to write a couple of these on my hand, for easy access. ;)
Voted up!
Great hub! I love to learn things like this!
A sincerely lovely Hub! I am so glad that you took the time to compile all these phrases. A very good idea on your part, congratulations!
Veronica,
I'm so glad you enjoyed this Hub. Writing the translations on your hand is a much better idea than holding up an index card during a romantic interlude!
Man from Modesto,
Thanks for stopping by, and voting my Hub "up." I appreciate it.
Peanutritious,
I'm glad you enjoyed reading my list. I see that you're a new Hubber. Welcome to HubPages!
Fenn,
Thanks so much for your very kind words. Compiling the list was a fun project.
Well, my wife is Ukrainian. We use the Russian "Ya Tibiya Leubleu" for I love you. I thought I would attempt the Ukrainian version, which I mis-remembered slightly. I said:
"Ya Tibiya Kakhayo."
This version, apparently, means "I poop on you." Thank God for understanding wives.
Man from Modesto,
Did you read Veronica Farkas's comment? She's going to write some of the translations on her hand. You could try that with the Ukrainian translation.
You can say " I Love You "in any language but the feeling will be the same.Thanks for sharing this interesting hub.
This hub is so sweet and cherished. You can tell you put much into it. This is fabulous! It would be a wonderful thing to email to loved ones on Valentine's Day. Awesome!
Nice to collect all these sayings here. Voting this Up and Interesting.
Tammy,
Even though this Hub is pertinent for Valentine's Day, it really is an *evergreen* message. Thanks for commenting.
Aurelio,
What I found interesting when preparing the list was that, if you look closely, you can see how the languages fall into groups.
Simply awesome! Now I'm not limited to falling in love someone who speaks my language. If I can't pronounce it, I can write it, thanks to you.
This deserves "Hub of the Day".
Also...
Hug of the day!
Thanks for sharing this, very nice.
MsDora,
I'm glad you enjoyed this article. If any love stories occur as a result of your reading my Hub, please be sure to return, and post another comment.
bluebird,
It's nice to meet you. Thanks for your very kind words about my Hub.
I love it! I'm off to share to help you reach the 5K mark. Voted up and awesome!
A very sweet hub. Great job Daisy!
Very interesting. There were some languages there that I never knew of.
Daisy, this is awesome and nice to see my mothertongue Punjabi,included in this hub.
Great job. Voted up .
You have missed off the 'you' in your welsh translation. For that version of 'I love you' it should read "Rwy'n dy garu di" (pronounced Roo-een dee gar-ee dee)
Other than that - I enjoyed reading this! Voted up! Side note: if you want to call someone the pet name 'love' in welsh it is "cariad" A really different hub that I thoroughly enjoyed. Diolch!
Daisy to your hub I will say in my language Hindi, Hum tumhe pyaar karte hai, Luv,
MAKUSR
Great hub. Will share with followers. Thanks foR SHARING.
Jennifer,
Thanks for reading my Hub and sharing it. It was fun doing the research and creating the list.
Alecia,
I'm glad you enjoyed reading my article. Of the three language Hubs I've created, this one is my favorite.
BlissfulWriter,
It's nice to meet you. Thanks for reading my Hub. There were many languages in the list that I had never heard of before I wrote the article.
I'm back to say I still love this hub!:)
Rajan,
Thanks for stopping by. Whenever I purchase strawberries now, I think of you. Your Hub was well-researched, well-written, beautifully illustrated, and beautifully formatted. I really enjoyed reading it.
wow what a fantastic hub.
wouldn't be lovely to know how to pronounce each and never to forget them?!
TFScientist,
It's nice to meet you. Thanks for the correction on the Welsh translation. I'll make the correction as soon as I'm at my computer.
Manoj,
Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting.
kikalina,
It's nice to meet you. Thanks for sharing my article with your followers.
Sunshine,
Thanks very much for the return visit. I appreciate it!
katrinasui,
It's nice to meet you. I'm glad you enjoyed reading my article.
RTalloni,
It's nice to meet you. Having the correct pronunciation for every language in the list would be terrific!
hahahaha, very useful i see,...
by the way, im Indonesia and "Saya cinta padamu"
Luti Febrian W,
It's nice to meet you. I'm glad you enjoyed reading my Hub.
Awesome...I second Bluebird in saying "this deserves hub of the day."
John
Thanks for your very kind words, John. This is the third of my *language* Hubs. This one is my favorite.
Really interesting hub! Kocham ciebie (Polish) is a bit kind of archaic/formal, so it's mostly kocham ci?, pronounced like KOH-hahm chyeh. And then if someone says this to you and you love them back, you say, "Ja ciebie te?" which is like saying "I love you, too" which is pronounced like, "Yah CHYEH-byeh TESH."
Awesome hub, thanks!
Melanie,
Thanks for your very informative comment. It's really great hearing from people who speak the languages listed in my Hub.
Great hub...I'll share some of them with my lady. Gotta keep the fire burning right? Voted up and awesome!!
Thanks so much for commenting, Jeffrey. Happy Valentine's Day!
Happy Valentine's Day Daisy. Thanks for sharing delicacies on Facebook
Hi,
I really enjoyed this hub--it was awesome.
"I love you" in Pig Latin is, I Ove-Lay Ou-Yay.
I think if I remember correctly.
Thanks,
Bobbi
Okay Daisy, how could you leave out the Jamaican? Just kidding, Jamaica's primary language is English but we do have our own dialect and slangy way of saying I love you. Now when a guy says, "Baby, mi check fi yuh", he is basically saying "I love you".
Cardisa,
Thanks so much for commenting. In all the research I did when writing this article and my other two "language" Hubs, I never came across any mention of a Jamaican slang dialect.
Daisy, when you want to learn Jamaican just call me! lol
Thanks, Cardisa! I appreciate the offer.
Very interesting. I can speak two other languages and both of them are included - yaay.
I shall be speaking Indonesian to my husband later - I reckon if I can pronounce it properly that's going to sound so passionate!
Fabulous hub thank you and voted up.
kayha,
I'm glad the other languages you speak were included in my Hub. I'm also glad I mananged to find entries for every letter of the English alphabet.
Movie Master,
Thanks so much for reading my Hub and commenting in it. I appreciate it.
Useful, am bookmarking this. Enjoyed reading, nice hub. Thanks for sharing, VOTED UP
Dilip,
Thanks for reading my Hub, commenting in it, and sharing it. I appreciate it.
What an amazing Hub on the language of love. Voted up and shared!
I love this hub!!!
Wonderful hub, we don't say it enough in the language we do speak. Sometimes those words can grip our heart but oftentimes the message is conveyed by actions where no words need to be spoken.
Anamika,
Thanks for reading my Hub. It was a great deal of fun doing the research for this article.
Sunshine,
Thanks for stopping by again. Do you speak any of the languages on the list in addition to English and Arabic?
Fiddleman,
It's nice to meet you. It's certainly wonderful to hear the words, but sometimes actions do convey more.
Beautifully done!
nikipa,
It's nice to meet you. I see that you're from Eastern Europe. Have I included the languages that you speak in my list? If I haven't, I'll be glad to add them.
Awesome job Daisy and I have a new vocabulary now... interesting and voted up and across.
Hugs from Canada
Rolly,
Thanks for stopping by and reading my article. This Hub and the one I wrote about taking the flying lesson are my two most-viewed articles. Of the three "language" Hubs that I wrote, I like this one the best...because of its message.
Hey Daisy! You really counted the ways to say "I love you". Really beautiful. It is simple yet it shoots straight to the heart. Oh, I see the Tagalog Translation of "I love you" on the list :)
Rob,
It's nice to "see" you again. One of the things I like best about HubPages is the interaction between people from so many countries.
May I recommend that you read the interview which my friend Vinaya Ghimire from Kathmandu, Nepal did with your countrywoman, Raci Niwa? ...
Daisy....all I can say is, "WOW"....and I think WOW means the same everywhere! You've included them all, I think. My sister and I were fortunate to be exposed to both Italian and Ukranian languages, from our grandparents, growing up. Not fluently, but certainly enough to muddle through a conversation.
I studied Spanish for years also, so I can get by with that as well.
It's nice to have a 2nd and 3rd. language, but you know, if you don't use it often enough, you can begin to lose the knack too.
I love this hub.....very creaive, Daisy!
Paula,
Thanks for reading and commenting in another of my articles. This hub was a fun one to write.
You're correct about speaking other languages. If one's second or third language isn't something that's used frequently, pronunciations can be forgotten. This can get you into alot of trouble...you'll be thinking you're saying one thing, and you'll actually be saying something vastly different.
This is great! The Hawaiian spelling is "aloha au i'a o'e". Great work!, voted up, shared, etc.
Oh wow, really? It is so nice to "see" my fellow Filipinos here. Thanks for the link Daisy! :)
Wow very interesting hub. A great list to all lovers! I understood in Hindi, English, Bengali and Nepali. One correction is there...in bengali its- ami tumake bhalo "bashi", not "aashi".
Keep posting more!! :-)
Brittany,
I've corrected the Hawaiian spelling. Thanks for commenting and sharing my article. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it.
Rob,
Thanks for visiting again. I hope you enjoy the writing of Vinaya Ghimire and Raci Niwa. They're both very talented people.
Sneha Sunny,
It's nice to meet you. I'm glad you enjoyed reading my article. Thanks for the Bengali correction.
Je t'aime, mon amie!
Great pick and a beautiful Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I will hold on to this poem dearly Daisy. Thank you. I am such a romantic. I love you in English will work just about perfect to me =) Do have a good day!
Audrey,
Merci beaucoup, mon amie! I'm glad you enjoyed my Hub.
How many languages on my list do you speak?
Ava,
Thanks for reading and commenting in my Hub. I'm glad that I was able to include all the words of "Sonnet 43 — How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" in my article.
Never thought you speak Bulgarian Daisy ;)
Shared in my FB :)
Stoill (m0rd0r),
Thanks for reading my Hub and sharing it on your Facebook wall.
I tried to find the translations for as many languages as I could. Since I knew you lived in Bulgaria, I made certain that I added ypur language to my list.
This is great, Daisy. I will refer to your hub if I get a Maori lover. hahah
As for Hungarian, we usually just say 'Szeretlek' and 'Szeretlek téged' is sort of an answer as in 'Én is szeretlek téged.' which means I love you, too.
Oohh, this is so cool! We tried pronouncing all of them taking turns, it was fun, but I am sure we didn't say it right; they all sounded very englishie! Hehehe
Wonderful, and useful hub ..... :)
Béla (Haunty),
It's nice to "see" you again. Thanks for the clarification of the Hungarian translation. I've edited my list to include the new information you provided.
LaThing,
Thanks for commenting in another of my Hubs. It's fun trying to pronounce the phrase in some of the languages that are unfamiliar to you, but don't forget my cautionary note at the beginning of the article.
alocsin Level 8 Commenter 5 months ago
Nice job -- although, it's "Filipino." I'm seeing a Valentine's card with all these sayings in it. Voting this Up and Awesome.