Love in Many Languages
Just in case you were wondering how to say “I Love You” in various languages…
(This post is dedicated to my good friend–and recently instated SAG-AFTRA member–Keely. 🙂 )
P.S.: I know you could look these up yourself–especially when there are sites with lists longer than this–but you’d deprive me of the fun I get out of using Google Translate. xD (Although some I had to go outside of Google for.)
P.P.S.: Those with asterisks (*) may not be correct, as Google lists them as “alpha”. Double asterisk (**) means I’m not sure the pronunciation is correct.
Afrikaans: Ek is Lief vir Jou
Albanian: Unë Të Dua
Arabic: Ana Behibek (to female), Ana Behibak (to male)
*Armenian: Yes k’yez sirum yem
Asturian: Quiérote
Basque: Maite Zaitut
Belarusian: Ja ciabie kachaju
Bengali: Āmi Tōmāẏa Bhālōbāsi
Bulgarian: Obicham Te
Catalan: Et Vull, T’estimo
Chinese (Mandarin): Wǒ Ài Nǐ (as it reads**)
Croatian: Volim Te
Czech: Miluji Tě
Danish: Jeg Elsker Dig (Ye el-skir dee**)
Dutch: Ik hou van jou
Estonian: Ma Armastan Sind
Filipino: Mahal Kita
Finnish: Minä Rakastan Sinua (Mih-neh Rock-a-stah Sin-you-ah**)
French: Je T’aime (Jeh tehm–the j should have a sort of z sound)
Galician: Quérote
*Georgian: Me Shen Miqvarkhar
German: Ich Liebe Dich (Eek lee-bah deek**)
Greek: Se Agapó̱
*Gujarati: Manē Tamē Prēma
*Haitian Creole: Mwen Renmen Ou
Hindi: Maiṁ āpasē pyāra karatī hūm̐
Hungarian: Szeretlek
Indonesian: Aku Cinta Kamu
Irish: Is tú mo ghrá (Iss to m’graw–the g sound is really soft. It should sound like you’re saying “raw”, but with a hint of g on the front.)
Italian: Ti Amo (Tee ah-mo**)
Japanese: Aishiteimasu (Aye-ish-ee-tee-mus)
*Kannada: Ai Lav Yu
Korean: dangsin-eul salanghabnida
Latin: Te Amo
Latvian: Es Mīlu Tevi
Macedonian: Te Sakam
Norwegian: same as Danish
Polish: Kocham Cię (Cock-um chell**)
Portuguese: Eu Te Amo
Romanian: Te Iubesc
Russian: Ya Tebya Lyublyu
Slovak: Milujem ťa
Spanish: Te Amo [to your partner/lover/spouse/etc.] (Tay Ah-mo); Te Quiero [to everyone else] (Tay Key-air-oh)
Swedish: Jag älskar dig (Yo Al-scar Day**)
*Tamil: Nāṉ ai lav yū
Telugu: same as Kannada
Thai: C̄hạn Rạk Khuṇ
Turkish: Seni Seviyorum
Ukrainian: Ya Tebe Lyublyu
Notes
- Afrikaans is the language spoken in South Africa.
- Catalan is spoken in one of the northern regions of Spain, Cataluña. (Like Cataluña, Basque is also a language of northern Spain. So when you hear talk of “Basque separatists”, they mean rebels who want to be independent from the Kingdom of Spain.) Galician is another language of Spain–that’s why it looks so similar to actual Spanish. Asturian is also a language of Spain. (Remember that Prince of Asturias is the Spanish equivalent of the Prince of Wales [i.e. “Crown Prince”, so Asturian is important!)
- Just a reminder that Georgia is also a country. Don’t try saying that to your southern relatives…they’ll look at you like you’re from outer space!
- Unless I’m greatly mistaken, Gujarati is a language of India.
- Hindi and Kannada are languages of India.
- “Beloved” in Irish is “Mo Chroí” (mo kree). It shares a commonality with Spanish, in that “mo chroí” also means “my heart”. (The Spanish equivalent is “mi corazón” [sweetheart/my heart].)
For more languages than you could ever dream of, I recommend: http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/iloveyou.htm
