Love in different languages: 118 ways to declare I love you

January 21, 2025

Author

Karolina Assi

Aside from hello and goodbye, “I love you” are the three first words that people learn to say in other languages.

We've all said it before, but saying those three words can still be hard sometimes, especially in a different language. And there may be many reasons you’d want to say “I love you” in a foreign language. Maybe it’s because you’re dating someone who doesn’t speak your language. Or perhaps you want to impress someone special with your knowledge of their mother tongue.

If you ever find yourself without a way to tell someone you love them in their language — don't worry! We’ve got you covered with this list of ways to say “I love you” in 118 different languages.

I love you in 100 different languages

As someone who traveled to many countries and met people from all around the world, it never ceases to amaze me how different cultures and different languages express love differently.

In some places, such as Latin America, people tend to be very loving in nature. It probably explains why the Spanish language has many ways of expressing love, such as “te amo” or “te quiero”.

On the other hand, some languages have a limited vocabulary when it comes to love. For example, in Persian, the phrase for “I love you” is “Dooset Daram,” which - translated literally - means “I know you as a friend.”

Similarly, in Navajo, the phrase used to mean “I love you” is “Ayóó anííníshní.” Yet, none of the words in this phrase actually mean “love.” When translated literally, “Ayóó anííníshní” can mean “I adore you” or “I have a regard for you.”

But regardless of the vocabulary limitations of a given language, people will always find ways to express their feelings towards their loved ones. So, here’s how to say “I love you” in 100 different languages. We also included the word “love” in different languages.

Language	Love	I love you
Afrikaans	Liefde	Ek het jou lief
Albanian	Dashuri	Unë të dua
Amharic	ፍቅር (Fik’iri)	እወድሻለሁ (iwedishalehu)
Arabic	(Alhubu) الحب	أحبك (uhibek)
Armenian	Սեր (ser)	Ես քեզ սիրում եմ (Yes k’ez sirum yem)
Aymara	Munaña	Munsmawa
Azerbaijani	Sevgi	Mən səni sevirəm
Basque	Maitasuna	Maite zaitut
Belarusian	Каханне (kahannie)	я цябе кахаю (ja ciabie kahaju)
Bengali	ভালবাসা (Bhālabāsā)	আমিতোমায়ভালোবাসি (Ami tomake bhalobashi)
Bosnian	Ljubav	Volim te
Bulgarian	Любов (Lyubov)	Обичам те (Obicham te)
Burmese	အချစ် (Aahkyit)	မင်းကိုချစ်တယ် (Mainnkohkyittaal)
Cantonese	愛 (ngoi)	我愛你 (Ngo oiy ney a)
Catalan	Amor	T'estimo
Cebuano	Gugma	Gihigugma tika
Chichewa	Chikondi	Ndimakukondani
Corsican	Amore	Ti tengu caru
Croatian	Ljubav	Volim te
Czech	Láska	Miluji tě
Danish	Kærligheden	Jeg elsker dig
Dutch	Liefde	Ik houd van je
English	Love	I love you
Estonian	Armastus	Ma armastan sind
Ewe	lɔ̃	Melɔ̃ wò
Farsi (Persian)	(eshgh) عشق	( dooset daram) دوستت دارم
Fijian	Loloma	Au domoni iko
Filipino	Pag-ibig	Mahal kita
Finnish	Rakkaus	Minä rakastan sinua
French	Amour	Je t’aime
Gaelic (Irish)	Grá	Is breá liom tú
Galician	Amor	Quérote
Georgian	Სიყვარული (siq’varuli)	Მიყვარხარ (Miq’varkhar)
German	Liebe	Ich liebe dich
Greek	Αγάπη (agápi)	Σε αγαπώ (Se agapó)
Guarani	Mborayhu	Rohayhu
Haitian Creole	Lanmou	Mwen renmen ou
Hawaiian	Aloha	Aloha wau iā ʻoe
Hebrew	אהבה (ahava)	אני אוהב אותך (ani ohev otkha)
Hindi	प्यार (pyaar)	मैं आपसे प्यार करती हूँ (main aapase pyaar karatee hoon)
Hmong	Kev hlub	Kuv hlub koj
Hungarian	Szeretet	Szeretlek
Icelandic	Ást	Ég elska þig
Igbo	Ihunanya	A hụrụ m gị n'anya
Ilocano	Ayat	Ay-ayaten ka
Indonesian	Cinta	Aku mencintaimu
Italian	Amore	Ti amo
Japanese	愛 (ai)	愛してます (Aishitemasu)
Kazakh	Махаббат (maxabbat)	Мен сені жақсы көремін (Men seni jaqsı köremin)
Khmer	សេចក្ដីរសលាញ់ (sechakdei rsa lea nh)	ខ្ញុំស្រលាញ់អ្នក (khnhom sralanh anak)
Kinyarwanda	Urukundo	Ndagukunda
Korean	사랑 (salang)	사랑해요 (salanghaeyo)
Kurdish	Evîn	Ez hej te dikim
Lao	ກາມາຣົມ (kamarom)	ຂ້ອຍຮັກເຈົ້າ (khony hak chao)
Latin	Amor	Te amo
Latvian	Mīlestība	Es mīlu Tevi
Lithuanian	Meilė	Aš tave myliu
Luxembourgish	Léift	Ech hunn dech gär
Malagasy	Fitiavana	Tiako ianao
Malay	Cinta	Saya sayang awak
Maltese	Imħabba	Inħobbok
Mandarin	爱情 (Àiqíng)	我愛你 (Wǒ ài nǐ)
Maori	Aroha	Aroha ana ahau ki a koe
Mongolian	Хайртай (khairtai)	Би чамд хайртай (Bi chamd khairtai)
Nahuatl	Tlazohtiliztli	Nimitztlazohtla Nimitznequi
Navajo	Ánííníshní’	Ayóó'ánííníshní
Nepali	माया (māyā)	म तिमीलाई माया गर्छु (Ma timīlā'ī māyā garchu)
Norwegian	Kjærlighet	Jeg elsker deg
Pashto	(meena) مينه	(zaa sta are meena laram) زه ستا سره مینه لرم
Polish	Miłość	Kocham cię
Portuguese	Amor	Te amo
Punjabi	ਪਿਆਰ (pi'āra)	ਮੈਂ ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਪਿਆਰ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ (Maiṁ tuhānū pi'āra karadā hāṁ)
Oromo	Jaalala	Sin jaalladha
Quechua	Kuyay	Kuyaykim
Romanian	Dragoste	Te iubesc
Russian	Любовь (lyubov')	Я тебя люблю (Ya tebya lyublyu)
Samoan	Alofa	Oute alofa ia oe
Sepedi	Lerato	Ke a go rata
Serbian	Љубав (ljubav)	Волим те (Volim te)
Sesotho	Lerato	Kea u rata
Slovak	Láska	Ľúbim ťa
Slovenian	Ljubezen	Ljubim te
Somali	Jacaylka	Waan ku jeclahay
Spanish	Amor	Te amo
Swahili	Upendo	Nakupenda
Swedish	Kärlek	jag älskar dig
Tagalog	Pag-ibig	Mahal kita
Tahitian	Here	Uua here vau ia oe
Taiwanese	愛情(ai cheng)	我愛你 (góa ài li)
Tamil	அன்பு (Aṉpu)	நான் உன்னை நேசிக்கிறேன் (Nāṉ uṉṉai nēcikkiṟēṉ)
Thai	รัก (rak)	ฉันรักคุณ (C̄hạn rạk khuṇ)
Tibetan	དགའ་པོ (dga' po)	ང་ཁྱོད་ལ་དགའ། (Nga cheo la ga)
Tongan	ʻOfa	Oku ou 'ofa au 'ia koe
Tsonga	Rirhandzu	Ndza ku rhandza
Turkish	Aşk	Seni seviyorum
Ukrainian	Любов (lyubov)	я тебе люблю (ya tebe lyublyu)
Uzbek	Sevgi	Men sizni sevaman
Vietnamese	Yêu và quý	Tôi yêu bạn
Welsh	Cariad	Rwy'n dy garu di
Xhosa	Uthando	Ndiyakuthanda

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Saying I love you in constructed languages

Being able to say I love you in 100 languages is a huge accomplishment! But if you’re an avid language lover like us, you won’t want to stop there. And for a good reason, because aside from over 7,100 languages spoken in the world, there are also around 900 constructed languages.

So, here’s how to say “I love you” in some of the most popular conlangs (constructed languages).

Constructed language	I love you
Esperanto	Mi amas vin
Intelingua	Io te ama
Lingua Franca Nova	Me ama tu
Novial	Me ama vu
Ido	Me amas vu/ Me amoras tu
Volapuk	Lelöfob oli
Lojban	Mi prami do
Europanto	Ich amorante van toi
Lingwa de planeta	Me lubi-te

Saying I love you in fantasy languages

Are you a fan of Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings? If so, you know that the authors of these motion pictures created entirely new languages to make their imaginary worlds seem more realistic.

In some cases, the fictional languages were created by a linguist hired for this purpose. In other cases, the fans developed the bits and pieces of the languages created by the authors into fully constructed languages.

If you’re a fan of fantasy books, TV shows, and movies, you’d be excited to learn how to say “I love you” in some of the most popular fantasy languages.

Fantasy language	I love you	Book/movie/show	Language created by
Dothraki	Anha zhilak yera	Game of Thrones	David Peterson
Valyrian	Avy jorrāelan	Game of Thrones	David Peterson
Klingon	Bangwi’ soh	Star Trek	Dr. Marc Okrand
Vulcan	I ashaya du	Star Trek	Dr. Marc Okrand
Huttese	Uma ji muna	Star Wars	Ben Burtt
Sindarin	Gi melin	Lord of the Rings	J.R.R. Tolkien
Quenya (Elvish)	Melinyel	Lord of the Rings	J.R.R. Tolkien
Na’vi	Nga yawne lu oer	Avatar	Dr. Paul Frommer
Dovahzul	U’u ag fah hi	Skyrim	Adam Adamowicz

Love songs in different languages

It’s hard to imagine a world without love songs. There’s everywhere, and it’s no surprise: love is such a deep feeling that many people feel the need to be expressed with music.

Chances are that even if you’re not a native English speaker, most love songs you can think of are in English. But what about love songs in other languages? While they may not be as widely known, every language has a huge amount of beautiful songs about love.

So, we’ve created a list of popular love songs in other languages.

We just called to say we love you

Now that you know how to say “I love you” in 100 languages, 9 constructed languages, and 9 fantasy languages, you’re armed with plenty of vocabulary to express your love for someone.

We hope that this article has inspired you to do that. We know that’s sometimes easier said than done, but in the words of Barbara de Angelis, “You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back.”

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