# I love you
## English

* This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.For other English entries on this topic, see Love.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /aɪ ˈlʌv juː/
* (Northern England, Ireland) IPA: /aɪ ˈlʊv juː/
* Audio (California):(file)

### Phrase

I love you
* An affirmation of affection or deep caring, especially to a family member.
    "I love you, Mom," said Candace.
** 2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.3, at p.73:
    I love you, Lolly: I should have been saying it at the end of every one of those goddamn Sunday-evening calls. Should have been calling her. I love you: Why did that simple three-syllable sentence always get stuck in my throat?
* An affirmation of romantic feeling to a lover or spouse.
** 1976, Boney M. (lyrics and music), “Sunny”, in Take the Heat off Me:The dark days are gone and the bright days are here / My sunny one shines so sincere / Sunny, one so true / I love you
* A platonic expression of strong inclination or liking to a friend.
    I love you, man, but you need some professional help.

#### Synonyms

* 143 (pager slang)
* ILY (initialism)

#### Translations

Adangme: i suɔ mo
Afrikaans: ek het jou lief, ek is lief vir jou
Akan: mo dow (Fanti)
Albanian: të dua (sq), të dashuroj (sq)
Alemannic German: ich lieb dich, i liäbä di, i ha di gärn, ich han dich gärn
Alutiiq: qunukamken
American Sign Language: ILY@Side-PalmForward
Amharic: (to a man) እወድሻለሁ (ʾəwädšalähu), (to a woman) እወድሃለሁ (ʾəwädhalähu)
Ancient Greek: σὲ φιλῶ (sè philô), σὲ ἀγαπῶ (sè agapô), ἐγὼ σὲ φιλῶ (egṑ sè philô), ἐγὼ σὲ ἀγαπῶ (egṑ sè agapô)
Arabic: أُحِبُّكَ (ʔuḥibbuka) (to a male), أُحِبُّكِ (ʔuḥibbuki) (to a female)
Egyptian Arabic: بحبك (baḥebbak) (to a male), بحبك (baḥebbik) (to a female)
Moroccan Arabic: كنبغيك (kanebḡīk), كنحبك (kanḥabbak)
North Levantine Arabic: بحبك (bḥebbek)
Aragonese: te quiero
Armenian: ես քեզ սիրում եմ (es kʻez sirum em), ես սիրում եմ քեզ (es sirum em kʻez), (Western Armenian) ես քեզ կը սիրեմ (es kʻez kə sirem), (Western Armenian) ես կը սիրեմ քեզ (es kə sirem kʻez)
Assamese: মই তোমাক ভাল পাওঁ (moi tümak bhal paü̃)
Asturian: te quiero, quiérote
Azerbaijani: səni sevirəm
Bashkir: мин һине яратам (min hine yaratam)
Basque: (informal) maite haut, maite zaitut, (plural) maite zaituztet
Belarusian: (informal) я цябе́ каха́ю (ja cjabjé kaxáju), (formal) я вас каха́ю (ja vas kaxáju), (informal) я цябе́ люблю́ (ja cjabjé ljubljú), (formal) я вас люблю́ (ja vas ljubljú)
Bengali: আমি তোমাকে ভালোবাসি (ami tōmake bhalōbaśi)
Bhojpuri: हमके तोहसे लगाव हो गइल बा (hamᵊkē tōhᵊsē lagāv hō gail bā)
Bikol Central: padaba taka, padangat taka
Breton: me da gar (br), me 'gar ac'hanout
Bulgarian: оби́чам те (obíčam te)
Burmese: ခင်ဗျားချစ်တယ် (hkangbya:hkyactai) (said by a man), ရှင်ကိုချစ်တယ် (hrangkuihkyactai) (said by a woman), နင်ကိုငါချစ်တယ် (nangkui-ngahkyactai) (generic, informal), ချစ်ပါတယ် (hkyacpatai)
Buryat: би шамдаа дуратайб (bi šamdaa duratajb)
Caló: te camelo
Catalan: t'estimo, t'estime, t'estim
Cebuano: gihigugma ko ikaw
Chechen: (to female) суна хьо еза (suna ḥʳo jeza), (to male) суна хьо веза (suna ḥʳo veza)
Cherokee: ᎬᎨᏳᎯ (gvgeyuhi)
Chichewa: ndimakukonda
Chickasaw: chiholloli
Chinese:
Cantonese: 我愛你 / 我爱你 (ngo$^5$ oi$^3$ nei$^5$) (formal, written), 我好鍾意你 / 我好钟意你 (ngo$^5$ hou$^2$ zung$^1$ ji$^3$ nei$^5$) (colloquial)
Dungan: вә нэ ни (və ne ni)
Hakka: 𠊎愛你 / 𠊎爱你 (ngài oi ǹ)
Hokkien: 我疼汝 (goá thiàⁿ lí / góa thiàⁿ lír / góa thiàⁿ lú / óa thiàⁿ lí / óa thiàⁿ lír), 我愛汝 / 我爱汝 (góa ài lí / góa ài lír / góa ài lú / óa ài lí / óa ài lír)
Mandarin: 我愛你 / 我爱你 (zh) (wǒ ài nǐ)
Wu: 我愛儂 / 我爱侬 (ngu e non)
Chittagonian: আঁই তুয়ানরে বেশি গোম লাগে (ām̐i tuẏānarē bēśi gōma lāgē)
Chukchi: гымнан гыт ы’ԓгу тыԓгыркынигыт (ɣəmnan ɣət əʔɬɣu təɬɣərkəniɣət)
Chuvash: эпӗ сана юрататӑп (ep̬ĕ s̬ana jurat̬at̬ăp)
Cia-Cia: indau pe'elu iso'o
Cornish: My a'th kar
Corsican: (to female) ti tengu cara, (to male) ti tengu caru
Czech: miluji tě (cs), (colloquial) miluju tě (cs), (formal) miluji vás, miluju vás
Danish: jeg elsker dig
Dhivehi: ކަލާ ދެކެ ވރަހ ލޯބިވޭ (kalā deke vrah lōbivē)
Dolgan: мин энигин таптыыбын (min enigin taptııbın)
Dutch: ik houd van je (nl), ik hou van je (nl), ik houd van jou (nl), (emphasizes you) ik hou van jou (nl), (poetic) ik heb je lief, ik zie je graag (nl), (Flemish) ik zie u graag (nl) , (Flemish) ik hou van u
Egyptian: (male to female) (mr.j ṯn), (female to female) (mr.j ṯn), (male to male) (mr.j ṯw), (female to male) (mr.j ṯw)
Erzya: вечктян (večkťan), мон тонь вечктян (mon toń večkťan)
Esperanto: mi amas vin (eo)
Estonian: mina armastan sind, ma armastan sind (et)
Ewondo: ma ding wa
Faroese: eg elski teg
Finnish: minä rakastan sinua (fi), rakastan sinua
Franco-Provençal: jo t'amo, jo vos amo
French: je t’aime (fr) (informal singular), je vous aime (formal and plural), je t’adore (informal singular), je vous adore (formal and plural)
Old French: je t'aim
Galician: ámote
Georgian: მე შენ მიყვარხარ (me šen miq̇varxar), მე თქვენ მიყვარხართ (me tkven miq̇varxart) (plural), მიყვარხარ (miq̇varxar), მიყვარხართ (miq̇varxart)
German: ich liebe dich (de), ich habe dich lieb, (plural) ich liebe euch, (plural) ich habe euch lieb, (formal, sg and pl) ich liebe Sie, ich habe Sie lieb
Alsace: ich hoan dich gear
Bavaria: i mog di narrisch gern
Cologne: isch han dich leev, isch han dich jään
High Saxonian: isch hab dsch gerne
Swabian: i mog di, i han di oifach gern
Greek: σε αγαπώ (se agapó)
Greenlandic: asavakkit
Guaraní: rohayhu
Haitian Creole: mwen renmen ou
Hausa: ina sonki
Hawaiian: aloha wau iāʻoe
Hebrew: (male to female) אֲנִי אוֹהֵב אוֹתָךְ (aní ohév otákh), (female to male) אֲנִי אוֹהֵבֵת אוֹתְךָ (aní ohévet otkhá), (male to male) אֲנִי אוֹהֵב אוֹתְךָ (aní ohév otkhá), (female to female) אֲנִי אוֹהֵבֵת אוֹתָךְ (aní ohévet otákh)
Hiligaynon: ginahigugma ko ikaw, palangga ta ka
Hindi: मैं तुमसे प्यार करता (ma͠i tumse pyār kartā) (informal, male speaker), मैं तुमसे प्यार करती हूँ (ma͠i tumse pyār kartī hū̃) (informal, female speaker), मैं तुम्हैं बहुत चाहता हूँ m (ma͠i tumha͠i bahut cāhtā hū̃), मैं तुम्हैं बहुत चाहती हूँ f (ma͠i tumha͠i bahut cāhtī hū̃)
Hopi: nu’ umi unangwa’ta
Hungarian: szeretlek (hu), (én) szeretlek téged, (formal) (én) szeretem önt/magát
Ibaloi: pipiyam taka
Icelandic: ég elska þig (is)
Ido: me amoras tu
Igbo: afulu m gi na anya, Ahuru m gi na anya
Inari Sami: mun rähistâm tuu
Indonesian: aku cinta kamu, aku sayang kamu, aku suka sama kamu, (polite, formal) saya cinta kamu, (poetic) aku cinta padamu, (poetic) aku cinta kepadamu; gua suka sama lu (Jakarta, slang), aku mencintaimu
Interlingua: io te ama
Inuktitut: ᓇᒡᓕᒋᕙᒋᑦ (naclicifacit)
Irish: tá grá agam duit, tá grá agam dhuit, mo ghrá thú
Italian: (informal singular) ti amo, (plural or formal) vi amo
Jamaican Creole: mi love yuh, mi check fi yuh
Japanese: 大好き (ja) (daisuki), 君を愛している (kimi o ai-shite iru), 愛してる (ai-shiteru), 俺はお前のことが好きだ (ore wa omae no koto ga suki da) (man to his wife), 俺はお前が好きだ (ore wa omae ga suki da) (man to his wife), 好きよ (suki yo) (girlish), 私はあなたが好きだ (watashi wa anata ga suki da), アイ・ラブ・ユー (ai-rabu-yū)
(Kansai)+: 好いとんねん (suitonnen), 好きやねん (sukiyanen)
Javanese: kula tresna sampeyan, aku tresna sampeyan
Jingpho: nang hpe ngai tsaw ra ai
Kabardian: фӏыуэ узолъагъу (fʼəwɛ wuzolˢağʷu)
Kabyle: (to a male) Hamlaγk, (to a female) Hamlaγkem
Kalmyk: би чамд дуртав (bi çamd durtav)
Kankanaey: laylaydek sik-a
Kannada: ನಾನು ನಿನ್ನನ್ನು ಪ್ರೀತಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ (nānu ninnannu prītisuttēne), ನಾನು ನಿನ್ನನ್ನು ಇಷ್ಟಪಟ್ಟಿರುವೆ (nānu ninnannu iṣṭapaṭṭiruve)
Kapampangan: kaluguran daka, palsintan daka
Karachay-Balkar: мен сени сюеме (men seni süyeme)
Karelian: minä armastan sindai
Kashmiri: مےٚ چھِ چٲنؠ ماے (me chi cạ̄n' māy)
Kazakh: мен сені сүйемін (men senı süiemın), мен сені жақсы көремін (men senı jaqsy köremın), мен саған ғашықпын (men sağan ğaşyqpyn)
Khakas: мин сағаа хынчам (min sağaa xınçam), мин сағаа кӧӧленчем
Khmer: (man to woman) បងស្រឡាញ់អូន (bɑɑng srɑlañ ʼoun), (woman to man) អូនស្រឡាញ់បង (ʼoun srɑlañ bɑɑng), ខ្ញុំ​ស្រលាញ់​អ្នក (khñom srɑlañ nĕək) (gender neutral)
Komi-Zyrian: ме тэнӧ радейта (me tenö raďejta)
Korean: 좋아해요 (joahaeyo), 사랑해 (ko) (saranghae), 사랑해요 (saranghaeyo), 사랑합니다 (ko) (saranghamnida)
Koryak: гымнан гыччи ылӈу тыкулӈыги (ɣəmnan ɣəčči əlŋu təkulŋəɣi)
Kristang: Em t' amo'b
Kumyk: мен сени сюемен (men seni süyemen)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: من حەزم لێتە (min ḧezm lête), من عاشقی تۆم (min 'aşqî tom), من عاشقتم (min 'aşqtim)
Northern Kurdish: te dievînim (ku), hez ji te dikim (ku), ez ji te hez dikim (ku), evîndarê te me (ku) m, evîndara te me (ku) f, min tu divê (ku), aşiqê te me (ku) m, aşiqa te me (ku), ez ji te hez dikim (ku), ez hez ji te dikim (ku), ez hej te dikim (ku)
Kyrgyz: мен сени сүйөм (men seni süyöm)
Lao: ຂ້ອຍຮັກເຈົ້າ (khǭi hak chao)
Latin: (singular) te amo, (plural) vos amo, (old) amo te, (old, emphasis) ego amo te
Latvian: es mīlu tevi, es tevi mīlu
Lezgi: заз вун кӏанзава (zaz vun ḳanzava)
Lingala: nalingí yɔ̌
Lithuanian: aš tave myliu, aš myliu tave, myliu tave
Lombard: tə vöri bén, të vöri bén
Louisiana Creole French: mo laime toi
Low German:
German Low German: ik leev di, ik heff di geern, ik heff di leef
Luo: aheri
Lushootseed: ʔəsx̌aƛ̕tubicid čəd
Luxembourgish: Ech hunn dech gär (lb)
Macedonian: те сакам (te sakam), те љубам (te ljubam) (less common)
Malay: saya cintakan mu, saya sayangkan mu, saya sayangkan engkau, saya cintakan awak, saya cintamu, saya sayangmu, saya cinta kamu, aku cinta padamu
Malayalam: ഞാൻ നിന്നെ പ്രേമിക്കുന്നു (ñāṉ ninne prēmikkunnu), ഞാൻ നിന്നെ സ്നേഹിക്കുന്നു (ñāṉ ninne snēhikkunnu)
Maltese: inħobbok
Manx: ta graih aym ort
Maori: kei te aroha au i a koe
Marathi: माझं तुझ्यावर प्रेम आहे (mājha tujhyāvar prem āhe)
Mari:
Eastern Mari: мый тыйым йӧратем (myj tyjym jöratem)
Mohawk: konoronhkwa
Moksha: келькте (keľkte), мон тонь келькте (mon toń keľkte)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: би чамд хайртай (bi čamd xajrtaj)
Moore: mam nonga fo
Navajo: ayóóʼánííníshʼní
Neapolitan: ti amo
Nepali: (I love you) म तिमीलाई माया गर्छु। (ma timīlāī māyā garchu.)
Northern Sami: mun ráhkistan du
Norwegian:
Bokmål: jeg elsker deg (no) (Bokmål, Riksmål, romantic)
Nynorsk: eg elskar deg (Nynorsk, romantic)
Occitan: t'aimi, que t'aimi, t'estimi
Odia: ମୁଁ ତୁମକୁ ଭଲପାଏ (mũ tumaku bhalapāe)
Ojibwe: gizaagi'in
Old English: iċ lufiġe þē
Old Tupi: oroaûsub, ixé oroaûsub
Pangasinan: inaro taka
Papiamentu: Mi stima bo
Pashto: تا سره مينه کوم (tā sara mina kawəm)
Persian: عاشقتم ('âšeqetam), دوستت دارم (dustat dâram)
Phuthi: Giyakutshadza
Pipil: nimetztasujta, nimetzneki
Polish: kocham cię
Portuguese: amo-te, (eu) te amo, (eu) amo você (Brazil)
Punjabi:
Gurmukhi: ਮੈਂ ਤੈਨੂੰ ਪਿਆਰ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ (maĩ tainū̃ piāra kardā hā̃) (male speaker), ਮੈਂ ਤੈਨੂੰ ਪਿਆਰ ਕਰਦੀ ਹਾਂ (maĩ tainū̃ piāra kardī hā̃) (female speaker)
Shahmukhi: میں تُہانوں پیار کردا ہاں (ma͠i tuhānũ pyār karda hā̃) (male speaker), میں تُہانوں پیار کردی ہاں (ma͠i tuhānũ pyār kardī hā̃) (female speaker)
Quechua: (Bolivia) qanta munani, (Ecuador) Canda munani
Romanian: te iubesc
Romansch: jau hai tai gument
Russian: я вас люблю́ (ja vas ljubljú) (formal or plural), я люблю тебя (ru) (ja ljublju tebja) я тебя́ люблю́ (ru) (ja tebjá ljubljú) (intimate, informal)
Sanskrit: त्वयि स्निह्यामि (tvayi snihyāmi)
Scots: A luive ye
(Dundee): Eh loe ye
Scottish Gaelic: (intimate) tha gràdh agam dhut, (intimate) tha gaol agam ort, (formal, plural) tha gràdh agam dhuibh
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: во̏лӣм те, ја те во̏лӣм
Roman: vȍlīm te, ja te volim
Shona: Ndinokuda
Shor: мен саға кӧленчам (men sağa kölençam)
Sindhi: [script needed] (man tokhe prem karyan to) (to female), [script needed] (man tokhe prem karyan ti) (to male)
Sinhalese: මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි (mama oyāṭa ādareyi), මම ඔබට ආදරෙයි (mama obaṭa ādareyi)
Skolt Sami: mon rääʹǩǩstam tuu
Slovak: ľúbim ťa, milujem ťa, mám ťa rád, mám ťa rada
Slovene: ljubim te, ljubim vaju, ljubim vas
Somali: Waan ku jeclahay
Sotho: ke a go rata
Southern Altai: мен сени сӱӱп јадым (men seni süüp ǰadïm)
Spanish: (often romantic) te quiero, (usually romantic) te amo
Sumerian: 𒆠 𒈬𒊏𒉘𒂗 (ki murag̃en)
Sundanese: Abdi bogoh ka anjeun
Swahili: nakupenda, ninakupenda
Swedish: jag älskar dig (sv)
Sylheti: ꠝꠥꠁ ꠔꠥꠝꠣꠞꠦ ꠜꠣꠟꠣ ꠙꠣꠁ (mui tumare bála fai), ꠀꠝꠤ ꠔꠥꠝꠣꠞꠦ ꠜꠣꠟꠣ ꠙꠣꠁ (ami tumare bála fai)
Tabasaran: узуз уву ккунжазуз (uzuz uvu k̄unžazuz)
Tagalog: mahal kita, iniibig kita, iniirog kita
Tahitian: ua here vau ia oe
Tajik: ман туро дӯст медорам (man turo düst medoram), туро нағз мебинам (turo naġz mebinam), дӯстат дорам (düstat doram), ошиқатам (ošiqatam)
Tamil: நான் உன்னைக் காதலிக்கிறேன் (nāṉ uṉṉaik kātalikkiṟēṉ), நான் உன்னைக் காதலிக்கின்றேன் (nāṉ uṉṉaik kātalikkiṉṟēṉ)
Tatar: мин сине яратам (min sine yaratam)
Telugu: నేను నిన్ను ప్రేమిస్తున్నాను (nēnu ninnu prēmistunnānu)
Thai: ผมรักคุณ (th) (pǒm rák kun) (informal, male to female), ฉันรักคุณ (th) (chǎn rák kun) (informal, female to male), ฉันรักเธอ (chǎn rák təə) (generic, colloquial), รักนะ (informal)
Tok Pisin: mi lavim yu
Tswana: ke a go rata
Tumbuka: nkhukutemwa
Turkish: seni seviyorum (tr)
Turkmen: men seni söýýärin
Udmurt: мон тонэ яратӥсько (mon tone jaratiśko)
Ukrainian: я тебе́ коха́ю (ja tebé koxáju) (intimate), я вас коха́ю (ja vas koxáju) (formal, plural), я тебе́ люблю́ (ja tebé ljubljú), я вас люблю́ (ja vas ljubljú)
Urdu: مُجھے تُم سے پِیار ہَے (mujhe tum se piyār hai) (no gender), میں تُم سے پِیار کَرْتا ہُوں (mẽ tum se piyār kartā hū̃) (more literal, male, intimate), میں آپ سے پِیار کَرْتی ہُوں (mẽ āp se piyār kartī hū̃) (more literal, female, intimate), میں آپ سے پِیار کَرْتا ہُوں (mẽ āp se piyār kartā hū̃) (more literal, male), میں آپ سے پِیار کَرْتی ہُوں (mẽ āp se piyār kartī hū̃) (more literal, female)
Uzbek: men seni sevaman, men seni yaxshi koʻraman
Venetan: te amo, te vojo ben
Vietnamese: (pronoun for speaker) + yêu (vi) + (pronoun for listener), e.g., em yêu anh (wife to husband, girlfriend to boyfriend), anh yêu em (husband to wife, boyfriend to girlfriend), tớ yêu cậu (to a male friend), mình yêu bạn (somewhat impersonal), ngộ ái nị (slang, humorous)
Volapük: Löfob oli
Welsh: 'Rwy'n dy garu di, Yr wyf i yn dy garu di, Yr wyf i yn dy garu di chwi, Dw i'n dy garu
West Frisian: ik hâld fan dy
White Hmong: kuv hlub koj
Xhosa: ndiyakuthanda
Yakut: мин эйиги́н тапты́ыбын (min eyigín taptı́ıbın)
Yiddish: איך ליבע דיך (ikh libe dikh), איך האָב דיך ליב (ikh hob dikh lib)
Yoruba: mo nífẹ̀ẹ́ yín (honorific or plural), mo nífẹ̀ẹ́ rẹ (casual)
Yup'ik: kenkamken
Zazaki: ez to sinena
Zulu: ngiyakuthanda :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### See also

* I'm in love with you
* do you love me?

#### Further reading

* I love you on Wikipedia.Wikipedia