This Valentine’s day, why not surprise your sweetie with a multilingual valentine? The Living Language eTutors are here to help you learn how to say sweet nothings in six different languages.
Japanese
The important thing to remember when using expressions of love in Japanese is that being indirect is better. “I love you” in Japanese, 愛してる Aishiteru, sounds very serious, and the expression is reserved for couples only. If you want to confess your romantic feeling toward somebody, say 好きです Suki desu (lit. “I like you”.) instead.
If you are even shy about saying 好きです Suki desu, you can say, ずっと一緒にいたい Zutto issho ni itai “I want to be with you forever”. This may actually sound more romantic than the straight 好きです Suki desu.
Here are some other romantic expressions you might try.
幸せにするよ Shiawase ni suru yo. “I’ll make you happy”.
大好き! Daisuki! “I like you very much”, literally “Big like!”
結婚してください Kekkonshite kudasai “Please marry me”.
Proposing someone is one of the few moments where you have to be direct even in Japanese!
Spanish
Spanish speakers often pepper their speech with terms of endearment, so you might hear these phrases from people beyond that special someone.
cariño - honey
mi amor - my love
corazón - sweetheart (literally, heart)
guapo/guapa: handsome/beautiful, e.g. ¡Hola, guapo/a! “Hi, handsome/beautiful!”
mi vida: my life
Brazilian Portuguese
Put on some bossa nova and try out one of these Brazilian Portuguese phrases on your chuchu.
Eu te amo. – I love you.
Eu te adoro. – I adore you.
Paixão da minha vida – love of my life / literally, passion of my life
amor da minha vida – love of my life
Chuchu – pronounced “choochoo”, is like the English sweetie. Chuchu is a green root; vegetable, and is probably used as a term of endearment because it sounds like the French; chouchou, used in France as sweetie, and also sounds like choux (cabbage);
Gato (m.)/ gata (f.): cutie, literally cat, used between young boyfriends and girlfriends to mean cute and sexy
Meu bem, meu amor – sweetheart (traditional, used by married or older people)
Meu querido (m.) / minha querida (f.) – my dear
Korean
안녕, 내 사랑~! (annyeong, nae sarang): Hello, my love~!
당신을 많이 좋아해요 (tangsineul mani joahaeyo): I like you a lot. (polite) or
너를 많이 좋아해 (neoreul mani joahae): I like you a lot.
난 네 거야 (nan ne geoya): I’m yours.
넌 내거야 (neon nae geoya): You’re mine.
French
French is the language perhaps most associated with romance. So, why not add some French expressions to your repertoire for Le jour de la Saint-Valentin (Valentine’s Day):
Je vous aime (polite)/Je t’aime (fam.) .- I love you.
Je t’aime plus que tout au monde ! - I love you more than anything in the world!
Oh mon amour ! - Oh my love!
Terms of endearment for women:
Ma poupée - my doll
Ma chérie - my dear
Ma belle - my beauty
Terms of endearment for men:
Mon loup - my wolf
Mon lapin - my rabbit
Mon chéri - my dear
German
Here are some German phrases that, as students of German might already predict, are quite quirky and cute.
Erdbeermäulchen – Little strawberry mouth
Erdbeerchen – Little strawberry
Baerchen – Little bear
Zuckerschnäutzchen – Sugar lips (lit., little sugar mouth)
Zuckerschnecke – Sugar snail
Zuckerbienchen - Little sugar bee
Perhaps our favorite is Knutschipuh, which is pronounced “knootcheepoo” and means something similar to the English phrase smootchie-poo. And of course, you should know how to say I love you: Ich liebe dich.
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If you’re still looking for ways to express your love in another language, what could be better than the language of music? We’ve created a playlist over at Songza of the best, most romantic love songs in Arabic, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, and Portuguese. Go take a listen and feel the love!
