How to say “I love you” around the world

197 languages · 197 in their own spelling

“I love you” rarely has just one form. Spanish te quiero and te amo, Italian ti voglio bene and ti amo carry different weights; in Japanese 愛してる is a heavy word, and 好き (“I like you”) is what people usually say. In Arabic, Hebrew and Hindi the sentence changes with the gender of the speaker or of the person addressed; where the map shows a slash, it gives both.

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मैं तुमसे प्यार करता/करती हूँ · আমি তোমাকে ভালোবাসি · माझं तुझ्यावर प्रेम आहेaku cinta kamu · 我疼汝 · kocham cięnakupenda · నేను నిన్ను ప్రేమిస్తున్నాను · 我爱侬愛してる · seni seviyorum · 사랑해te quiero · eu te amo · ti amo我爱你 · أحبك · بحبكI love you · a hụrụ m gị n'anya · ľúbim ťaOther shapes

Dots of one colour begin with a similar sound. Colours group words by the class of their first consonant (a sound-class method used in linguistics): words that begin alike share a colour. This shows resemblance, not common origin — proving relationship needs case-by-case comparison. Readable forms come from Wiktionary translation tables; many smaller languages come from the ASJP word lists, in ASJP’s simplified transcription.

Language	Word	Romanization	Family
Chinese	我爱你	wǒ ài nǐ	Sino-Tibetan
English	I love you		Indo-European
Spanish	te quiero		Indo-European
Hindi	मैं तुमसे प्यार करता/करती हूँ	ma͠i tumse pyār kartā/kartī hū̃	Indo-European
Arabic	أحبك	ʔuḥibbuka / ʔuḥibbuki	Afro-Asiatic
Bengali	আমি তোমাকে ভালোবাসি	ami tomake bhalobaśi	Indo-European
Indonesian	aku cinta kamu		Austronesian
Portuguese	eu te amo		Indo-European
French	je t'aime		Indo-European
Russian	я тебя́ люблю́	ja tebjá ljubljú	Indo-European
Japanese	愛してる	aishiteru	Japonic
Marathi	माझं तुझ्यावर प्रेम आहे	mājha tujhyāvar prem āhe	Indo-European
Swahili	nakupenda		Atlantic-Congo
Turkish	seni seviyorum		Turkic
Telugu	నేను నిన్ను ప్రేమిస్తున్నాను	nēnu ninnu prēmistunnānu	Dravidian
Wu Chinese	我爱侬	ngu e non	Sino-Tibetan
Korean	사랑해	saranghae	Koreanic
German	ich liebe dich		Indo-European
Vietnamese	anh yêu em		Austroasiatic
Tamil	நான் உன்னைக் காதலிக்கிறேன்	nāṉ uṉṉaik kātalikkiṟēṉ	Dravidian
Cantonese	我愛你	ngo⁵ oi³ nei⁵	Sino-Tibetan
Urdu	مجھے تم سے پیار ہے	mujhe tum se pyār hai	Indo-European
Italian	ti amo		Indo-European
Egyptian Arabic	بحبك	baḥebbak	Afro-Asiatic
Western Farsi	دوستت دارم	dustet dâram	Indo-European
Min Nan Chinese	我疼汝	goá thiàⁿ lí	Sino-Tibetan
Hakka Chinese	𠊎愛你	ngài oi ǹ	Sino-Tibetan
Hausa	ina sonki		Afro-Asiatic
Kannada	ನಾನು ನಿನ್ನನ್ನು ಪ್ರೀತಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ	nānu ninnannu prītisuttēne	Dravidian
Polish	kocham cię		Indo-European
Yoruba	mo nífẹ̀ẹ́ rẹ		Atlantic-Congo
Malayalam	ഞാൻ നിന്നെ പ്രേമിക്കുന്നു	ñāṉ ninne prēmikkunnu	Dravidian
Odia	ମୁଁ ତୁମକୁ ଭଲପାଏ	mũ tumaku bhalapāe	Indo-European
Burmese	ခင်ဗျားချစ်တယ်	hkangbya:hkyactai	Sino-Tibetan
Moroccan Arabic	كنبغيك	kanebḡīk	Afro-Asiatic
Igbo	a hụrụ m gị n'anya		Atlantic-Congo
Ukrainian	я тебе́ люблю́	ja tebé ljubljú	Indo-European
Uzbek	men seni sevaman		Turkic
Romanian	te iubesc		Indo-European
Amharic	እወድሻለሁ	ʾəwädšalähu	Afro-Asiatic
Thai	ฉันรักเธอ	chǎn rák təə	Tai-Kadai
Lingala	nalingí yɔ̌		Atlantic-Congo
Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian	volim te		Indo-European
Khmer	បងស្រឡាញ់អូន	bɑɑng srɑɑlañ ʼoun	Austroasiatic
Somali	Waan ku jeclahay		Afro-Asiatic
Turkmen	men seni söýýärin		Turkic
Cebuano	gihigugma ko ikaw		Austronesian
Nepali	म तिमीलाई माया गर्छु।	ma timīlāī māyā garchu.	Indo-European
Assamese	মই তোমাক ভাল পাওঁ	moi tümak bhal paü̃	Indo-European
Sinhala	මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි	mama oyāṭa ādareyi	Indo-European
Greek	σε αγαπώ	se agapó	Indo-European
Kurdish	te dievînim		Indo-European
Tajik	ман туро дӯст медорам	man turo düst medoram	Indo-European
Sylheti	ꠝꠥꠁ ꠔꠥꠝꠣꠞꠦ ꠜꠣꠟꠣ ꠙꠣꠁ	mui tumare bála fai	Indo-European
Chittagonian	আঁই তুয়ানরে বেশি গোম লাগে	ām̐i tuẏānarē bēśi gōma lāgē	Indo-European
Kazakh	мен сені сүйемін	men seni süyemin	Turkic
Hungarian	szeretlek		Uralic
Zulu	ngiyakuthanda		Atlantic-Congo
Nyanja	ndimakukonda		Atlantic-Congo
Akan	mo dow		Atlantic-Congo
Southern Pashto	تا سره مينه کوم	tā sara mina kawəm	Indo-European
Czech	miluji tě		Indo-European
Afrikaans	ek het jou lief		Indo-European
Haitian	mwen renmen ou		Indo-European
Swedish	jag älskar dig		Indo-European
Azerbaijani	səni sevirəm		Turkic
Bulgarian	оби́чам те	obíčam te	Indo-European
Shona	Ndinokuda		Atlantic-Congo
Hiligaynon	ginahigugma ko ikaw		Austronesian
Xhosa	ndiyakuthanda		Atlantic-Congo
Belarusian	я цябе́ каха́ю	ja cjabjé kaxáju	Indo-European
Mossi	mam nonga fo		Atlantic-Congo
Neapolitan	ti amo		Indo-European
Central Kurdish	من حەزم لێتە	min ḧezm lête	Indo-European
Tumbuka	nkhukutemwa		Atlantic-Congo
Kashmiri	مےٚ چھِ چٲنؠ ماے	me chi cạ̄n' māy	Indo-European
Danish	jeg elsker dig		Indo-European
Slovak	ľúbim ťa		Indo-European
Southern Sotho	ke a go rata		Atlantic-Congo
Kabyle	Hamlaγk		Afro-Asiatic
Finnish	rakastan sinua		Uralic
Lao	ຂ້ອຍຮັກເຈົ້າ	khǭi hak chao	Tai-Kadai
Norwegian	jeg elsker deg		Indo-European
Tatar	мин сине яратам		Turkic
Catalan	t'estimo		Indo-European
Kirghiz	мен сени сүйөм	men seni süyöm	Turkic
Swiss German	ich lieb dich		Indo-European
Tswana	ke a go rata		Atlantic-Congo
Armenian	ես քեզ սիրում եմ	es kʻez sirum em	Indo-European
Lithuanian	aš tave myliu		Indo-European
Tok Pisin	mi lavim yu		Indo-European
Georgian	მიყვარხარ	miq̇varxar	Kartvelian
Jamaican Creole English	mi love yuh		Indo-European
Albanian	të dua		Indo-European
Luo	aheri		Nilotic
Mongolian	би чамд хайртай	bi čamd xajrtaj	Mongolic-Khitan
Bikol	padaba taka		Austronesian
Galician	ámote		Indo-European
Pampanga	kaluguran daka		Austronesian
Slovenian	ljubim te		Indo-European
Esperanto	mi amas vin		Artificial Language
Macedonian	те сакам	te sakam	Indo-European
Venetian	te amo		Indo-European
Kabardian	фӏыуэ узолъагъу	fʼəwɛ wuzolˢağʷu	Abkhaz-Adyge
Latvian	es mīlu tevi		Indo-European
Quechua	qanta munani		Quechuan
Scots	A luive ye		Indo-European
Chechen	суна хьо еза	suna ḥʳo jeza	Nakh-Daghestanian
Estonian	mina armastan sind		Uralic
Bashkir	мин һине яратам	min hine yaratam	Turkic
Pangasinan	inaro taka		Austronesian
Kachin	nang hpe ngai tsaw ra ai		Sino-Tibetan
Western Frisian	ik hâld fan dy		Indo-European
Swabian	i mog di		Indo-European
Kalmyk	би чамд дуртав	bi çamd durtav	Mongolic-Khitan
Basque	maite haut		Isolates
Chuvash	эпӗ сана юрататӑп	ep̬ĕ s̬ana jurat̬at̬ăp	Turkic
Welsh	'Rwy'n dy garu di		Indo-European
Lezghian	заз вун кӏанзава	zaz vun ḳanzava	Nakh-Daghestanian
Ewondo	ma ding wa		Atlantic-Congo
Maltese	inħobbok		Afro-Asiatic
Occitan	t'aimi		Indo-European
Mari	мый тыйым йӧратем	myj tyjym jöratem	Uralic
Asturian	te quiero		Indo-European
Yakut	мин эйиги́н тапты́ыбын	min eyigín taptḯïbïn	Turkic
Kumyk	мен сени сюемен	men seni süyemen	Turkic
Papiamento	mi stima bo		Indo-European
Icelandic	ég elska þig		Indo-European
Karachay-Balkar	мен сени сюеме	men seni süyeme	Turkic
Udmurt	мон тонэ яратӥсько	mon tone jaratiśko	Uralic
Buriat	би шамдаа дуратайб	bi šamdaa duratajb	Mongolic-Khitan
Māori	kei te aroha au i a koe		Austronesian
Navajo	ayóóʼánííníshʼní		Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit
Komi	ме тэнӧ радейта	me tenö raďejta	Uralic
Corsican	ti tengu cara		Indo-European
Irish	tá grá agam duit		Indo-European
Ibaloi	pipiyam taka		Austronesian
Breton	me da gar		Indo-European
Erzya	вечктян	večkťan	Uralic
Cia-Cia	indau pe'elu iso'o		Austronesian
Tabasaran	узуз уву ккунжазуз	uzuz uvu k̄unžazuz	Nakh-Daghestanian
Faroese	eg elski teg		Indo-European
Tahitian	ua here vau ia oe		Austronesian
Scottish Gaelic	tha gràdh agam dhuibh		Indo-European
Caló	te camelo		Indo-European
Southern Altai	мен сени сӱӱп јадым	men seni süüp ǰadïm	Turkic
Sanskrit	त्वयि स्निह्यामि	tvayi snihyāmi	Indo-European
Khakas	мин сағаа хынчам	min sağaa xınçam	Turkic
Dungan	вә нэ ни	və ne ni	Sino-Tibetan
Romansh	jau hai tai gument		Indo-European
Karelian	minä armastan sindai		Uralic
Hawaiian	aloha wau iāʻoe		Austronesian
North Saami	mun ráhkistan du		Uralic
Central Yupik	kenkamken		Eskimo-Aleut
Cherokee	ᎬᎨᏳᎯ	gvgeyuhi	Iroquoian
Louisiana Creole	mo laime toi		Indo-European
Aragonese	te quiero		Indo-European
Hopi	nu’ umi unangwa’ta		Uto-Aztecan
Chukchi	гымнан гыт ы’ԓгу тыԓгыркынигыт	ɣəmnan ɣət əʔɬɣu təɬɣərkəniɣət	Chukotko-Kamchatkan
Dolgan	мин энигин таптыыбын	min enigin taptııbın	Turkic
Koryak	гымнан гыччи ылӈу тыкулӈыги	ɣəmnan ɣəčči əlŋu təkulŋəɣi	Chukotko-Kamchatkan
Mohawk	konoronhkwa		Iroquoian
Mrassu Shor-Tutal	мен саға кӧленчам	men sağa kölençam	Turkic
Moksha	келькте	keľkte	Uralic
Manx	ta graih aym ort		Indo-European
Interlingua	io te ama		Artificial Language
Pipil	nimetztasujta		Uto-Aztecan
Cornish	My a'th kar		Indo-European
Pacific Gulf Yupik	qunukamken		Eskimo-Aleut
Skolt Sami	mon rääʹǩǩstam tuu		Uralic
Inari Sami	mun rähistâm tuu		Uralic
Chickasaw	chiholloli		Muskogean
Oneida	kunolúkhwaʼ		Iroquoian
Adangme	i suɔ mo		Atlantic-Congo
Arpitan	jo t'amo		Indo-European
Old French	je t'aim		Indo-European
Colognian	isch han dich leev		Indo-European
Ancient Greek	σὲ φιλῶ	sè philô	Indo-European
Kalaallisut	asavakkit		Eskimo-Aleut
Hebrew	אני אוהב/ת אותך	ani ohev/ohevet otkha/otakh	Afro-Asiatic
Hmong Daw	kuv hlub koj		Hmong-Mien
Inuktitut	ᓇᒡᓕᒋᕙᒋᑦ	naclicifacit	Eskimo-Aleut
Javanese	kula tresna sampeyan		Austronesian
Kankanaey	laylaydek sik-a		Austronesian
Malacca-Batavia Portuguese Creole	Em t' amo'b		Indo-European
Latin	te amo		Indo-European
Low German	ik leev di		Indo-European
Northern Lushootseed	ʔəsx̌aƛ̕tubicid čəd		Salishan
Moselle Franconian	Ech hunn dech gär		Indo-European
Malay	saya cintakan mu		Austronesian
Ojibwa	gizaagi'in		Algic
Old English	iċ lufiġe þē		Indo-European
Eastern Panjabi	ਮੈਂ ਤੈਨੂੰ ਪਿਆਰ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ	maĩ tainū̃ piāra kardā hā̃	Indo-European
Sundanese	Abdi bogoh ka anjeun		Austronesian
Tagalog	mahal kita		Austronesian
Yiddish	איך ליבע דיך	ikh libe dikh	Indo-European
Dimli	ez to sinena		Indo-European