50+ Ways to Say “I Love You” in French
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Je t’aime is how you say “I love you” in French, but there’s a common mistake many learners make. Adding a little bien or beaucoup at the end of je t’aime actually makes the meaning less strong. So je t’aime is “I love you,” and je t’aime bien is “I like you.”
We’re going to go into a lot more depth on saying “I love you” in French, but first a little bit about me, your French-speaking guide.
I studied French at university and lived in French-speaking countries for two years. It’s a pretty amazing language to learn! Once you look away from details like French grammar and focus on the fun stuff, French gets better and better.
And you know what? When you’re having fun with the language, you tend to speak it better, too.
We’ll look at a fun topic today: saying “I love you” in French. Often referred to as a romantic language, French definitely has a lot of different ways of expressing love.
Allez! Let’s go!
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3 Good Reasons to Learn How to Say “I Love You” in French
“I love you” is the start of many other related phrases and verbs you’ll learn, such as aimer (“to love”), adorer (“to adore”), chérir (“to cherish”) and more. This magic phrase will not only broaden your vocabulary but it will also help you get closer to French culture.
Here are three good reasons why you should learn je t’aime and love-related words:
Show appreciation to your loved ones. Many people learn a new language to speak to their partner or family. If you have a French-speaking loved one, saying “I love you” in French can deepen the relationship. Plus, with the other creative versions of je t’aime we’ll cover in this article, you can be sure to impress your partner!
Watch romantic French films. There are so many French films about love. Amélie, for example, is a critically acclaimed French film about a young woman living in Paris who helps those around her and ends up finding love.
Listen to romantic French songs. Similar to films, French songs often talk about deep romantic feelings. Take Lara Fabian’s song Je t’aime, as an example. Even for non-French speakers, the song is very moving. Imagine how it would be if you understood the lyrics. Sneak peek: in the chorus, she says je t’aime comme un fou, comme un soldat, meaning “I love you, like a fool, like a soldier.”
How to Say “I Love You” in French: Master the Basics
“I love you” in French is je t’aime. It’s quite simple to translate:
- Je means “I.”
- T is actually te, meaning “you.” It’s written as t’ because the next word (aime) starts with a vowel.
- Aime comes from the French verb aimer, which means to love.
You can use je t’aime for your partner, family, or friends. But here’s where it gets tricky: je t’aime is an intense type of love. If you’re saying je t’aime to a romantic interest, you’re not simply showing affection, you’re telling that you’re in love with them.
If you want to step down a bit, go for je t’aime bien, which means “I like you.”
Right between je t’aime and je t’aime bien stands je t’aime beaucoup, meaning “I like you a lot.” Then there’s je t’adore, which we can describe as “I really, really like you.”
For starters, just remember that je t’aime is the most powerful way to say “I love you.” If you add a bien or a beaucoup in the end, it weakens the meaning.
Enhance Your I Love You With French Endearment Terms
Use these French endearment terms to complement your je t’aime:
- Mon amour: “My love”
- Mon chéri/ Ma chérie: “My dear/my beloved” (If you’re speaking to a man, you say mon chéri. If you’re speaking to a woman, you say ma chérie.)
- Mon ange: “My angel”
- Mon trésor: “My treasure”
- Ma douce: “My sweet”
- Ma moitié: “My other half”
- Mon cœur: “My heart”
50 More Ways to Say “I Love You” in French
Don’t just stick to je t’aime — get creative! French is definitely the right language for that. Here are 50 ways to say “I love you” in French:
- Je t’aime: “I love you.” Worth noting again, je t’aime in French is “I love you” in an intense way.
- Je t’aime bien: “I like you.”
- Je t’adore: “I adore you.” A step above “I like you” and just below “I love you,” it’s perfect for those strong but not quite yet full-blown romantic feelings.
- Je te kiffe: “I really like you.” Last but not least, here’s another way of saying I like you. This one’s informal and slang, especially popular among young people.
- Je suis amoureux/amoureuse de toi: “I am in love with you.” If you’re male, you say amoureux, if you’re female, you say amoureuse.
- Je t’aime très fort: “I love you so much.”
- Tu es l’amour de ma vie: “You are the love of my life.”
- Je t’aime de tout mon cœur: “I love you with all my heart.”
- Je t’aime à la folie: “I love you madly.”
- Je t’aime plus qu’hier moins que demain: “I love you more than yesterday but less than tomorrow.” Taken from a poem by French poet Rosemonde Gérard, this sentence alone paints a picture of why French is known as a romantic language.
- Mon amour pour toi est éternel: “My love for you is eternal.”
- Je t’aime pour toujours: “I love you forever.”
- Mon cœur est à toi: “My heart is yours.”
- Tu es mon âme sœur: “You are my soulmate.” The French word for “soulmate” is âme sœur, literally meaning “soul sister.”
- Je suis fou/folle de toi: “I am crazy about you.” If you’re a man, you say fou, if you’re a woman, you say folle.
- Je suis dingue de toi: “I am crazy about you.” Similar to je suis fou/folle de toi.
- Tu es ma raison de vivre: “You are my reason to live.”
- Je t’aime infiniment: “I love you infinitely.”
- Je ne peux pas vivre sans toi: “I can’t live without you.”
- Tu es la meilleure chose qui me soit arrivée: “You are the best thing that has happened to me.”
- Je t’aime plus que tout au monde: “I love you more than anything in the world.”
- Tu es mon trésor: “You are my treasure.”
- Je t’aimerai toujours: “I will always love you.”
- Tu me rends heureux/heureuse: “You make me happy” (male/female).
- Tu me manques: “I miss you.” Although it means “I miss you,” this sentence literally translates as “you are missing from me.”
- Tu es parfait(e) comme tu es: “You are perfect the way you are.”
- Je suis tombé(e) amoureux/amoureuse de toi: “I’ve fallen in love with you” (male/female).
- Tu es le meilleur/la meilleure: “You are the best” (male/female).
- Je t’aime profondément: “I deeply love you.”
- Je suis à toi: “I am yours.”
- Ton amour est le cadeau le plus précieux: “Your love is the most precious gift.”
- Tu es ma personne préférée: “You’re my favourite person.”
- J’adore passer du temps avec toi: “I love spending time with you.”
- Je veux faire ma vie avec toi: “I want to spend my life with you.”
- Tu me complètes: “You complete me.”
- Je t’aime chaque jour davantage: “I love you more each day.”
- Mon cœur bat pour toi: “My heart beats for you.”
- Tu es mon soleil: “You are my sunshine.” (Literal translation: You are my sun.)
- Tu es mon soleil dans la nuit: “You are my sun in the dark.”
- Je te chéris: “I cherish you.”
- Avec toi, je suis complet/complète: “With you, I am complete” (male/female).
- Tu me rends fou/folle: “You drive me crazy” (male/female).
- Tu es l’unique pour moi: “You are the only one for me.”
- Toi et moi, c’est pour la vie: “You and me, it’s for life.”
- Mon amour envers toi est incommensurable: “My love for you is immeasurable.”
- Je veux vieillir avec toi: “I want to grow old with you.”
- Tu es la lumière de ma vie: “You are the light of my life.”
- Tu es tout pour moi: “You are everything to me.”
- Tu es ma moitié: “You are my other half.”
- Tu illumines ma vie: “You light up my life.”
Show Your Love in French
Now that you know how to say “I love you” in French, it’s time to put it into practice. Say je t’aime plus que tout to your partner, try recognizing the words in Lara Fabian’s song Je t’aime, or watch a romantic film to immerse yourself in French love.
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