May 6, 2012

  • Love in Many Languages

    Just in case you were wondering how to say "I Love You" in various languages...

    (This post is dedicated to my good friend--and recently instated SAG-AFTRA member--Keely. :) )

     

    P.S.: I know you could look these up yourself--especially when there are sites with lists longer than this--but you'd deprive me of the fun I get out of using Google Translate. xD (Although some I had to go outside of Google for.)

    P.P.S.: Those with asterisks (*) may not be correct, as Google lists them as "alpha". Double asterisk (**) means I'm not sure the pronunciation is correct.

     

     

    Afrikaans: Ek is Lief vir Jou

    Albanian: Unë Të Dua

    Arabic: Ana Behibek (to female), Ana Behibak (to male)

    *Armenian: Yes k’yez sirum yem

    Asturian: Quiérote

    Basque: Maite Zaitut

    Belarusian: Ja ciabie kachaju

    Bengali: Āmi Tōmāẏa Bhālōbāsi

    Bulgarian: Obicham Te

    Catalan: Et Vull, T'estimo

    Chinese (Mandarin): Wǒ Ài Nǐ (as it reads**)

    Croatian: Volim Te

    Czech: Miluji Tě

    Danish: Jeg Elsker Dig (Ye el-skir dee**)

    Dutch: Ik hou van jou

    Estonian: Ma Armastan Sind

    Filipino: Mahal Kita

    Finnish: Minä Rakastan Sinua (Mih-neh Rock-a-stah Sin-you-ah**)

    French: Je T'aime (Jeh tehm--the j should have a sort of z sound)

    Galician: Quérote

    *Georgian: Me Shen Miqvarkhar

    German: Ich Liebe Dich (Eek lee-bah deek**)

    Greek: Se Agapó̱

    *Gujarati: Manē Tamē Prēma

    *Haitian Creole: Mwen Renmen Ou

    Hindi: Maiṁ āpasē pyāra karatī hūm̐

    Hungarian: Szeretlek

    Indonesian: Aku Cinta Kamu

    Irish: Is tú mo ghrá (Iss to m'graw--the g sound is really soft. It should sound like you're saying "raw", but with a hint of g on the front.)

    Italian: Ti Amo (Tee ah-mo**)

    Japanese: Aishiteimasu (Aye-ish-ee-tee-mus)

    *Kannada: Ai Lav Yu

    Korean: dangsin-eul salanghabnida

    Latin: Te Amo

    Latvian: Es Mīlu Tevi

    Macedonian: Te Sakam

    Norwegian: same as Danish

    Polish: Kocham Cię (Cock-um chell**)

    Portuguese: Eu Te Amo

    Romanian: Te Iubesc

    Russian: Ya Tebya Lyublyu

    Slovak: Milujem ťa

    Spanish: Te Amo [to your partner/lover/spouse/etc.] (Tay Ah-mo); Te Quiero [to everyone else] (Tay Key-air-oh)

    Swedish: Jag älskar dig (Yo Al-scar Day**)

    *Tamil: Nāṉ ai lav yū

    Telugu: same as Kannada

    Thai: C̄hạn Rạk Khuṇ

    Turkish: Seni Seviyorum

    Ukrainian: Ya Tebe Lyublyu

     

     

    Notes

     

    • Afrikaans is the language spoken in South Africa.
    • Catalan is spoken in one of the northern regions of Spain, Cataluña. (Like Cataluña, Basque is also a language of northern Spain. So when you hear talk of "Basque separatists", they mean rebels who want to be independent from the Kingdom of Spain.) Galician is another language of Spain--that's why it looks so similar to actual Spanish. Asturian is also a language of Spain. (Remember that Prince of Asturias is the Spanish equivalent of the Prince of Wales [i.e. "Crown Prince", so Asturian is important!)
    • Just a reminder that Georgia is also a country. Don't try saying that to your southern relatives...they'll look at you like you're from outer space!
    • Unless I'm greatly mistaken, Gujarati is a language of India.
    • Hindi and Kannada are languages of India.
    • "Beloved" in Irish is "Mo Chroí" (mo kree). It shares a commonality with Spanish, in that "mo chroí" also means "my heart". (The Spanish equivalent is "mi corazón" [sweetheart/my heart].)

     

    For more languages than you could ever dream of, I recommend: http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/iloveyou.htm