French. Language of love right? So how to say I love you in French?
That’s a good question because you better not use the wrong sentence. Or you might end up declaring a sexual love to your mum, and a platonic one to your lover. Oops.
Love has several faces. And you will not communicate it with the same words to different people.
So let’s see 5 ways to say I love you in French.
Author : Marie Drouvin
Salut! Je suis Marie and I'm on a mission to make learning French simple. You can find me on Youtube, or here, on this blog. And if you want to know more about how to learn French, take a look at my book.
In this podcast, you can hear the sentences. They are written in the article below.
5 ways to say I love you in French
- How you can say I love you in French without meaning it romantically,
- The different ways to express that you adore someone in French,
- How to be super clear in French when you are in love with someone,
- And how to differentiate your lover from your favourite sandwich, in French.
Je t'aime
Classic. You probably know it, you’ve heard it before anyway.
Je t’aime : I love you
Now, what context calls for a classic Je t’aime?
Most of them.
Je t’aime doesn’t carry a sexual meaning. So it’s safe to use with your mum, your dog or your friends.
Although careful, it’s strong.
It’s not the kind of French words you say to someone you just met – unless you want to make a joke and have them run away fast.
If you LIKE someone, don’t say Je t’aime, say this instead.
Je t'adore
When you want to be a little bit less intense, you can use this French phrase instead:
Je t’adore : I like you
Yes, in English the verb to adore, is strong, powerful. Maybe even more than the word love. But in French, no. Aimer is stronger than Adorer. Just like the difference between Love and Like.
In context, you could say this to your best friend.
Toi, je t’adore. : You, I like you.
You can also use it to say you like something much. Like a sandwich, or a movie.
J’adore les burgers. : I like burgers.
J’ai adoré le film hier soir. : I liked the movie yesterday.
So don’t use Je t’adore if you want to say you LOVE someone. If you want to be truly clear, use this one instead…
Je suis amoureux de toi / Je suis amoureuse de toi
Sometimes, you need to be clear.
Je t’aime is fine. But it could be mistaken for friendly love.
So if you want to leave no room for doubt about your feelings:
Je suis amoureux de toi : I am in love with you.
This is the French love sentence you should be using when you want to make sure to say that you are IN love with the person.
But be careful here, feminine and masculine powers are at play.
Je suis amoureux de toi : I am in love with.
That is the grammatical masculine gender. So if you are a man, a boy, or if you do not identify with the female gender, or if you want to stay gender-neutral, use this one.
But, if you do identify with the female gender, or if you are a female, a girl, or a lady – however you want to call it, use the feminine gender version:
Je suis amoureuse de toi. : I am in love with you.
If this business of masculine and feminine grammatical gender is difficult for you, here is a recap.
How to say I love you in French, but like a friend then? Being clear, but the other way around? Like this…
Je t'aime bien
Sometimes you need to be clear.
Clear that you don’t love love this person, but that you like them, as a friend.
In which case, you could say
Je t’aime bien : I like you
Yes, in French, we are adding the adverb ‘bien‘ which means ‘good‘ to lessen the intensity of an ‘I love you’.
Weird? Maybe.
But now you know that if someone is saying to you ‘Je t’aime bien‘, it’s not necessarily good – especially if you just have just confessed your love for them.
You can also use this to say you like doing something.
J’aime bien faire la cuisine : I like cooking
J’aime bien ton chat, il est mignon : I like your cat, he’s cute.
Now, there is one type of love we haven’t talked about. The consuming kind…
Je suis fou de toi / Je suis folle de toi
Minors and sensitive spirits, it’s time to switch to another article, like this one about How to Learn French.
For the rest of us, let’s talk about the kind of love that makes your body hot, and makes you say crazy things.
Je suis fou de toi : I am crazy about you
Now you don’t say THAT to just anyone, right? It needs to be someone pretty special…
Once again here, we have a gender case.
This is the masculine gender form:
Je suis fou de toi : I am crazy about you.
You can also use it if you want a neutral gender form.
But if you are a female, this is what you should say:
Je suis folle de toi : I am crazy about you.
Funny thing is, you could also use that expression to talk about THINGS.
Like chocolate.
Je suis folle de chocolat : I am crazy about chocolate.
Alright, you are now equipped with plenty of new expressions to use on your lover and loved ones.
Next step? The next step is to practice it all (with Lingoda for example)! And to join the French Club (with the form underneath this article).
Happy learning!
