How to Express Love in Chinese

Learn more decent ways to say I love you to your lover in Chinese.

Do you still think as native Mandarin-speakers, it’s hard to express their feelings of love to someone? Don’t forget that Chinese romance poems have been the most favored genre in literature for a thousand years in China.

We have all kinds of creative ways to express our love! Here are some basic ways that you can start with. Ok, here we go:

我对你有好感。 (Wǒ duì nǐ yǒu hǎogǎn.)  

“I have feelings for you. ”
Or “You give me good vibes.”

好感(hǎogǎn):good feelings

When you have this “好感(hǎogǎn)” towards someone, you are at the initial stage of falling in love. You only have very few butterflies in your stomach.

我喜欢你。(Wǒ xǐhuān nǐ.)

“I like you.”

喜欢(xǐhuān):to be fond of

The most beautiful part of this verb is “喜(xǐ)” and “欢(huān).” Both mean “joy.” To like somebody means that the person gives you a lot of joy.

Now you have many more butterflies in your stomach when you say, “我喜欢你。(Wǒ xǐhuān nǐ.)” to a person. It may give him/her some butterflies, too.

我为你疯狂。(Wǒ wèi nǐ fēngkuáng.)

“I am crazy about you.”

疯狂(fēngkuáng):to go wild, to be insane

When you express your feelings this way, the butterflies in your stomach have rushed to your throat and to your entire brain. I am sure you don’t need too much explanation on this one.

我爱你一生一世。(Wǒ ài nǐ yìshēng yíshì.)

“I love you for all of my life.”

爱(ài):love, or to love/一生(yìshēng) and 一世(yíshì):a life time

Now you’ve come to the stage that gives you an urge inside to make a commitment to your partner. This sentence sounds like the numbers “520 1314” in Chinese. Therefore, the number “520 1314” is becoming a chat code in trends these days.

执子之手,与子偕老。(Zhí zǐ zhī shǒu, yǔ zǐ xié lǎo.)

“I’d like to hold your hand and grow old with you.”

执(z):to take/子(zǐ):your/手(shǒu):hand/
与(yǔ) :to be with/偕老(xié lǎo):to grow old

This beautiful quote is taken from《诗经》(Shījīng) “The Book of Songs.” A soldier composed this love poem before he headed fearlessly into battle. With his wife in mind he wrote, “死生契阔,与子成说。执子之手,与子偕老。”, which means no matter how distant we are at the moment, I will never forget that I’ve promised to take your hand and grow old with you. However, whether the soldier got home safely in the end or what happened to him was not recorded in Chinese history.

What could be more romantic than to be with someone you love so much for a lifetime?

It’s actually getting more and more common nowadays to hear people speak out “love” in Asian countries. Try one of these ways to sweeten your family, friends and lover’s hearts today!

Photo via Visualhunt

Posted by BOLICC

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