How do you say "I love you" in Chinese?

"I love you" in Chinese is 我爱你。 — written in pinyin as Wǒ ài nǐ. It is an everyday phrase you would use in China.

What does 我爱你。 mean in Chinese?

我爱你。 (Wǒ ài nǐ) means "I love you". Broken down word by word: 我 (wǒ) means "I / me"; 爱 (ài) means "to love"; 你 (nǐ) means "you".

When would you use "I love you" in Chinese?

You say it to a partner, a parent, or your own child — 爱 covers family love as much as romantic love, so it is not reserved for one relationship. Chinese uses it far less often than English uses 'I love you', so it carries weight: saying it out of the blue, rather than on an occasion, is itself the message.

How to say “I love you” in Chinese

“I love you” in Chinese is 我爱你。, written in pinyin as Wǒ ài nǐ.

我爱你。

Wǒ ài nǐ.

I love you.

Word by word

What each part of 我爱你。 actually means.

我wǒI / me
爱àito love
你nǐyou

When you use it

You say it to a partner, a parent, or your own child — 爱 covers family love as much as romantic love, so it is not reserved for one relationship.
Chinese uses it far less often than English uses 'I love you', so it carries weight: saying it out of the blue, rather than on an occasion, is itself the message.

Use 我爱你。 in everyday situations. Greetings, thanks and the small words you use all day.

Other ways people say it

The same idea, said differently. Roughly in the order you'll hear them.

我真的很爱你。
Wǒ zhēn de hěn ài nǐ
I really love you.
真的很 is how Chinese adds 'really'. English puts the word in the same place, so this is the one line that maps almost word for word.
我很爱你。
Wǒ hěn ài nǐ
I love you a lot.
很 before 爱 adds intensity rather than being the flat 'very' of 很好. Order matters: 很 comes before the verb, so 我爱你很 is not a sentence.
我喜欢你。
Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ
I like you.
The everyday word for liking, and what you say to a friend or early on. 喜欢 does not carry the weight of 爱, which is exactly why it is the safer choice.

What usually trips people up

Saying it to a friend can land oddly. 爱 is the word for partners, parents and children; with a friend the natural phrase is 我很喜欢你 (I really like you), and 我爱你 between friends may be taken as a confession.
爱 takes things as well as people. 我爱吃辣 (I love spicy food) and 我爱这个地方 are ordinary, so hearing 爱 does not by itself signal romance — what signals it is the object being 你.
Chinese does not change the verb for the subject or the object, so 我爱你 is the same sentence whoever says it. 'I love you too' is therefore 我也爱你, with 也 before 爱.

What you might hear back

我也爱你。Wǒ yě ài nǐI love you too.
我也是。Wǒ yě shìMe too.
怎么突然说这个？Zěnme tūrán shuō zhège?What's brought this on?

Common questions

How do you say "I love you" in Chinese?: "I love you" in Chinese is 我爱你。 — written in pinyin as Wǒ ài nǐ. It is an everyday phrase you would use in China.
What does 我爱你。 mean in Chinese?: 我爱你。 (Wǒ ài nǐ) means "I love you". Broken down word by word: 我 (wǒ) means "I / me"; 爱 (ài) means "to love"; 你 (nǐ) means "you".
When would you use "I love you" in Chinese?: You say it to a partner, a parent, or your own child — 爱 covers family love as much as romantic love, so it is not reserved for one relationship. Chinese uses it far less often than English uses 'I love you', so it carries weight: saying it out of the blue, rather than on an occasion, is itself the message.

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