How to Say "I Love You" in Chinese: Word, Phrases, and Numbers
"I Love You" is one of the most important phrases to express love and affection to someone special. If you are learning Chinese, trying to improve your Chinese speaking skills, have a Chinese partner, or simply just want to learn about all the ways to express love in Chinese, this article provides you with a handful of useful answers!
From words to phrases, and even with numbers, you can get creative in Mandarin Chinese to express love, affection, and admiration.
Let's Start with Words
The most basic and straightforward Chinese character for love is 爱 (ài).
In addition, there are a few other commonly used words given as follows.
爱 (ài), love
喜欢 (xǐ huān), like
想 (xiǎng), miss/think about/think of/want
想念 (xiǎng niàn), miss (more formal than above)
倾心 (qīng xīn) / 倾慕 (qīng mù) / 爱慕 (ài mù) / 崇拜 (chóng bài) / …, admire/adore (formal and poetic)
All the words here are verbs, you can use the general format: 我 + verb + 你 to say that you love/like/miss/admire/adore someone.
Of course, there are more words than the ones above.
Now, let's dive deeper into each of the phrases using these words.
Common Phrases
我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ), I Love You
我爱你 is the most straightforward and literal way to say "I Love You" in Chinese. The characters in its order literally mean "I love you." It's a very commonly used phrase to express love and is understood by most Chinese speakers.
But just as the phrase "I Love You" conveys in any language, I would recommend only saying it to the one you have committed your heart to!
In addition to simply saying 我爱你, there are also many other phrases we could use.
我喜欢你 (wǒ xǐ huān nǐ), I Like You
The literal translation of 我喜欢你 is "I like you", which is often used as a prelude to the declaration of love. It's also a more informal way to express love/affection compared to 我爱你.
People generally use 我喜欢你 when they confess their feelings to someone initially, and/or when they have a crush on someone.
This is a less serious phrase than 我爱你.
我想你 (wǒ xiǎng nǐ), I Miss You
我想你 is a more subtle phrase, and it also implies a more intimate relationship. It translates to "I miss you" or "I think of you".
In addition to using this phrase in its basic form of 我想你, there are also some variants we can use, and they have subtle differences from each other.
我想着你 (wǒ xiǎng zhe nǐ) / 我在想你 (wǒ zài xiǎng nǐ), "I am thinking about you" or "I miss you".
我想念你 (wǒ xiǎng niàn nǐ), a formal way of saying "I miss you".
我很想你 (wǒ hěn xiǎng nǐ), "I miss you very much".
我好想你(啊) [wǒ hǎo xiǎng nǐ (a)], "I miss you so very very much".
我想要你 (wǒ xiǎng yào nǐ), "I want you", expressing your desire towards someone.
"I Admire/Adore You" and Related Phrases
As given above in the first section, there are many words expressing "I admire/adore you" in Chinese. Typically, these words are formal and poetic.
Let's look at these phrases more closely:
我倾心于你 (wǒ qīng xīn yú nǐ), my heart fell for you.
我倾慕你 (wǒ qīng mù nǐ), I admire/adore you.
我爱慕你 (wǒ ài mù nǐ), I adore/love you.
我恋慕你 (wǒ liàn mù nǐ), I admire/love you.
我渴慕你 (wǒ kě mù nǐ), I long for you.
我崇拜你 (wǒ chóng bài nǐ), I admire/worship you.
All these phrases here come off as poetic, formal, and serious. They don't simply translate to "I love you", but often convey more complex emotions and feelings towards someone.
In general, the phrases here indicate that you fell for someone while also admiring him/her. It could be due to how they look, how they act, their personality, things they've done, or any other reasons, or even no specific reason at all. And you should choose one of these phrases that suits the best to confess your feelings.
Let's Get Creative: More Phrases
We know that love is simple while being complex at the same time.
So are the expressions you could use.
There are simple words like 爱, 喜欢, and 想 to show your love and affection. But there are also countless other phrases you could use.
Well, considering there have been so many poems, books, novels, songs, movies, shows, etc. trying to decipher love, it's no surprise people find all sorts of creative ways to express love.
Here we list some example phrases one can use in addition to what we've already mentioned above.
我渴求你 (wǒ kě qiú nǐ), I long/yearn for you.
我渴望你 (wǒ kě wàng nǐ), I long/yearn for you, I desire you.
我中意你 (wǒ zhòng yì nǐ), I like you, I favor you.
我钟情于你 (wǒ zhōng qíng yú nǐ), I'm in love with you / My feelings are only for you.
我爱恋着你 (wǒ ài liàn zhe nǐ), I'm in love with you.
All the phrases we've introduced so far follow the general format of 我 + verb + 你.
While this format typically makes your confession of love and feelings straightforward, you could get more creative and not be confined by the formality and be more subtle, stronger, and/or more poetic at the same time.
Here are some examples to start with.
你对我来说很重要 (nǐ duì wǒ lái shuō hěn zhòng yào), you are very important to me.
我的心只属于你 (wǒ de xīn zhǐ shǔ yú nǐ), my heart only belongs to you.
我的心里只有你 (wǒ de xīn lǐ zhǐ yǒu nǐ), only you are in my heart.
你是我的唯一 (nǐ shì wǒ de wéi yī), you are my one and only.
我想和你在一起 (wǒ xiǎng hé nǐ zài yī qǐ), I want to be with you.
我想与你共度余生 (wǒ xiǎng yǔ nǐ gòng dù yú shēng), I want to spend the rest of my life with you.
我想和你一起变老 (wǒ xiǎng hé nǐ yī qǐ biàn lǎo), I want to grow old with you.
The above phrases are also straightforward, they all show the importance of the one you're expressing your love to, without directly saying the word "love".
But there are also phrases that are more subtle, like the ones below.
月亮代表我的心 (yuè liàng dài biǎo wǒ de xīn), the moon represents my heart.
再美的风景不如你 (zài měi de fēng jǐng bù rú nǐ), no matter how beautiful the scenery is, it is not as good as you.
你若安好，便是晴天 (nǐ ruò ān hǎo, biàn shì qíng tiān), your happiness is the sun in my world.
The first one, "月亮代表我的心", is the title of a famous love song in Mandarin Chinese that was first recorded in the 70s. It has become very popular and many artists have done covers of it. And the song title itself has become a phrase that one can use to express love.
The second phrase, "再美的风景不如你", is not a famous phrase, but the meaning behind it is often used to express your love, while the exact wording is not so important.
The last one, "你若安好便是晴天", is the title of a Chinese romantic TV show as well as a book's title (unrelated to the show). The origin of the phrase is unclear, but it has become one you could use to express your love.
Of course, all the phrases given here are just some examples, you can also come up with your own creative and unique ways to show your love and feelings.
Hope what we've mentioned here can offer you some inspiration.
Numbers / Code for love
You may be curious; how could numbers be a way to express "love"?
Well, this indeed may be something unique about Chinese, people would sometimes use number combinations that sound similar to certain Chinese words/phrases for expression instead of the original one.
In fact, these numbers can be viewed as homophonic words.
Nowadays, these number combinations have become something like slang terms that are popular among young people.
Especially for love, there are a lot of numbers that Chinese people have come up with, and they are also referred to as "code for love".
Here we list some of the numbers that are used for expressing "love" in Chinese.
520 and 521 - 我爱你
Generally, the way it works for number phrases is to pronounce each digit in that number, and the meaning is what it sounds like.
So here, for 520, the pinyin is wǔ èr líng, which is somewhat similar to the sound of 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ).
I understand that you might disagree. There is something else we should also know about.
First, 我 means "I". But in ancient Chinese, people used a few other characters to refer to themselves. One of the common characters is 吾 (wǔ), which has the same pinyin as the number 5.
Secondly, for 0, líng, you could think of it as similar to 您 (nín), which is the more respectful form of "you" in Chinese.
Similarly, some people think that the number 1, yī, also sounds somewhat similar to 你 (nǐ), the common form of you in Chinese. As a result, 521 is also a number that stands for 我爱你.
Both 520 and 521 may be the most commonly used "code for love" in Chinese. In fact, May 20th and 21st are celebrated as Internet Valentine's Day in China.
1314 - 一生一世
1314 is also a commonly used number code for love. The pinyin is yī sān yī sì, which sounds very similar to the four-character word: 一生一世 (yī shēng yī shì), meaning a lifetime/whole life.
Although there is no explicit implication of "love", the word 一生一世 is often used when people confess their unwavering love towards someone, or when they propose and make the vow of a lifetime.
Therefore, 一生一世 stands for long-lasting love, and 1314 becomes a very commonly used code for love.
More Numbers
A common usage of these numbers/codes is that when people make love-related posts on social media, they would do so at a clock that's related to one of these love codes.
For example, if you want to post something on Valentine's Day, you may choose to time your post at 5:20 pm or 13:14 (1:14 pm), because both 520 and 1314 are popular codes that stand for love.
Of course, there are way more lover-related numbers that Chinese people use. Below is a table summarizing some of these popular "codes for love".
| Number | Pinyin | Chinese (Pinyin) | English Translation |
| 0451/1451 | líng sì wǔ yī / yī sì wǔ yī | 你是唯一 (nǐ shì wéi yī) | You're the one and only |
| 04551/14551 | líng sì wǔ wǔ yī / yī sì wǔ wǔ yī | 你是我唯一 (nǐ shì wǒ wéi yī) | You are my one and only |
| 1314 | yī sān yī sì | 一生一世 (yī shēng yī shì) | Lifetime/The whole life |
| 13920 | yī sān jiǔ èr líng | 一生就爱你 (yī shēng jiù ài nǐ) | Only love you my whole life |
| 1573 | yī wǔ qī sān | 一往情深 (yī wǎng qíng shēn) | Poured deep feelings into someone, longing and unable to restrain |
| 20184 | èr líng yī bā sì | 爱你一辈子 (ài nǐ yī bèi zi) | Love you for all my life |
| 201314 | èr líng yī sān yī sì | 爱你一生一世 (ài nǐ yī shēng yī shì) | Love you forever/my lifetime |
| 3344 | sān sān sì sì | 生生世世 (shēng shēng shì shì) | Life after life |
| 360 | sān liù líng | 想念你 (xiǎng niàn nǐ) | Miss you |
| 3731 | sān qī sān yī | 真心真意 (zhēn xīn zhēn yì) | True and sincere, without falsehood |
| 460 | sì liù líng | 思念你 (sī niàn nǐ) | Miss you |
| 520/521 | wǔ èr líng / wǔ èr yī | 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ) | I love you |
| 530/531 | wǔ sān líng / wǔ sān yī | 我想你 (wǒ xiǎng nǐ) | I miss you |
| 59420 | wǔ jiǔ sì èr líng | 我就是爱你 (wǒ jiù shì ài nǐ) | I just love you |
| 8013 | bā líng yī sān | 伴你一生 (bàn nǐ yī shēng) | Spend my life with you / Be with you for a lifetime |
| 9420/9421 | jiǔ sì èr líng / jiǔ sì èr yī | 就是爱你 (jiù shì ài nǐ) | (I) just love you |
Final Thoughts
There is no standard way to say "I love you" in Chinese.
In fact, there are many words and phrases to use to express your love and affection for someone special. Whether you prefer a straightforward declaration or a more romantic expression, these phrases will help you convey your feelings. Do remember to practice your pronunciation and use the right tone to make sure your message is clear and heartfelt.
But just like there are countless words we can say to express love, there are also limitless things one can do to show love. Because love is never about what you say, it's about what you do and how you feel.
As long as you feel that true love in your heart, no matter what you choose to say, it'll be the right one.
