Ninchanese
Chinese people, usually do not celebrate love on February 14, since it’s a Christian celebration coming from the Roman antiquity era. On July 7, Qīxī day (七夕), Chinese people hold their own celebration of love (Christmas and the Chinese New Year are also great excuses to ask for gifts from your significant other).
But young Chinese people like to immerse themselves in western culture and sometimes plan romantic activities on this special day, February 14. Let’s take this opportunity to spread our love in Chinese with 6 different ways to tell that special person you like them.
#1 我爱你 – I love you
Saying “I love you” is such a huge commitment, especially in China, you can’t use it with everyone. Indeed, you wouldn’t say “I love you” to a person you’ve just met, or to someone you’re interested in, even if you get along well with them. As you can imagine, saying 我爱你 to someone on a first date might be inappropriate and have the opposite effect of scaring them away.
But if you’re committed to someone, the right way to show them you love them is to say
我爱你 wǒ ài nǐ I love you
In China, lovers use it to express their strong feelings, when they are truly, madly and deeply in love with each other.
#2 我喜欢你 – I like you
If you want to show your love in a more modest way, to your friends or to someone you’re like, you can definitely use
我喜欢你 wǒ xǐ huān nǐ I like you.
It’s a lot less strong than 我爱你.
#3 我对你感兴趣 – I’m interested in you
If you’ve found someone you want to date, here is one of the things you can say to show them your interest.
wǒ duì nǐ gǎn xìng qu I'm interested in you.
It’s a bit straight to the point, so just be confident, and it can work!
#4 你是我喜欢的类型 – You’re my type
Congratulations, you’re finally on a date! This person likes rock music, plays volleyball and loves Nincha more than everything, JUST LIKE YOU! Sounds like you’ve found your perfect match.
Then it’s the right time to tell them they’re just your type by using
你是我喜欢的类型 nǐ shì wǒ xǐ huān de lèi xíng You're just my type
#5 我爱上你了- I’m in love with you
The two of you have spent a lot of time together by now and you can feel yourself falling in love little by little with them.
Tell them how you feel:
我爱上你了 wǒ ài shàng nǐ le I'm in love with you.
Maybe it’s a good time to start talking about moving in together?
#6 你让我着迷 / 疯狂 – I’m fascinated by you/ I’m crazy about you
You are now in a stable relationship with your beloved, isn’t it nice? Remember to not take your lover for granted, however, and don’t forget to show them your love as much as possible!
Here are two adorable sentences to use:
你让我着迷 nǐ ràng wǒ zháo mí I’m fascinated by you.
你让我疯狂 nǐ ràng wǒ fēngkuáng I’m crazy about you.
Aww, so sweet!
Now that you know these 6 romantic ways to show your love in Chinese, you can express your feelings on Valentine’s day but also on EVERY day of the year! Have you used any of these sentences to show your feelings to someone in Chinese? Did we miss other useful sentences to show your love in Chinese?
Tell us in the comments!
The Nincha Team
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9 comments
Join the conversationPingback: Mandarin Weekly #57 – Mandarin Weekly (每周中文)
thibault - February 18, 2016
Very good story about little ways of China ! I hope to read more from you
Ninchanese - February 29, 2016
Hi Thibault, glad you liked the articles! Let us know if you use any of those sentences in real life 🙂
Just_browsing - February 27, 2016
My boyfriend said-你让疯狂 is correct. remove 我
and its 欣喜若狂 (crazy like happy) not 疯狂 (which is a medical illness – insanity)
He is Taiwanese. I learn chinese so that I can communicate with him, but am in school… so… my life 🙁
Ninchanese - February 29, 2016
Haha, that’s a great reason to learn Chinese :). Now, about your comment, two things to note:
1.One can’t remove 我 in the sentence 你让我疯狂. It works like in English, where you wouldn’t say “You make crazy.” instead of “You make me crazy.” See, in Chinese, the verb 让 is always used in the following pattern: 让+noun/pronoun+verb or adjective. For example, 这本书让我流泪 (This book makes me cry); 你的礼物让我高兴 (Your gift makes me happy); 毛线球让猫咪很兴奋 (the ball of yarn makes the cat very exited ). As you can see, there is always a noun or a pronoun after the verb 让.
2.Secondly, your boyfriend is quite the romantic! 你让我欣喜若狂 is a great expression in Chinese to say as well as the other sentences, and it’s a romantic and even poetic expression. But generally, this expression isn’t used in oral Chinese. Perhaps it’s a local difference?
At the same time, 你让我疯狂is definitely a correct way to express affection to your lover. 疯狂 can indeed literally mean insanity in Chinese; but it can also be used as a kind of exaggeration to describe that you have a crush on someone or that you’ve fallen in love with somebody. That’s really close to saying “You make me lose my mind” or “You make me crazy” in English, isn’t it? 🙂
All in all, we’m glad you’re having such romantic talks with your bf!
Just_browsing - February 28, 2016
Hey thanks for the update but you forgot to remove ZHAO from the pinyin.
Ninchanese - February 29, 2016
Oops, indeed, the strikethrough disappeared. It’s back now, thanks 🙂
chinalovedate - September 12, 2016
This is really good post. It will be helpful for those who wants to tell their feelings to their loved once. Keep sharing 🙂
The Nincha Team - September 12, 2016
Thanks Chinalovedate! Have you used one of the sentences before? 🙂
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