How to say “I love you” in Korean ?
Nothing easier. Of course, this sentence, however singular it may be, can be used in different ways depending on the context. There are several ways to be able to use this expression in Korea.
So we are going to tackle this subject by telling you how to say “I love you” in this magnificent language. Of course, we are also going to teach you about it in its negative form. To conclude with how to express it in a way to make someone understand that you like it.
‘I love you’ in Korean
The phrase for “I love you” in Korean is: (saranghae) 사랑해 . You will tell me fine, but what does its meaning mean? In all simplicity, the word (sarang) is a noun meaning “love” and its verb for “love” is (saranghada) 사랑하다.
As you will have understood, this sentence only has the verb. The subject does not exist in this sentence. The reason is that it is necessarily you who love the person, and as you tell her looking her in the eye, she understands that it is necessarily you who love her. Forming sentences with just the verb is a special feature of the Korean language.
However, if you wanted to make it clear that it was you who loved the other person and you wanted to include the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘you’, then you can express it this way: (nan-neoreul-saranghae) 난 내울사랑해 . I mean ‘I’ and I want ‘you’, so this phrase literally means ‘I love you’.
How ‘I love you’ is used in Korean
In the Land of the Morning Calm, there are 3 forms of politeness, the casual, polite and formal form. We will mainly talk about the first two, which are the most commonly used.
(saranghae) 사랑해 is the casual form of “I love you”, when we express our love to our partner. We use casual language because we already have a close relationship with them. Also, when close friends say “I love you,” they use the same casual form.
(saranghaeyo) 사랑 해요 is the polite form. It’s not as common for people already in relationships to use the polite form of this phrase, but some people do. To do this, simply add the particle (yo) 요. However, the polite form of “I love you” has a wider range of uses. We can use this form to say “I love you” to parents and teachers because it is more respectful. In Korean, we say “I love you” to parents and teachers not only to express our love, but also to show our appreciation and gratitude.
(sarangmnida) 사랑니다 is the most formal way to express love. But very rarely used.
It is easy to learn to say “I love you”, but when learning the expression in another language, it is also important to know how this expression is used by native speakers, as well as to learn all the different ways to say “I love you” in Korean.
Everything to its opposite
We must not forget either that we must also know how to say “no, I do not love you”. Not easy to express this without hurting the person who shows you all his love for your beautiful eyes. But, you have to be frank and the best way is to express it directly by simply saying “I don’t love you” (naneun neoleul salang haji anh-a) 나는 너를 사랑 하지 않아.
Now you have learned how to say “I love you” with a capital L and express your love in Korean.
The gesture of love
Remember that even if you can’t tell your other half how you feel because of your shyness, don’t panic! You can also say it with your eyes or your body.
For example, if you’re too reserved, you can wear a T-shirt with a big heart on it that will convey the message of love you want to send. There’s a cute gesture that Koreans like to use to show off, or just say how they feel.
Heart and Fingers T Shirt
In order to formalize your meeting, and to show your feelings to your partner, you could think of offering him jewelry marking your eternal love. On our store, you will find pendants, necklaces and rings proving your infinite love. Some jewels from our shop are available and others are even customizable.
