"I love you!" Expressing love in Japanese

Expressing love in Japanese is probably very different from what you're used to. If you are familiar with Japanese culture, you probably know that most of the time language is indirect, and speaking directly to someone about love is not as common as in Western culture. It is more typical for the Japanese to show someone how they feel through their actions, rather than expressing them through words. This applies to love for family and friends as well as romantic love.

So how do you tell someone you love them in Japan without creating social awkwardness and misunderstanding? Read on to learn all about how to express your love in Japanese.

"Love" in Japanese

There are two words for "love", but they are used to express love in different ways. The first is ai
愛
, which is a more general word and includes both romantic love and love for friends, family, pets, things, etc.

Some words that include the character 愛:

Kawaii
可愛い
— cute
Aishō愛称
— pet name or nickname
Mederu愛でる
— to appreciate, admire
Aidoku愛読
— to love (read the author, book)

The second word is koi
恋
, which expresses romantic love. For example, you will see this hieroglyph in words such as:

Koibito
恋人
—beloved
Koiuta恋歌—love
song
Hatsukoi初恋
—first love

There is also a word written with these two characters: renai
恋愛
.
It means romantic love or infatuation. For example, a love marriage, as opposed to an arranged marriage, is called renai kekkon恋愛結婚
.

rabu is sometimes used

ラブ, which is the English word "love" written in katakana. For example, young people say that their relationship is “rabu rabu ラブラブ” when they are head over heels in love with each other.

LiveInternetLiveInternet

—Photo album

—Tags

-Music

—Search by diary

—Subscription by e-mail

-Statistics

Phrases for expressing love in Japanese

There are several phrases you can use to tell someone you love them, but remember to pay attention to the context to make sure you use the right expressions.

Kokuhaku 告白

Before you even think about how to declare your feelings in a romantic sense, you must understand kokuhaku

- “confession”. This is when you "confess" your feelings for someone in hopes of reciprocation.

In case of recognition, you can say: “ tsukiatte kudasai

付き合ってください”, which means: “Please date me” or “Can we go on a date?”

Tsukiau

付き合う in this case means “to meet” with the connotation of romantic dates.

Without this recognition, you are technically not in a romantic relationship with the other person.

Suki desu 好きです and daisuki desu 大好きです

“Suki desu

” means “to love,” so if you take someone aside and tell that person “suki desu!” or “suki dayo!” (informal), this will mean that you like him as more than just a friend.

Often in this context, this phrase is used to mean “I love you,” even if the Russian translation is “I like you.”

“Daisuki desu

” means to really like something very much, so it has the same meaning as “suki desu”.

For example, if you want to confess your feelings for someone, you could say:

Suki desu! Tsukiatte kudasai.

I like you/I love you. Please date me.

Note that often both suki desu and daisuki desu are used in a more general sense to express that you like something, not just in a romantic context.

Aishiteru

Technically it means "I love you" and can only be used in a romantic context. Whether you can actually say this to someone is another matter, because this method of declaring love is very rarely used and is extremely serious.

Female names in Japanese

Alexandra	アレキサンダ	a-re-ki-sa-n-da
Sasha	サシャ	Sasha
Alesya	アレシャ	a-re-xia
Lesya	レシャ	re-xia
Alyona	アレナ	a-re-na
Alika	アリカ	a-ri-ka
Lika	リカ	ri-ka
Aliya	アリヤ	aria
Alice	アリサ	a-ri-sa
Alla	アッラ	a-r-ra
Anastasia	アナスタシア	a-na-su-ta-si-a
Nastya	ナスチャ	na-su-cha
Anna	アンナ	Anna
Anya	アニャ	ah-nya
Angela	アンジェラ	a-n-jae-ra
Arina	アリナ	Arina
Valentina	ヴァレンティナ	va-re-n-ti-na
Valeria	ヴァレリア	wa-re-ri-a
Faith	ベラ	be-ra
Veronica	ベロニカ	be-ro-no-ka
Victoria	ヴィクトリア	vi-ku-to-ri-a
Vika	ヴィカ	Vika
Vita	ヴィタ	vi-ta
Galina	ガリナ	ga-ri-na
Galya	ガリャ	ga-rya
Daria	ダリア	yes-ri-ah
Dasha	ダシャ	yes-sha
Dilyara	ジリャラ	ji-rya-ra
Evgeniya	エヴゲ二ア	e-wu-ge-ni-a
Zhenya	ジェニャ	jae-nya
Catherine	エカチェリナ	e-ka-che-ri-na
Kate	カチャ	Kate
Elena	エレナ	uh-re-na
Lena	レナ	re-na
Elizabeth	エリザヴェタ	e-ri-dza-ve-ta
Lisa	リザ	ri-za
Zhanna	ジャンヌ	ji-n-well
Irina	イリナ	Irina
Ira	イラ	i-ra
Kira	キラ	ki-ra
Christina	クリスティナ	ku-ri-su-ti-na
Ksenia	キセニヤ	ki-se-ni-ya
Larisa	ラリッサ	ra-ri-s-sa
Lera	レラ	ra-ra
Love	リュボヴィ	ryu-bo-wee
Lyuba	リュバ	ryuba
Lyudmila	リュドミラ	ryu-do-mi-ra
Luda	リュダ	ryu-da
Marina	マリナ	marina
Maria	メアリ	me-a-ri
Masha	マシャ	ma-sha
Milan	ミラナ	mi-ra-na
Miroslava	ミロスラワ	mi-ro-su-ra-va
Mira	ミラ	world
Natalia	ナタリア	na-ta-ri-a
Natasha	ナタシャ	na-ta-sha
Nina	ニナ	Nina
Olga	オリガ	o-ri-ga
Olya	オリャ	o-rya
Oksana	オクサナ	o-ku-sa-na
Svetlana	スヴェトラナ	su-ve-to-ra-na
Sveta	スヴェタ	su-ve-ta
Sofia	ソフィヤ	Sofia
Sophia	ソフヤ	so-fu-ya
Tatiana	タティアナ	ta-ti-a-na
Tanya	タニャ	ta-nya
Ulya	ウリャ	y-rya
Elizabeth	エリザベト	e-ri-za-be-to
Erica/Erica	エリカ	Erika
Julia	ユリヤ	yu-ri-ya
Yana	ヤナ	I'm on
Yaroslav	ヤロスラワ	I-ro-su-ra-va

Other ways to express love

There are many other phrases you can use to express love in Japanese without directly saying “I love you.” This is not exactly a declaration of love, but if you say these words to your loved one, it will help him realize your feelings for him.

Issho ni itai一緒にいたい

I wanna be with you.

Aitai _

I want to see you/I miss you (or literally: I want to meet you).

Futari de ikō / issho ni ikō二人で行こう / 一緒に行こう

Let's go together.

For example, if someone you like says they want to go to an event, you might say:

“Futari de ikō”, or “issho ni ikō”.

If you want it to be more like an invitation, you can say:

Issho ni ikimasenka?一緒にいきませんか？

Would you like to come with me?

Application of Kanji characters

The Japanese language has another writing system that is used to write the stems of words : hieroglyphs, or kanji. They were borrowed from China and slightly modified. Therefore, each character not only has its own meaning, as in Chinese, but also several reading options: Chinese (on'yomi) and Japanese (kun'yomi).

The names and surnames of the Japanese themselves are written in kanji, but is it possible to write Russian names in Japanese characters? There are several ways to do this. However, it must be borne in mind that all of them are usually used for entertainment, for example, to create nicknames in Japanese.

The first way is to choose kanji that are phonetically similar to Russian names. So, for example, the name “Anna” in Japanese can be written with the hieroglyph 「穴」, which is pronounced “ana”, and the name “Julia ”

- in characters 「湯理夜」, which sound like “yuriya”. In this case, kanji are selected based on their sound, but no attention is paid to the meaning.

There is another way , which, on the contrary, emphasizes the meaning of kanji. Translating a name into Japanese from Russian is impossible, but if we turn to its original meaning, which came from Greek, Latin or any other language, then this is quite possible. For example, the name "Alexander", which comes from Greek, means "protector", which in Japanese can be translated as "Mamoru" （守る）. Using this principle, you can translate any other name.

The table below shows several examples of how Russian names are pronounced and written in katakana and how they can be translated into Japanese through the original meaning of the name.

Male names

Name in Russian	Writing in katakana	Meaning of the name	Japanese translation
Alexander	アレクサンダ Arekusanda	Protecting	守る Mamoru
Andrey	アンドレイ Andorei	Brave	Yukio _
Alexei	アﾚクセイ Arekusei	Assistant	助け Taske
Vladimir	ヴラディミル Vuradimiru	Owning the world	平和主 Hewanushi
Vladislav	ヴラディスラフ Wuradisurafu	Owner of glory	評判主 Hyobanshu
Dmitriy	ドミトリ Domitori	Farmer	果実 Kajitsu
Denis	デニース Deni:su	Natural vitality	Shizenryoku _
Kirill	キリール Kiri:ru	Sunshine, sir	太陽の領主 Tayonoryoshyu
Maksim	マクシム Makushima	Greatest	全くし Mattakushi
Nikita	二キータ Niki:ta	Winner	勝利と Scherito
Sergey	セルギェイ Serugei	Honorable	敬した Keshita

Female names

Name in Russian	Writing in katakana	Meaning of the name	Japanese translation
Alina	アリナ Arina	Angel	天使 Tenshi
Alyona	アリョナ Arena	Sunny, shining	光り Hikari
Anastasia	アナスタシーア Anastasi:a	Back to life	復活美 Fukkatsumi
Anna	Anna _	Favor	慈悲子 Jihiko
Valeria	バﾚーリア Bare:ria	Healthy, strong	達者 Dragging
Victoria	ヴィクトリア Bikutoria	Victory	Shcheri _
Daria	ダリア Daria	Great fire	大火子 Ohiko
Catherine	エカテリナ Ekaterina	Eternally pure, immaculate	公平里 Koheri
Irina	イリーナ Iri:na	World	世界 Sekai
Christina	クリスティナ Kuristina	Christian	神の子 Kaminoko
Natalia	ナタリヤ Nataria	Blessed, Christmas	生ま里 Umari
Pauline	ポリーナ Pori:na	Solar	晴れた Hareta
Svetlana	スベトラーナ Subetora:na	Light	光る Hikaru
Julia	ユーリヤ Yu:riya	Wavy	波状花 Hajoka

Nowadays, you can find out how to spell your name in Japanese online using many websites. However, learning to write it yourself using the Japanese alphabet is not at all difficult.

At first it may seem that writing in Japanese is difficult and incomprehensible. A few alphabets may intimidate you, but you'll quickly realize that learning to write in Hiragana and Katakana is just as easy as learning to write in Latin. But you have to start somewhere! And you can do this by writing your name.

Let's now try to write your name in katakana! I'm sure you can do it! Write the result in the comments.

And so that you can quickly learn how to write not only your name in Japanese, but also that of your loved ones, get a free mini-course on learning katakana.

Do you think that learning Japanese is impossible? What would you think if we told you that after just a year of studying Japanese in Daria Moinich’s courses, you will be able to freely communicate with the Japanese on everyday topics? We bet you can do it? Then quickly sign up for the group, because the number of places is limited. There are many people who want to learn! You can find out more about the annual training program and sign up for courses using the link.

Chinese character love

If you want to use this symbol as a Feng Shui sign, then in order for it to really begin to act and bring success in love affairs, it is better to write it yourself.

Description

The Chinese character for love contains four important elements that are required when applied. These are “roof”, “friend”, “heart”, “claw”. At first glance, a set of such words and symbols may not make any sense. But to understand it, you need to understand the deep meaning of Chinese philosophy and delve into the beauty of feelings. The hieroglyph needs to be deciphered like this: the lady must grab her claws right into the heart and completely envelop it with her attention and feelings. In this way, she becomes more than a friend.

Claw

Roof

Heart

Friend

The character Love 爱 in Chinese means not only love and affection for someone, but also an addiction to something (for example, an addiction to wine or I like to fish), to cherish and appreciate (for example, to value one's reputation), can also be used as an address (for example, my love).

If you apply the hieroglyph Love according to all the rules of Feng Shui, then it will only strengthen the bonds of love and marriage, protect the family from discord, conflicts, and reproaches. Loving people, using it, become closer, mutual happiness and love intensify. If you hang it in the right place in the house, love, peace, prosperity and harmony will reign in the family.

Writing rules

To write it yourself, you need to find an already depicted sign, take a good look and understand it - where, which of the indicated elements are depicted. The sign that will be used to attract harmony and feelings into the house must be perfectly executed, so it is better to stock up on several sheets of paper and practice. The original must be depicted using high-quality materials and on high-quality paper. For training, ordinary materials will be sufficient.

First, the sheet needs to be drawn into 10 identical squares. After this, draw each square into 4 more equal parts. It is in these cells that you need to draw each line of the sign step by step, one by one, in each cell to see whether every single detail has been depicted. It is recommended to start drawing the “love” sign from the top elements. The main thing is to practice and get good at it, look carefully, and don’t miss a single detail. If you are in a bad mood, it is better not to draw a sign. You only need positive thoughts that will charge the drawn hieroglyph with positive energy.