‘I Love You’ | Romantic Phrases, Vocabulary, and Idioms in Chinese

Written by Mr. Languagespud in Uncategorized

If you search online how to say “I love you” in Chinese, perhaps the most common answer that you will get is ‘我爱你’ – wǒ ài nǐ.

However, love is a pretty big thing, so it sometimes makes sense to either dilute it down to something less ‘intense’ or try and add a bit of variety and spice when we want to get hot and steamy!

Luckily, Chinese speakers use a variety of ways to express their love and affection towards someone else.

Let’s look at all the different ways you can wag that romantic tongue of yours in Mandarin Chinese!

I ___ You

EnglishChinesePinyin
I like you我喜欢你wǒ xǐhuan nǐ
I miss you我想你 wǒ xiǎng nǐ
You are so sweet你很甜nǐ hěn tián
I love you, baby我爱你，宝贝wǒ ài nǐ, bǎobèi
I hope to grow old with you我希望能跟你一起变老wǒ xīwàng néng gēn nǐ yīqǐ biàn lǎo
In my eyes, you are the most beautiful在我的眼里你是最美的zài wǒ yǎn lǐ nǐ shì zuì měi de
There is only you in my heart我的心里只有你wǒ de xīnlǐ zhǐ yǒu nǐ
You are my only one你是我的唯一nǐ shì wǒ de wéiyī
I want to be with you我想跟你在一起wǒ xiǎng gēn nǐ zài yīqǐ
I will always be/stay with you我会一直陪着你wǒ huì yīzhí péizhe nǐ
I am so happy with you跟你在一起真开心gēn nǐ zài yīqǐ zhēn kaixīn
I like your smile我喜欢你的笑容Wǒ xǐhuān nǐ de xiàoróng
I am interested in you我对你感兴趣Wǒ duì nǐ gǎn xìngqù

Expressing Love with Numbers

Not many people are aware of this but Mandarin Chinese is so unique that you can even use numbers just to showcase your emotions. This is because many numbers in Mandarin contain sounds that are similar to other words.

If, for example, you wish to say ‘I miss you‘ to someone in Chinese using numbers, you can say 530 (五三零 – wǔ sān líng). This sounds somewhat similar to 我想你 – wǒ xiǎng nǐ (I miss you).

let’s look at some other examples.

  • 520 – ‘I love you’. 520 (wǔ’èrlíng) represents 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ)
  • 770 – ‘Kiss you’. 770 (qī qī líng) represents 亲亲你 (qīn qīn nǐ)
  • 880 – ‘Hug you’. 880 (bā bā líng) represents 抱抱你 (bào bào nǐ)
  • 0358 – ‘You miss me’ 0358 (Lìng sānwǔbā) represents 你想我吧 (Nǐ xiǎng wǒ ba)
  • 04551 – ‘You are the one and only for me’ 04551 (Lìng sìwǔwǔyī) represents 你是我唯一 (Nǐ shì wǒ wéiyī)
  • 04592 – ‘You are my beloved’ 04592 (Lìng sìwǔjiǔ’èr) represents 你是我最爱 (Nǐ shì wǒ zuì ài)
  • 0594184 – ‘You and me for a lifetime’ 0594184 (Líng wǔjiǔsìyī bāsì) 你我就是一辈子 (Nǐ wǒ jiùshì yībèizi)

For a super long list of Chinese chat codes, check this out!

Idioms About Love

沉鱼落雁闭月羞花 – chén yú luò yàn bì yuè xiū hu
‘A woman so beautiful that she makes the fish stop swimming, the goose stop flying, the moon hide, and the flowers shy.’

山有木兮木有枝, 悦君兮君不知 – Shān yǒu mù xī mù yǒu zhī, yuè jūn xī jūn bùzhī
‘The entire world knows that trees are in a mountain, branches are in a tree, but you never know that you are deep in my heart.’

在天愿做比翼鸟， 在地愿做连理枝 – Zài tiān yuàn zuò bǐyìniǎo, zài dì yuàn zuò lián lǐzhī
‘To be two birds flying wing to wing in the sky and two trees with branches intertwined.’

执子之手，与子偕老 – Zhí zǐ zhī shǒu, yǔ zi xiélǎo
‘hold our hands and grow old together.’

爱屋及乌 – Àiwūjíwū
‘Love the house and the crow’

各花入各眼 – Gè huā rù gè yǎn
‘Different flowers match different eyes / different flowers look good to different people.’

厮守终生 – Sī shǒu zhōngshēng
‘Let’s stay together forever / to be together forever.’

风流韵事 – Fēngliú yùnshì
‘A romantic love affair’

一见钟情 – yījiànzhōnɡqínɡ
‘Love at first sight/one look enough to fall in love.’

萝卜青菜各有所爱 – luóbo qīnɡcài, ɡè yǒu suǒ ài
‘To each his own.’

有情人终成眷属 – yǒu qínɡ rén zhōnɡ chénɡ juànshǔ
‘The lovers (love birds) are finally together and all shall be well.’

有情饮水饱，无情食饭饥 – yǒuqínɡ yínshuǐ bǎo, wúqínɡ shífàn jī
‘With the affection for each other, the lovers could feel enough even if they only drink water; without the affection, even if they eat food, the lovers will still feel hungry.’

落花有意，流水无情 – luò hu yǒu yìliúshuǐ wú qínɡ
‘The flower that falls is longing for love but the heartless brook has no feelings.’

爱之深，责之切 – Ài zhī shēn，zé zhī qiē
‘Love well, whip well’ or ‘Tough love’

有缘千里来相会 – Yǒu yuán qiān lǐ lái xiānghuì
‘Fate brings people together no matter how far apart they may be.’

愿得一心人，白首不相离 – Yuàn dé yī xīn rén, bái shǒu bù xiāng lí.
‘When you catch someone’s heart, you will never be apart.’

爱不是占有, 而是欣赏 – Ai bú shì zhànyǒu, ér shì xīnshǎng
‘Love is not about having, love is about enjoying.’

Other Romantic Vocabulary and Phrases

Girlfriend女朋友Nǚ péngyǒu
Boyfriend男朋友Nán péngyǒu
Pretty/Beautiful漂亮Piàoliang
Beautiful美丽的Měilì de
Sexy性感的Xìnggǎn de
Handsome帅哥Shuàigē
Attractive/Charismatic又魅力Yǒu mèilì
Lover爱人Àirén
Dear/Darling亲爱的Qīn’ài de
Bae亲Qīn
Hug拥抱Yǒngbào
Kiss吻Wěn
Make love做爱Zuò’ài
Valentine’s Day情人节Qíngrén jié
Go on a date去约会Qù yuēhuì
Rose玫瑰Méiguī
Chocolate巧克力Qiǎokèlì
Romance恋爱Liàn’ài
Sweet Talk甜言蜜语Tiányánmìyǔ
Will you marry me?你愿意嫁给我吗？Nǐ yuànyì jià gěi wǒ ma?
F**k off!滚开！Gǔn kāi

Sex Related Language

Although definitely related to love, discussing the act of love making can quickly become quite X-rated!

For this reason, I shall direct you to a wildly popular post of mine which goes into great detail about the more naughtier words you can say in Mandarin Chinese.

Check out 111 Naughty Mandarin Chinese Words | Insults, Sex, Body, Toilet, etc. to learn everything you need to know about Chinese profanity.

Further Reading

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