How to say “love” in 53 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- amor/aˈmoɾ/ Spanish
- любовь[lʲʊˈbow] Russian
- أحب/ʔa.ħab.ba/ Arabic
- प्यार/pjɑːɾ/ Hindi
- αγάπη/aˈɣa.pi/ Greek
- אהבה/ʔa.haˈbaː/ Hebrew
“love” in Spanish: amor · French: aime · German: lieben · Italian: amore · Portuguese: amor · Russian: любовь · Arabic: أحب · Hindi: प्यार
It is commonest in Malay, where kasih is the 69th most used word.
Love in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans liefde/ˈlif.də/ #174
- Albanian dashuri[daʃuɾi] #366
- Arabic أحب/ʔa.ħab.ba/ to love, to like #168
- Armenian սիրո/siˈɾo/ #123
- Basque amore/amoɾe/ love, affection #548
- Bengali ভালোবাসা/bʱalobaʃa/ to love #443
- Bosnian volim/ˈvolɪm/ to love #167
- Bulgarian обичам[oˈbit͡ʃɐm] to love #182
- Catalan amor[əˈmor] #253
- Chinese 外遇/waɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ y⁵¹/ extramarital relations; love affair #2,248
- Croatian volim/ˈvolɪm/ to love #177
- Czech láska[ˈlaːska] #814
- Danish elsker/ˈɛlsɡɐ/ to love #164
- Dutch liefde/ˈlif.də/ #521
- English jealous/ˈd͡ʒɛl.əs/ Suspecting rivalry in love; troubled by… #1,579
- Esperanto amas/ˈamas/ to love #236
- Estonian armastan/ˈɑrmɑstɑn/ to love #277
- Finnish rakastan/ˈrɑkɑstɑn/ to love #256
- French aime/ɛm/ to love #153
- Galician amor/aˈmoɾ/ #223
- Georgian სიყვარული[siχʼʷäɾuli] #264
- German lieben/ˈliːbən/ #647
- Greek αγάπη/aˈɣa.pi/ #277
- Hebrew אהבה/ʔa.haˈbaː/ love, affection #432
- Hindi प्यार/pjɑːɾ/ love, strong affection #123
- Hungarian szeretném[ˈsɛrɛtneːm] to love #251
- Icelandic elska[ˈɛlska] #164
- Indonesian sayang/ˈsajaŋ/ #172
- Italian amore/aˈmo.re/ #339
- Korean 사랑해[sʰa̠ɾa̠ŋɦɛ] I love you #245
- Latvian mīlu/ˈmiːlu/ #215
- Lithuanian myliu[¹ˈmʲiːlʲʊ̟] to love #180
- Macedonian љубов[ˈʎubɔf] #351
- Malay kasih/ˈkaseh/ love, care, affection #69
- Malayalam സ്നേഹം/sneːhɐm/ #324
- Norwegian elsker/ˈɛlskər/ to love #185
- Persian عشق[ʔeʃɢ̥] love; passion #267
- Polish kocham/ˈkɔ.xam/ to love #260
- Portuguese amor/aˈmoʁ/ #269
- Romanian iubesc[juˈbesk] to love #295
- Russian любовь[lʲʊˈbow] #524
- Serbian volim/ˈvolɪm/ to love #171
- Slovak láska/laːska/ #401
- Slovenian ljubezen/ljubéːzən/ #269
- Spanish amor/aˈmoɾ/ #249
- Swedish älskar/ˈɛlskar/ to love #165
- Tagalog pag-ibig/paɡˈʔibiɡ/ love; attraction; fondness; strong affection;… #492
- Tamil காதல்/kɑːd̪ɐl/ love, attachment, affection, strong liking #210
- Telugu ప్రేమ/pɾeːma/ love, affection, kindness, tender regard #92
- Turkish seviyorum/seˈvijoɾum/ to love #242
- Ukrainian любов[lʲʊˈbɔu̯] #815
- Urdu محبت/mʊ.ɦəb.bət̪/ #171
- Vietnamese mến[men˧˦] to love; to like; to be fond of #1,484
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.