“I love you” in Chinese: how to say it and how to write it
I love you
“I love you” in Chinese is 我爱你, wǒ ài nǐ — roughly “waw eye nee”. That spelling gets you close, but it has no tones, and without them the phrase sounds odd to a Chinese ear. Play the recording and say it after it.
What “wo ai ni” means, word by word
Three words, in the same order as in English: who — does what — to whom.
- 我wǒI, me
- 爱àito love
- 你nǐyou
Chinese words never change their form: 我 is both “I” and “me”, and 爱 is the same for “I love”, “she loves” and “they loved”. Only the order of the words tells you who loves whom. Swap them and you get 你爱我, “you love me”. Each word has its own page: 我, 爱 and 你.
You will see it written “wo ai ni”, “woaini” and “wǒ ài nǐ” — all the same phrase. Pinyin, the official romanization, writes it as three words with tone marks; online people usually drop the marks.
How to pronounce 我爱你
wǒ is third tone, low; ài is fourth, a sharp fall; nǐ is third again. The key is ài: don’t let it rise or drift the way “eye” does in a friendly English sentence — drop the voice short and firm, as in a decided “No!”. A third tone before a fourth stays simply low, with no rise at the end. The “o” in wǒ is closer to the vowel in “war” than in “go”.
How people actually say it
In China “I love you” is said far less often than in English, where “love you!” can close any phone call. Feelings are more often shown through care than through words, so 我爱你 sounds serious — a declaration, or something you say to family. When something is only just starting, people say it more softly:
- 我喜欢你wǒxǐhuannǐI like youthe first confession
- 我也爱你wǒyěàinǐI love you toothe answer
- 亲爱的qīn’àidedarling, dear, honeyto a partner
- 宝贝bǎobèibaby, sweetheartaffectionate
is the same word as in “I like tea”: lighter and safer than 爱. How it works is on the page “I like you” in Chinese. And “my love”, “darling” is most often 亲爱的 — what you call your partner, and also how a letter begins: “Dear…”.
Words with the character 爱
- 爱情àiqínglove (romantic)
- 爱人àirénhusband, wife
- 可爱kě’àicute
- 爱好àihàohobby
In traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the sign is written 愛 — with 心, “heart”, in the middle. The simplified 爱 of mainland China replaced the heart with 友, “friend”. That is the version on this page and in the HSK exam.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “I love you” in Chinese?
“I love you” in Chinese is 我爱你, in pinyin wǒ ài nǐ.
How do you pronounce 我爱你?
我爱你 is read wǒ ài nǐ. The marks over the vowels are the tones: each syllable has its own melody, so listen to the recording on this page and repeat it.
How do you write “I love you” in Chinese characters?
我爱你 is 3 characters. What each one means and how the phrase is put together is explained on this page.
What does 我爱你 mean?
我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ) means “I love you”.
Say it out loud
In the lessons phrases come up in dialogues: you hear them, build them from words and say them yourself, with a tone check. Free during the beta.
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