💛 愛しているよ – How to say I Love you in Japanese?

If you want to know how to say I love you in Japanese, the direct translation is 愛あいしてる.  But, people don’t usually say this. Instead there are other words or ways to tell someone you love them in Japanese. To understand this better, let’s take a look at how people say I love you in English compared to Japanese.

I Love you in English

There are some phrases out there that are used all the time in English that are just not used in Japanese. I love you is one of them. My personal opinion is that it is less about the Japanese people not saying it, and more about it just being used all the time in English.

https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/

I love you, in English has a wider range. It is used for family, it is used for romantic relationships, or even friends. If you say I love you in English someone may just be saying it casually or they may be wanting to express deep feelings.

I Love you in Japanese

In Japanese though, 愛している usually refers to the romantic type. It also would not be used casually unless someone was being sarcastic. Japanese people may use 愛している to explain someone loving someone else in an explanatory method, but again for expressing their own feelings directly to someone else would be less common.

Even in Japanese songs, which already used along of English, instead of saying 愛している you will hear artists sing in English, I love you. This is because Japanese people have an understanding of how English speakers use it. This is obviously just an artistic choice which could be for many reasons but it is still something to think about.

But, what if I want to tell someone I Love you?

It is more common to say:

好すき (suki、I like you)
大好だいすき (daisuki, I really like you)
○○のことが好すき (I like ○○)

Everyone is different though so if you want to say 愛している that is ok.
There are Japanese people that do say it. If you don’t hear it back though, try not to get flustered. Just like it is uncomfortable for some English speakers, it would be the same for Japanese people. It does not mean the feeling is not reciprocated. This is not a relationship blog though, so you will ultimately need to decide yourself.

Words such as I love you can be very different in Japanese. Other straight forward topics in English, like Talking about oneself, or how to say you, are different in Japanese. It is an interesting language though, so I wish you luck if you are studying! がんばって！

If you are interested in learning Japanese I have reviewed what I consider the best resource for Japanese Grammar below:

Reference

• I love you – Weblio