How to Say 'I Love You' in French With 11 Easy Ways

Erica Stephen July 17, 2022 | 10:00

As we all know, France is a romantic country. Do you know how they express their feelings and thoughts in love? Let's discover 11 popular ways the French use to say "I love you".

Saying "I love you" in French. Photo: Youtube

1. I LOVE YOU:

Je t’aime: /zhuh-tem/

To properly say “Je” (I) in French, you have to say it using a sound that doesn’t really exist (that I know of) in the English language.

The incorrect way: Je is not pronounced with a hard “J” like in the words Jagger or jump.

The correct way: Je is pronounced with a soft “J” like in the following words: Beijing, Jacques Cousteau and Zsa Zsa Gábor.

2. I LIKE YOU VERY MUCH:

Je t’aime beaucoup: or Je t’aime bien /zhuh-tem boo-coo/ or /zhuh-tem bee-yen/

Je t’aime beaucoup and Je t’aime bien DO NOT MEAN I love you very much (all the time.) This one is tricky, so pay attention.

3. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH:

Je t’aime très fort: /zhuh-tem tray-fore/

As I mentioned in the example above, if you want to tell someone you’re romantically involved with that you love them very much, don’t say “je t’aime beaucoup” or “je t’aime bien. Instead, say “je t’aime très fort.”

“Très fort” literally means very strong, and when you tack it on to the end of the phrase (Je t’aime), as in “Je t’aime très fort,” it means: “I love you very strongly,” but can also translate to I love you so much, I love you very much, I really love you.

4. I LOVE YOU LIKE CRAZY:

Je t’aime à la folie: /zhuh-tem-ah-law-foe-lee/

“La folie” literally means madness, so when you say “Je t’aime a la folie,” you’re saying you love them like crazy, madly or insanely.

5. I LOVE YOU TO DEATH:

Je t’aime a mourir: /zhuh-tem-ah-moo-rear/

“Mourir” is the verb “To die,” so ” je t’aime a mourir” means you love someone to death.

6. I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART:

Je t’aime de tout mon Coeur: /zhuh-tem-duh-too-moan-kur/

A cute way to tell someone you love them is to say “je t’aime avec tout mon coeur, which means I love you with all my heart.

7. I LOVE YOU WITHOUT LIMITS:

Je t’aime d’un amour sans limited: /zhuh-tem-dun-ah-moor-san-limit/

If your love for someone is infinite, add “sans limit” to “je t’aime.” You can translate “Je t’aime sans limite” several ways, including…I love you without limits; my love is limitless, my love is boundless, or my love for you knows no limits, according to Annieandre.

8. I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK:

Je t’aime jusqu’à la lune et le retour: /zhuh-tem-zhuska-lah-lune-ay-luh-ruh-tour/

No one is sure of the origins of this hyperbolic expression “I love you to the moon and back,” which uses the moon’s celestial feat and distance to dramatize the level to which you love someone. This is not a common French phrase, by the way.

9. I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER AND ALWAYS

Je t’aime pour toujours et a jamais: /zhuh-tem-poor-too-zhure-ay-zha-may/

“Pour toujour” (forever or for always)

“jamais” (never)

Idiomatically speaking, there are a couple of ways to translate this dramatic French love phrase. I’ll love you forever and always, or I’ll love you forever and ever.

But literally, this phrase means “I’ll love you for always and never.”

10. I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYONE HAS EVER LOVED

Je t’aime comme personne n’a jamais aimé: /zhuh-tem-come-pair-son-nah-zhamay-em-ay/

Go full-on knots landing on your crush and tell them you love them as no-one has ever been loved before.

11. I LOVE YOU MORE THAN LIFE

Je t’aime plus que la vie: /zhuh-tem-ploos-kuh-la-vee/

A very intimate way to tell someone you love them.

Love goes through many stages, and saying “I love you” in French goes far beyond the simple yet classic je t’aime.

An idylle (love affair) starts out as a tiny bouton (bud — literally, “button”) of feeling. Il fleurit (it blossoms) into a crush or infatuation. Then, il s’épanouit (it blooms) into l’amour (love).

You’ve moved beyond flirting in French, but you’re not sure your relationship is ready for declarations of undying love… or maybe you’re past the point where even je t’aime could possibly say enough, as said by FluentU.

Learn many expressions for the many moods of your love, so that you can reveal your true feelings of love in all of its glorious phases.