“Ti Amo, I love you” How do you say that in Japanese? There are so many kinds of love, why should we express love only one way? The Japanese know a lot, they know that every kind of love needs a way to be expressed, a completely personal way.
Ti Amo / I Love you, here’s how to say it in Japanese
Author: SaiKaiAngel | Source: SoraNews24
All this, you think, happens in a country that is seen as “cold and distant”. Perhaps, thinking about this, we should understand that cold and distant is not, indeed. It is a country that gives the right importance to history, tradition and feelings.
Let’s start looking at all the ways of showing love in Japanese, let’s analyze them one by one.
1. Suki – I like you
This is the most used and most famous way because it is found in many conversations of Japanese animation. We analyze it first also because it is the least “deep”, in fact, more than love, it can also mean “I like”. You can safely say “Ramen ga suki desu” that no one will see you as a fool in love with a plate of ramen, but everyone will understand that you like ramen. So you can use suki to express an appreciation for a singer or an actor too.
That’s why suki can be confusing. If you hear this word, you might run into the question of whether you really like us as a person or just as a ramen dish. It’s a very flexible meaning, not at all secure, yet it is used at the beginning of every love story. When you want to propose to someone, you can use suki desu to do so. Very important at that point, it will be the WAY in which you do it, you have to make the other person understand that you have serious intentions and you are not just a dish of ramen. It takes conviction in the voice, it’s not a simple “I like”. With a great conviction, then you will have the right colour of falling in love.
2. Koi – I love you
We’re not talking about the carp, but the second way the Japanese use to talk about love. We’re in the field of romantic love here. Koi is the young and passionate emotion, but it’s rarely used to say “I love you”. Maybe we can bring it closer to “I love you” by Americans, which can mean both “love you” and “deeply care about you”. However, the verb koi suru is closer to “to be in love” or “to be romantically involved”. In fact, the word Koi is used for Koibito meaning lover.
3. Ai – Ti Amo
And here we come to the most famous, the most used term for the word Love.
Ai is a noun that means “love”, but it can be used for something more than just romantic affection. Ai or the variant aijo, are also used to talk about the concepts of love for the family, for a platonic love or for all humanity. Used as a verb, it becomes ai suru.
Then why do we use suki desu to confess our love? Simply because ai is a much more serious and committed feeling. Ai suru would be a bit… frightening, especially for a story that’s just begun. We have to go step by step and Suki desu is what allows us to do that. It would also be better to change the verb suru to shiteiru. By telling your partner to the shiteiru, you’re showing an ongoing love, not just an initial crush. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the term I like best, also because it’s the first one I’ve ever heard.
What does that tell us? That Japanese is a very romantic language despite what you hear. Are Japanese cold? All impression. Japanese can give the right meaning and depth to anything, even love. What term would you use for your love?