How to Say "I Love You" in Korean - Get it Right First Time!

Let's start with the standard, polite form of “I love you” in Korean – 사랑해요 (saranghaeyo). THISishowIlearnalanguagein3months. Getthedetailshere Home»Articles»HowtoSay“ILoveYou”inKorean–GetitRightFirstTime! SHARE HowtoSay“ILoveYou”inKorean–GetitRightFirstTime! writtenbyCaitlinSacasas Fulldisclosure:Thispostcontainsaffiliatelinks.? Howdoyousay“Iloveyou”inKorean?Andwhatdoes“saranghae”mean? Translate“Iloveyou”inKoreanthroughanapp,andit’lltellyoutheansweris사랑해(saranghae).And사랑해(saranghae)doesmean“Iloveyou”—butitmightnotbetherightphrasetouse! Why?BecauseKoreanhasahierarchicalwayofspeaking.Thatmeansyouchangehowformallyyouspeakdependingonwhoyou’retalkingtoandthesituation. Besidesthat,Koreansonlyrecentlystartedtobemoreopenwithsaying“Iloveyou.” Theyoungergenerationswillsayitmoreoftennow,butstillnotasoftenasWesternculturesmight.Andoldergenerations,orevenparentstokids,mayneversayitatall. SobeforeyoudecidetothrowaroundsuchanimportantsentimentinKorean,learntheappropriatewaytosayit! HowtoSay“ILoveYou”inKorean Ifyou’realreadysomewhatfamiliarwithhowKoreanworks,here’saquicklistofwaystosay“Iloveyou”inKoreanaswellasromanticKoreanphrases.Thenwe’llgetintothenitty-gritty(andevenmorephrases)below. “Iloveyou”(casual)–사랑해(saranghae)“Iloveyou”(polite)–사랑해요(saranghaeyo)“Ilikeyou”(casual)–좋아해(jowahae)“Ilikeyou”(polite)–좋아해요(jowahaeyo)“Iloveyou,too”(casual)–나도사랑해(nadosarangae)“Love”–사랑(sarang)“Mylove”–내사랑(naesarang)“Honey”(forwomenormen)–여보(yeobo)“Honey”(formen,onlyifthewomanisyounger)–오빠(oppa)“Baby”/“Babe”–자기야(jagiya)/자기(jagi)“Boyfriend”–남친(namchin)or남자친구(namjachingu)“Girlfriend”–여친(yeochin)or여자친구(yeojachingu)“Husband”–남편(nampyeon)“Wife”–아내(anae)“Specialsomeone”or“Someoneprecious”–아끼는사람(akkineunsaram)“Inlove”–사랑에빠진(sarang-eppajin)“Wouldyouliketodate?”–사귈래요?(sagwillaeyo)“Iwanttobewithyou”–같이있고싶어요(gat-iitgosipeoyo)“Imissyou”–보고싶어요(bogosipeoyo) “ILoveYou”inKorean–Saranghaeyo Let’sstartwiththestandard,politeformof“Iloveyou”inKorean–사랑해요(saranghaeyo). 사랑해요(saranghaeyo)isarespectfulwaytosay“Iloveyou”.Becauseit’srespectful,thisphraseoftensaidtoparents.Inthistypeofsituation,you’renotonlysaying“Iloveyou”,butyou’realsoexpressinggratitudeforalltheydo. Youcouldalsosay사랑해요(saranghaeyo)toconfessyourfeelingstosomeone. Bytheway,ifyou’rewonderinghowtowrite“Iloveyou”inKoreanbecauseyouseeitromanizedtwodifferentways,don’tworry. InKorean,theㄹcharacterisinbetweenan“l”andan“r”soundinEnglish.Sosometimesit’sromanizedassalanghaeyoandothertimessaranghaeyo.Butthey’rebothwrittenthesamewayinKoreanHangul:사랑해요. Now,theinformal(andmostcommon)waytosay“Iloveyou”intheKoreanlanguageis사랑해(saranghae). 사랑해(saranghae)isusedbetweencouples,andsometimesevenclosefriends.Soifyou’realreadyinarelationship,thisisthephraseyou’duse. Andtosay“Iloveyou,too”inKorean,you’dsay나도사랑해(nadosarangae). ThereisaformalwaytosayIloveyou,whichis사랑합니다(saranghamnida).But…It’sreallytooformalformostsituations,soit’snotusedoften. Themostcommonplaceyou’llhearthisparticularphraseisatK-Popconcertswhenthebandswillsay“사랑합니다!”totheaudience. Anytimeyouaddressmanypeopleatonce,likeinfrontofanaudience,you’dusethe-imnida(formal)endingstoshowrespect. “Love”inKorean–Sarang “Love”intheKoreanlanguageis사랑(sarang). Whenyoucombineitwiththeverb하다(hada,“todo”),itbecomesaverb“tolove”–사랑하다(saranghada). You’llnoticefromthelastsectionthen,thatallwedidwasconjugatetheverb,하다(hada),todifferentpolitenesslevels.There’sno“I”or“you”inthephraseatall—you’rereallyonlytellingsomeone“Love!” Koreanisacontextuallanguage.Whenyou’retellingsomeoneyoulovethem,it’susuallyunderstoodfromthecontextthatyoumeanthatperson. Butifit’snotclear,oryouwanttotellsomeoneelsewhoitisyoulove,thenyou’dsay: “_istheoneIlove.”–는/은내가사랑하는사람이야.(neun/eunnaegasaranghaneunsaramiya.)“Ilovethatperson.”–나는그사람을사랑해요.(na-neungeusaram-eulsaranghaeyo.)“Iloveyou”(with“I”and“you”)–나는너를사랑해(na-neunneo-leulsaranghae) “ILikeYou”inKorean–Jowahae 좋아해(jowahae)comesfromtheverb좋아하다(jowahada),meaning“tolike.”Initscasualformhere,youcanconfessyourfeelingstoafriend,classmate,orloveinterest. Butlike“Iloveyou”,there’salsoapoliteandaformalform: 좋아해요(jowahaeyo)–“Ilikeyou”(polite)좋아합니다(jowahamnida)–“Ilikeyou”(formal) Again,youwon’theartheformalversionoften.Butyoumayhearthepoliteform,especiallytoshowrespectduringaconfessionoflove. Ifyouwanttouseeitherofthesephrasesasshorthand,like“Ilikeu”or“Iloveu”inKorean,thenyouwouldjustusetheshort,casualforms:좋아해!(joahae)or사랑해(saranghae). Youcanalsoaddemphasiswith정말(jeongmal)whichmeans“really.” 정말좋아해요.Jeongmaljowahaeyo.“Ireallylikeyou.” “MyLove”inKorean–NaeSarang For“mylove”inKorean,youjustadd“my”tosarang(“love”,remember?)—내사랑(naesarang). Thereareotherromanticnicknamesyoucancallyourlovethough,too.Someexamples: “Honey”(forwomenormen)–여보(yeobo)“Honey”(formen,onlyifthewomanisyounger)–오빠(oppa)“Cutie”–귀요미(gwiyomi)“Baby”/“Babe”–자기야(jagiya)/자기(jagi)“Princess”–공주님(gongjunim)“Prince”–왕자님(wangjanim) “Boyfriend”and“Girlfriend”inKorean You’veprobablyheard오빠(oppa)manytimesinKoreanTVshows.That’sbecauseit’softenwhatwomencalltheirboyfriendwhoisolderthanthem. Eventhough오빠(oppa)actuallyistherespectfultermforanolderbrother,it’sbecomeoneofthemostcommonandcutewaystorefertoyourboyfriendinKorean. Butwhentalkingaboutyoursignificantothertootherpeople,youneedtousethecorrect,politeterms.Theyare: “Boyfriend”–남친(namchin)or남자친구(namjachingu)“Girlfriend”–여친(yeochin)or여자친구(yeojachingu) Thefirstoneistheshortenedform,soit’sabitmorecasual.Thelongerformismorepolite.Butyoucanuseeitherwhentalkingaboutyourrelationshipwithothers. “Husband”and“Wife”inKorean Youcanalsocallyourhusband오빠(oppa),andmanywomendo.MensometimesusetheEnglishterm와이프(waipeu)for“wife.” Butagain,whentalkingtoothers,it’sbesttousethepoliteterms. Formarriedcouples,theyare: “Husband”–남편(nampyeon)“Wife”–아내(anae) Must-KnowGesturetoSay“ILoveYou”inKorean Thereisamust-knowKoreangesturefor“Iloveyou”.Ifyou’reatotalnewbietoKoreanpopculture,you’llsoonseeiteverywhere. Andifyou’reaseasonedK-PopandK-Dramavet,thenyouknowwhatI’mabouttointroduce… Bycrossingyourthumbandindexfingertomakeaheart,itsymbolizes사랑해(saranghae),or“Iloveyou”inKorean. Forinstance,inthepopularK-DramaCrashLandingonYou,Se-ripretendstopulla“gift”outofhersweaterpocketfortheguysandthenflashesthemthishandgesture. Inthisinstance,ratherthanmeaning“Iloveyou”,it’smorelike“thankyou”orwhenyouuseemojiheartstoshowcareinasocialmediacomment. OtherRomanticKoreanPhrases Okay,we’vegotthebasicscovered.ButwhataboutsomeotherromanticphrasesinKorean? I’vegotyou.Herearesomelovingphrasesyoucanusewithyourspecialsomeone…Andsomebonusslangphrasesaboutdating: “Iloveyouverymuch*–너무사랑해요(neomusaranghaeyo)“Iloveyoualot”–많이사랑해요(manisaranghaeyo)“Specialsomeone”or“someoneprecious”–아끼는사람(akkineunsaram)Someonewho’sfulloflove,orhasmanyscandalousdatingrumors–사랑꾼(sarangkkun)Someonewhofallsinlovetooeasy–금사빠(geumsappa)“Inlove”–사랑에빠진(sarang-eppajin)“Wouldyouliketodate?”–사귈래요?(sagwillaeyo)“Iwanttobewithyou”–같이있고싶어요(gat-iitgosipeoyo)Thatin-betweenstagewhereyou’renotacouplebutthere’s“something”there–썸(sseom)“Imissyou”–보고싶어요(bogosipeoyo) SharetheSarangInKorean! Nowyou’repreppedwithtonsofwaystotellyourspecialsomeonehowyou’refeelinginKorean! Youcanconfess“Iloveyou”inKoreanwith사랑해요(saranghaeyo).Oradmittoyourcrushyoureallylikehimorherwith정말좋아해요(jeongmaljowahaeyo). WhatwillyoulearnnextinKorean?WhynottrylearningKoreannumbersorthebestKoreanphrasesforbeginnerstolearn? LearnthewayyouwantwithPod101,Benny'sfavouritewaytostartalanguage.Getyourspecialdiscounthere. CaitlinSacasas ContentWriter,Fluentin3Months Caitlinisacontentcreator,fitnesstrainer,zerowaster,languagelover,andStarWarsnerd.SheblogsaboutfitnessandsustainabilityatRebelHeartBeauty. Speaks:English,Japanese,Korean,Spanish ViewallpostsbyCaitlinSacasas Fluentin3Months:TheChallenge Havea15-minuteconversationinyournewlanguageafter90days JOINTHECHALLENGE ◂ALLARTICLES