Which, let’s be honest, is a much less intense way to express affection than “I love you.” One thing to note is - when said to another person - daisuki doesn’t always mean “I really like you” or “I really love you.” Sometimes, it just means “I really enjoy spending time with you.” In casual speech, you can drop the particle ga and verb ending desu to exclaim 本、大好き! ( Hon, daisuki!) It’s closer to saying, “Ah, books! I love them!”Īs you can see, daisuki has varying levels of “love” just like how we use it in English to describe many kinds of love. For example, you can say “I love books” with 本が大好きです ( Hon ga daisuki desu). If you’re in a committed relationship, you can bump it up a notch to 大好きだよ ( daisuki da yo), which is “I really like/love you.” The word daisuki in Japanese combines the kanji for “big” (大) and “like” 好き (like) to mean you have strong affection or interest in something.īut daisuki can be used to say “I love” … anything! Just like how we overuse the word “love” for everything in English, you can use daisuki in the same way. In Kansai-ben, you would say 好きやねん ( suki yanen). The most common one you may hear is Kansai-ben, the dialect from Osaka. There are some regional differences, too. This actually translates to “I like you” - quite a lukewarm statement in English, but an appropriate one for Japanese. If you want to let someone know you care, it’s far more common to say 好きだよ ( suki da yo) if you’re a guy or 好きよ ( suki yo) if you’re a woman. Of course, there are exceptions, but as a whole, phrases like aishiteru are saved for TV and marriage proposals. Japanese people don’t want to use “love” lightly, and they don’t think it feels natural to express such strong feelings. The same is true for expressing feelings. They’re more likely to say chotto (“a little bit”) than iie (“no”) because “no” is too direct. Remember, Japanese is not a direct language. Don’t be mislead by dramas and anime, which romanticize relationships more than real life (what TV show doesn’t, though?). It’s becoming more common in younger generations but it’s still not used often. This is considered so important that some couples may admit they’ve never even expressed “I love you” verbally to anyone before. Japanese culture values loyalty, consistency, and caring actions above all else. In Japan, instead of expressing love with affectionate words, it’s more common to express love through actions, kind gestures, and gift-giving. One of the love languages is ”affectionate words”, such as telling your partner that you love them. If you’ve ever heard of the 5 love languages, then this may be the best way to explain it from a Western perspective. 愛してる is considered a “heavy” sentiment, almost too intense and dramatic. This phrase may be said only a handful of times between a husband and a wife during their life (usually during a proposal or marriage). But, in Japanese culture, expressing love and affection isn’t very common. If you want the direct translation, “I love you” in Japanese is 愛してる ( aishiteru). It means “lovey-dovey,” and you’ll often hear it used to talk about couples who are rabu rabu and still in the ハネムーン ( hanemu-n, “honeymoon”) stage. Lastly, there’s an informal way to talk about love, which is ラブラブ ( rabu rabu). 愛の告白 ( ai no kokuhaku) – Love confession.愛情表現 ( aijou hyougen) – Love expressions.Koi is a more general feeling of love, and describes the feeling itself. What’s the difference between ai and koi?Īi refers to the love of a person, a romantic love. In verb form, “to love,” you add the verb “to do” which is する ( suru). It feels good to make others feel good! But this particular topic offers a lot of insight into the differences between Western cultures and Japanese culture. No matter what your reasons, this is a great topic to learn.įor one, it’s always good to know how to properly express your appreciation and affection in any language and culture. Or, you’re interested in having a deeper cultural knowledge and understanding of how Japanese people express love and affection. Maybe you want to understand those gushy scenes in shoujo anime. Or maybe you want to learn how to say “I love you” in Japanese just in case you fall in love while traveling abroad. Maybe they speak it, or maybe you just want to impress your significant other with your Japanese language skills. You’ve got love on the brain and you’re ready to tell your special someone “I love you” … in Japanese. Full disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
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