To say "I love you" in Mandarin Chinese, say 我愛你 (wǒ ài nǐ). It's correct, everyone understands it, and it means exactly what it says. But it's a heavier phrase than the English one, and in Taiwan you'll hear it less often than you'd expect. Most of the love in everyday Mandarin travels in smaller words: "I like you", "I miss you", "have you eaten?" Here's the phrase itself, what to say back, and the softer ways people actually say it.
我愛你, and what to say back
- 我愛你wǒ ài nǐ · ㄨㄛˇ ㄞˋ ㄋㄧˇI love you
- 我也愛你wǒ yě ài nǐ · ㄨㄛˇ ㄧㄝˇ ㄞˋ ㄋㄧˇI love you too
- 我也是wǒ yě shì · ㄨㄛˇ ㄧㄝˇ ㄕˋMe too
我 is "I", 你 is "you", and 愛 is the verb "to love". Taiwan's Ministry of Education dictionary reads it ài, a falling tone, and gives it the everyday sense of loving or being fond of someone or something (Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary). The same 愛 turns up in 愛唱歌, "loves to sing".
The answer is 我也愛你, "I love you too", or the lighter 我也是, "me too". Watch the first two syllables of 我也: both are third tones, so 我 rises and the pair comes out wó yě. Our tones guide explains the change.
Why you hear it less than "I love you"
In English, "love you" can close a phone call with your mom. In Mandarin, 我愛你 is more often kept for a partner and for big moments, and plenty of people find it hard to say to family at all.
There's some data behind that. A survey by Taiwan's John Tung Foundation, reported in 2014, found that children and teens under 16 rarely said 我愛你 to the people closest to them, and two in ten had never said it. Only four in ten thought it was something you should say; the rest said it was hard to get out, or too 肉麻 (report on the survey).
- 肉麻ròumá · ㄖㄡˋ ㄇㄚˊCringey, too mushy
That doesn't mean it's unwelcome. A small 2018 study, published by the Taiwan New Society think tank, looked at 30 videos of schoolchildren phoning a parent to say 我愛你 before Mother's Day. Many parents were caught off guard, but the most common reply was 我愛你 back. When it's said, it lands. It just isn't said every day.
我喜歡你 and 我想你
- 我喜歡你wǒ xǐhuān nǐ · ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧˇ ㄏㄨㄢ ㄋㄧˇI like you
- 我想你wǒ xiǎng nǐ · ㄨㄛˇ ㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄋㄧˇI miss you
- 我好想你wǒ hǎo xiǎng nǐ · ㄨㄛˇ ㄏㄠˇ ㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄋㄧˇI miss you so much
我喜歡你 is the classic way to tell someone how you feel. It sounds small, "I like you", but said to one person, face to face, it's a confession, not a compliment. Telling someone how you feel is often called 告白 (gàobái), and this is the usual line. Be careful with it between friends: it means the same thing it does in a high school hallway.
我想你 is "I miss you", from 想, which covers both thinking about and missing someone. Couples say it all the time, and 我好想你 ("I miss you so much") turns it up. With three third tones in a row, 我想你 is usually said wó xiáng nǐ.
Love that sounds like care
A lot of affection in Mandarin is phrased as looking after someone. In many families, lines like these carry more of the love than 我愛你 does:
- 吃飽了嗎？chībǎo le ma? · ㄔ ㄅㄠˇ ˙ㄌㄜ ˙ㄇㄚHave you eaten?
- 早點睡zǎo diǎn shuì · ㄗㄠˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄕㄨㄟˋGet some sleep (go to bed early)
- 多穿一點duō chuān yìdiǎn · ㄉㄨㄛ ㄔㄨㄢ ㄧˋ ㄉㄧㄢˇPut on something warmer
- 到家跟我說dào jiā gēn wǒ shuō · ㄉㄠˋ ㄐㄧㄚ ㄍㄣ ㄨㄛˇ ㄕㄨㄛTell me when you get home
吃飽了嗎 doubles as a greeting (our hello guide covers that side), but from a parent or a partner it's a small "I care about you". 多穿一點 is the kind of thing a parent says as you head out on a cold night. 到家跟我說, answered later with a quick message, is a common way to end an evening with a partner.
To a partner, to family
- 寶貝bǎobèi · ㄅㄠˇ ㄅㄟˋBaby, darling
- 親愛的qīn'ài de · ㄑㄧㄣ ㄞˋ ˙ㄉㄜDear, darling
- 他很疼小孩tā hěn téng xiǎohái · ㄊㄚ ㄏㄣˇ ㄊㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄏㄞˊHe adores his kids
The Ministry of Education dictionary describes 寶貝 as a word for someone especially loved, often your child or your partner (entry), and 親愛的 as what lovers and spouses call each other (entry). 疼 usually means "to hurt", but as a verb about people it means to dote on someone; the dictionary's own example is grandparents doting on a grandchild (entry).
| Who | What you'd often say |
|---|---|
| A partner | 我愛你, 我想你, 寶貝, 親愛的 |
| Someone you're falling for | 我喜歡你 |
| Mom or dad | 謝謝你, 吃飽了嗎, 我很想你們 |
| Your kids | 寶貝, 我愛你 |
| Friends | 謝謝你, 有你真好 ("glad I have you") |
With parents, gratitude often does the work. A heartfelt 謝謝你, or a 謝謝媽媽 on Mother's Day, says a lot; our thank-you guide has more ways to say it.
Bopomo is an iPhone app for speaking Mandarin with Lin, your AI tutor, on a trip around Taiwan. The first 500 on the waitlist get the founding price. Join the waitlist.
520 and 1314 in texts
Type 520 in a message and a Mandarin speaker reads "I love you". Said out loud, 五二零 is wǔ èr líng, and 我愛你 is wǒ ài nǐ: close enough to wink at, not a true rhyme. The code goes back to 1990s pagers, which could only show numbers, and it turns up in a late-1990s song by the Taiwanese singer Mavis Fan, 數字戀愛 ("Number Love"), with the line 「520 是我愛你」 (Tatler Asia). Add 1314, which sounds a little like 一生一世 (yìshēng yíshì, "for a whole lifetime"), and 5201314 is "I love you forever".
The joke became a date. May 20 is one of the most popular days to register a marriage in Taiwan: on May 20, 2024, 3,950 couples registered, according to the Ministry of the Interior's household registration figures (Liberty Times).
Use 520 in a text, with a heart if you like. Saying "five two zero" to someone's face is a joke, not a confession.
Say it out loud
Start with the reply, 我也愛你, and the tone change on 我也; then 我想你, which you'll use more. Tap the phrases above to hear Lin where she has the line, and say each one back. If you read zhuyin, the zhuyin chart has every sign with its sound.
In Bopomo you speak with Lin, your AI tutor, on a trip around Taiwan, and she replies to what you actually said. It doesn't score each tone yet, so recording yourself next to her clip is still the best check. For where to start with Taiwan Mandarin as a whole, see learn Taiwanese Mandarin.
Questions
How do you say I love you in Chinese?
我愛你 (wǒ ài nǐ). In traditional characters, as used in Taiwan, it's 我愛你; in simplified characters, as on the mainland, it's 我爱你. It's said the same way.
How do you respond to 我愛你?
Say 我也愛你 (wǒ yě ài nǐ, "I love you too"), or the lighter 我也是 ("me too").
What does 520 mean in Chinese?
I love you. Read aloud, 520 (wǔ èr líng) loosely sounds like 我愛你 (wǒ ài nǐ), so it's used in texts, and May 20 is a popular wedding day in Taiwan.
How do you say I love you to your parents in Mandarin?
You can say 我愛你, and many parents say it back, but it can feel like a big moment. Many people show it with 謝謝你 ("thank you") or a caring question like 吃飽了嗎 ("have you eaten?").
Keep reading
- How to order at a Taiwan night marketWhat to say at a Taiwan night market stall, from 雞排 and 鹽酥雞 to 臭豆腐 and bubble tea: pointing, asking the price, spice levels, to go or to eat here, with Lin's voice.
- How to say hello in Mandarin, beyond ni hao你好 always works, but Taiwan also says 哈囉, 嗨 and 早安. The everyday ways to say hello in Mandarin Chinese, and what to say back, with audio.
- Numbers in Mandarin: counting, prices and money in TaiwanChinese numbers the Taiwan way: count from 一 to 萬, pick 兩 or 二, use measure words like 個 and 杯, and say prices with 元, 塊 and 多少錢.
