Ways to say it
| Marathi | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| मला तू आवडतोस | malā tū āvaḍtos | masculine |
| मला तुम्ही आवडता | malā tumhī āvaḍtā | |
| मला तू आवडतेस | malā tū āvaḍtes | feminine |
In Marathi, the grammatical structure is different from English. Instead of saying "I like you," the expression functions more like "To me, you are liked."
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase मला तू आवडतोस literally translates to "To me, you are liked."
Which one should you use?
Use मला तू आवडतोस when the person you like is male, and मला तू आवडतेस when the person is female. Use मला तुम्ही आवडता if you are addressing a group of people or if you want to use a more respectful tone.
How does it change in a sentence?
When the person being liked is male, use the ending āvaḍtos as in मला तू आवडतोस. When the person being liked is female, the verb ending changes to āvaḍtes as in मला तू आवडतेस. For formal or plural situations, use tumhī āvaḍtā.
How do you pronounce it?
malā tū āvaḍtos
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid using the subject pronoun mī (I) to structure this sentence, such as saying मी तुला आवडतो. Instead, use the dative malā (to me) to correctly express that you like someone.
Did you know?
- Using तू can be perceived as overly intimate or even rude depending on the social hierarchy, making the choice of 'you' a high-stakes social decision.
- The phrase मला तुम्ही आवडता can be used to express romantic interest to a single person while maintaining a polite, respectful distance.
- The word तू (tū) used to say 'you' comes from the ancient Sanskrit word tvam. This makes it a linguistic relative of many other Indo-Aryan languages like Hindi and Konkani.
Examples in context
- मला तू आवडतोस.I like you.This sentence is useful for practicing the masculine form मला तू आवडतोस.Tatoeba #2653481 by sabretou, translation #410751 by CK
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Aditi tells Amit how she feels during a walk.
- अदिति Aditiअमित, मला एक सांगायचे आहे.amit, mala ek sāṅgāyace āhe.Amit, I want to tell you something.
- अमित Amitकाय सांगायचे आहे?kāy sāṅgāyace āhe?What do you want to say?
- अदिति Aditiमला तू आवडतोस.mala tū āvaḍatōs.I like you.
- अमित Amitधन्यवाद, मलाही तू आवडतेस.dhanyavād, malahī tū āvaḍatēs.Thank you, I like you too.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “I like you” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries तुम्ही, तू, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
