愛している
aishiteiru
In Japanese, "I love" is expressed as 愛している (aishiteiru).
愛している is a phrase used to express deep romantic love or strong affection for another person. Due to its heavy emotional weight, it is rarely used in casual daily conversation and is often reserved for dramatic, life-changing or extremely serious moments.
Which one should you use?
While 愛している expresses deep, serious romantic love, the phrase 好きです (meaning "I like/love") is much more common for expressing affection or early-stage romantic interest.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Kansai region, people often say 好きやねん instead of 好きだよ.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form 愛している is the continuous aspect of the verb, implying a state of being in love.
How do you pronounce it?
aishiteiru
When do people say it?
Common alternatives for expressing affection include the informal 好きだよ for "I like you" or "I love you", and 大好きだよ to say "I really like you" or "I love you a lot".
Did you know?
- Many Japanese people express 'I love you' to their partners by saying 月が綺麗ですね ('The moon is beautiful, isn't it'). This poetic indirectness is attributed to the novelist Natsume Soseki.
- The word 愛 ('love') was not commonly used to describe romantic feelings between individuals until the Meiji era, when it was adopted to translate Western concepts of love.
- While English speakers use 'love' for almost everything from food to hobbies, using the 'ai' root in Japanese for inanimate objects would sound extremely strange and unnatural.
Examples in context
- メアリーをとても愛している。I love Mary so much.This sentence shows how to use 愛している to say someone loves Mary.Tatoeba #2040976 by bunbuku, translation #1887549 by CN
- 愛していると彼女に伝えたい。I'd like to tell her that I love her.This sentence uses 愛している to describe the desire to tell someone you love them.Tatoeba #3459203 by arnab, translation #1125977 by CH
- 僕が君を愛しているなんて、彼は知らないんじゃないかなあ。I don't think he knows I love you.This sentence demonstrates the use of 愛している in a context regarding what someone else knows about your feelings.Tatoeba #3366786 by arnab, translation #2895083 by AlanF_US
- 7 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
A couple is having a quiet moment together at home.
- 美咲 Misaki蓮くん、ずっと一緒にいたいな。Ren-kun, zutto issho ni itai na.Ren, I want to be with you forever.
- 蓮 Ren僕もだよ。美咲のことを心から愛しているよ。Boku mo da yo. Misaki no koto o kokoro kara aishiteiru yo.Me too. I love you from the bottom of my heart, Misaki.
- 美咲 Misaki私も、蓮くんを愛しているよ。Watashi mo, Ren-kun o aishiteiru yo.I love you too, Ren.
- 蓮 Renありがとう。嬉しいよ。Arigatou. Ureshii yo.Thank you. That makes me happy.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
