volim te
Latin
The English phrase "I love you" is translated into Croatian as volim te. Wiktionary also lists ja te volim.
Meaning: affirmation of romantic feeling (phrase)
Ways to say it
| Croatian | Note |
|---|---|
| volim te | Latin |
| ja te volim | Latin |
volim te is used for deep romantic love or very close familial love, rather than casual affection.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase volim te is composed of the first-person singular verb volim (I love) and the second-person singular pronoun te (you).
Which one should you use?
While volim te is the standard form, ja te volim includes the explicit subject pronoun ja (I), which adds emphasis to the fact that *I* am the one loving you.
How does it change in a sentence?
To say 'I love you' to more than one person, or to use the formal 'you', change 'te' to 'vas'. If a male speaker wants to say 'I loved you' in the past tense, the verb changes to volio sam te.
Did you know?
- The word volim shares a root with the word volja, which means 'will' or 'wish', suggesting that love is tied to the act of willing something.
- While volim te is for deep love, Croatians often use the phrase stalo mi je do tebe to express that someone is important to them without using the heavy weight of the word 'love'.
- The pronoun ja used in ja te volim is a direct descendant of the Proto-Indo-European root éǵh₂, making it a distant relative of the English word 'I'.
Examples in context
- Volim te.I love you.This sentence is useful for practicing the basic form of volim te.Tatoeba #567186 by Shishir, translation #1434 by awael58
- Volim te!I love you!This sentence is useful for practicing the emphatic use of volim te.Tatoeba #2390581 by Ricardo14, translation #2365642 by CE
- I ja tebe volimI love you too
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mateo and Ana are saying goodbye for the day.
- MateoVidimo se sutra, Ana.See you tomorrow, Ana.
- AnaVidimo se, Mateo.See you, Mateo.
- MateoSamo želim reći da volim te.I just want to say that I love you.
- AnaI ja tebe volim.I love you too.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “I love you” translations and entries ja te volim, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ja, te, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
