Ways to say it
| Vietnamese | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| anh yêu em | [ʔajŋ̟˧˧ ʔiəw˧˧ ʔɛm˧˧] (Hà Nội, narrow) [ʔɛɲ˧˧ ʔiw˧˧ ʔɛm˧˧] (Huế, narrow) |
|
| e.g. | ||
| em yêu anh | [ʔɛm˧˧ ʔiəw˧˧ ʔajŋ̟˧˧] (Hà Nội, narrow) [ʔɛm˧˧ ʔiw˧˧ ʔɛɲ˧˧] (Huế, narrow) |
|
| tớ yêu cậu | [təː˧˦ ʔiəw˧˧ kəw˧˨ʔ] (Hà Nội, word by word, narrow) | |
| mình yêu bạn | [mïŋ˨˩ ʔiəw˧˧ ʔɓaːn˧˨ʔ] (Hà Nội, word by word, narrow) | impersonal |
| ngộ ái nị | [ŋo˧˨ʔ ʔaːj˧˦ ni˧˨ʔ] (Hà Nội, narrow) [ŋow˨˩ʔ ʔaːj˨˩˦ nɪj˨˩ʔ] (Huế, narrow) |
humorous, slang |
The phrase is an affirmation of romantic feeling. In romantic relationships, Vietnamese speakers use kinship terms rather than standard pronouns like "I" and "you" to express affection.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase anh yêu em literally breaks down to "older brother love younger sibling", used by a man to a woman.
Which one should you use?
anh yêu em is used by a man to a woman, while em yêu anh is used by a woman to a man. If you are speaking to a friend or a peer of equal social standing, you should use tớ yêu cậu. The form mình yêu bạn is an impersonal way to express the sentiment. For a playful or humorous effect, you can use the slang ngộ ái nị, which is a humorous imitation of Chinese-sounding phonetics.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
In romantic contexts, anh yêu em is the informal way for a man to express love to a woman. In contrast, tớ yêu cậu is used between friends or peers. The slang ngộ ái nị is intended to be humorous.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb yêu (to love) remains unchanged regardless of the pronouns used in the sentence.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid using tôi yêu bạn. While it uses the formal versions of "I" and "you", it sounds overly clinical or robotic in a romantic context.
When do people say it?
Vietnamese speakers express affection by using kinship terms. A man refers to himself as anh (older brother) and a woman as em (younger sibling/person). You may also encounter the endearing term cưng, which means "darling".
Did you know?
- Once a couple has children, they may stop using anh and em and instead call each other thầy em and đẻ em, meaning 'father of the little one' and 'mother of the little one'.
- While romantic love uses kinship terms, some historical records show that very low-status couples used much coarser terms like 'bố cu' and 'mẹ đĩ' to refer to one another.
Examples in context
- Anh yêu em rất nhiều.I love you very much.This sentence shows how to use anh yêu em to express a high degree of affection.Tatoeba #8999759 by dotheduyet1999, translation #400410 by sysko
- Cô ấy ngại ngùng nên không thể nói "Em yêu anh".She is shy so she cannot say "I love you".This sentence is useful for practicing the phrase em yêu anh in a context of shyness.Tatoeba #4274425 by phuc, translation #3384262 by petersmr
- Em yêu anh!I love you.This sentence is a simple example of using em yêu anh.Tatoeba #405410 by sysko, translation #1434 by awael58
- Anh yêu em, cưng.I love you, darling.
- Em cũng yêu chị.I love you too.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
A couple is saying goodbye for the evening.
- ChiAnh về cẩn thận nhé.Get home safely.
- HùngAnh biết rồi. Anh yêu em.I know. I love you.
- ChiEm cũng yêu anh.I love you too.
- HùngHẹn gặp em ngày mai!See you tomorrow!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “I love you” translations and entries anh yêu em, em yêu anh, ngộ ái nị, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (tớ, yêu, cậu, mình, bạn) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries anh, cậu, em, tớ, yêu, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
