ik hou van jou
The English phrase "i love you" is translated into Dutch as ik hou van jou.
ik hou van jou is an affirmation of romantic feeling. It can be used with romantic partners, close friends and family members.
Meaning: affirmation of romantic feeling (phrase)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "I hold of you" because the verb houden van means "to love" or "to hold dear".
Which one should you use?
While ik hou van jou is reserved for deep, romantic love, the phrase Ik vind je lief is used to say "I think you are sweet/lovely" and refers to affection or liking someone's personality.
How does it change in a sentence?
In spoken Dutch, it is very common and sounds more natural in casual conversation to replace the stressed pronoun jou with the unstressed je, resulting in ik hou van je.
Did you know?
- In Dutch culture, ik hou van jou is traditionally considered a very heavy and serious phrase. Many couples avoid saying it until they are certain the relationship is lifelong.
- While ik hou van jou expresses deep love, Dutch speakers often use the phrase ik ben gek op je to express an intense, passionate crush, which literally means 'I am crazy about you'.
- The word ik is a distant relative of the English 'I' and the German 'ich' because they all stem from the same Proto-Indo-European root.
Examples in context
- Ik hou van jou.I love you.This example shows the standard use of ik hou van jou.Tatoeba #7550778 by MarijnKp, translation #1434 by awael58
- Frankrijk, ik hou van jou!France, I love you!This example shows the use of ik hou van jou in an exclamation directed at a country.Tatoeba #7496478 by MarijnKp, translation #5276566 by Ricardo14
- Ik hou van jou. Ik bel je later.I love you. I'll call you later.This example shows ik hou van jou used in a sequence of two sentences.Tatoeba #6039016 by Mandalay, translation #6033859 by OsoHombre
- Ik hou ook van jou.I love you too.
- Ik hou van jou, mama.I love you, Mom.
- Ik hou ook van jou, schat.I love you too, sweetheart.
- 9 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
A couple is having a romantic dinner at home.
- SophieJe bent de liefste man die ik ken.You are the sweetest man I know.
- LucasEn ik hou van jou, Sophie.And I love you, Sophie.
- SophieIk hou ook van jou, Lucas.I love you too, Lucas.
- LucasIk ben zo gelukkig met jou.I am so happy with you.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ik hou van jou, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries hou, ik, jou, van, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
