lettre d'amour
The English phrase "love letter" is translated into French as lettre d'amour.
A lettre d'amour is a letter about the author's love (noun).
Meaning: letter about the author's love (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of lettre (letter), de (of) and amour (love).
Which one should you use?
While lettre d'amour is the standard term, you may encounter other forms depending on the tone: épître amoureuse is a sophisticated and poetic way to say "love letter", missive amoureuse is a formal expression and billet doux is a colloquial and playful term.
How does it change in a sentence?
To make the phrase plural, use lettres d'amour, adding an s to lettre while keeping amour in its singular form. Note that lettre d'amours is grammatically incorrect in standard French when referring to a single letter of affection.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid pluralizing the word amour in this phrase by writing lettre d'amours.
Did you know?
- The term épître amoureuse uses the word épître, which is typically reserved for formal biblical epistles or high-style poetry.
- In traditional French romantic etiquette, a billet doux was often scented with perfume to convey emotion through smell as well as words.
- In historical French literature, a missive amoureuse was often written in a specific code or cipher to hide the contents from parents and guardians.
Examples in context
- Il m'a écrit une lettre d'amour.He wrote me a love letter.This sentence shows how to use lettre d'amour with the verb 'écrire'.Tatoeba #136324 by TRANG, translation #297554 by CK
- Je lui écrivais une lettre d'amour.I was writing her a love letter.This sentence shows the continuous past tense used with lettre d'amour.Tatoeba #449887 by sacredceltic, translation #308828 by CK
- Thomas a écrit une lettre d'amour à Marie.Tom wrote a love letter to Mary.This sentence shows how to direct a lettre d'amour to a specific person using the preposition 'à'.Tatoeba #8588189 by Blabla, translation #3672888 by CK
- Mon amour, je t'envoie cette épître amoureuse pour te dévoiler les émotions qui embrasent mon cœur.My love, I am sending you this love letter to reveal the emotions that ignite my heart.
- Mon cher(e), aujourd'hui, je t'écris cette missive amoureuse afin de te rappeler à quel point notre amour est précieux.My dear, today I am writing you this love letter to remind you of how precious our love is.
- Mon cher(e), j'ai décidé d'écrire cette lettre d'amour pour te dire combien je t'aime.My dear, I have decided to write this love letter to tell you how much I love you.
- Mon amour, je t'écris cette petite lettre d'amour pour te dire à quel point tu fais vibrer mon âme.My love, I am writing you this little love letter to tell you how much you make my soul sing.
- Ma chérie/mon chéri, voici un billet doux que j'ai écrit spécialement pour toi, pour te rappeler à quel point je t'aime.My darling, here is a love letter I wrote specifically for you, to remind you how much I love you.
- 15 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé finds an old piece of paper in a book.
- ChloéRegarde, j'ai trouvé une vieille lettre d'amour !Look, I found an old love letter!
- LucasC'est drôle, qui l'a écrite ?That's funny, who wrote it?
- ChloéJe pense que c'est une lettre d'amour pour ma grand-mère.I think it is a love letter for my grandmother.
- LucasC'est vraiment romantique, Chloé.That is really romantic, Chloé.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
