Someone shouted this out to me in English when I was in Ecuador once. "I love you! You're beautiful!" I thought if one only knew how to say one thing in a foreign language, one could pick a lot worse than this.
So Kyya and I started a list of how to say "I love you! You're beautiful!" in every language we know. Can you help us fill out the list?
Spanish: Te quiero! Eres bella/bello!
Hindi: Humse tumse pyar hai. (For I love you. Kyya's not sure about You're beautiful.)
Gujurati: tu mahne bow gamu chu! tu bow sarus lagu chu! (Kyya hopes)
German: Ich liebe dich! Du bist schoen!
I know hatrackers can lengthen this list considerably. Anyone?
[ February 15, 2007, 07:27 PM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
French: Je t'adore (or Je t'aime), tu est beau/belle.
(that's the informal, not the formal, btw).
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Latin: Te amo. Tu es formosa.
Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
You know, I read this thread because I thought you had fallen in love with me, and I was sorely, sorely disapointed.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Ah, Phanto, maybe it's a subtle clue I'm sending you though! Don't rule out that possibility. Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
We have an alternate suggestion:
Dhara says "Main Tumse Pyaar karti oon....Khubsharat!" is I love you, you're beautiful in Hindi.
Posted by Evie3217 (Member # 5426) on :
Phanto, I thought the same thing.
*walks away mournfully*
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
But Evie, everyone on the thread might be flirting with you wildly for all you know!
Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
Wait a second, Evi3217. Did you miss my subtle flirtations with you? Darn; perhaps they are too subtle! I laugh on vanieties; evil, you orange ugg!
A cookie to whomever deciphers this first. ^^
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Ah <takes cookie> an acronym!
[ January 23, 2007, 07:29 AM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I'm pretty sure that in Sindarin, "I love you" is something like "le melin" or "te mela'ne."
But unless you get lost in Valinor, that probably won't matter much. Plus they probably aren't speaking Sindarin in Valinor anyway. That'd be Quenya.
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
Japanese: Ai shiteru! Bijin desu yo! (I think I have that right.)
Posted by Fusiachi (Member # 7376) on :
Portuguese: Eu te amo. Voce e linda.
Then again, there are probably a hundred subtle variations in any given language.
[ January 22, 2007, 10:14 PM: Message edited by: Fusiachi ]
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Tulsi says in Hindi it's: Mein tumse pyaar karti hoon. Tum bohut khoobsurat ho.
Apparently Tulsi knows. Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
In Armenian it's: Kezi geh sirem! Tun keghetsig es!
Hebrew: Ani ohev otach is I love you, we think. Correct us if we're wrong.
Posted by GaalDornick (Member # 8880) on :
Hebrew: Ani Ohev Otach! At Yafa Meod!
This is in the form of a male talking to a female
Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
Dutch: Ik houd van jouw (literally I am beholden of you). Jij ben mooi. Pronounciation is something like "Ick how fon yow. Y-eye bin moy." Dutch truly is the language of love.
Posted by Fusiachi (Member # 7376) on :
Yeah, it took a while to settle on "voce e linda"; Given I'm moving to Sao Paulo in the fall, I think it might be the most useful when it comes to charming the innocent. Oh, and diacritics are a pain.
Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
Greek: Σας αγαπώ. Είστε όμορφοι Italian: Ti amo. Siete bei Russian: Я люблю вас. Вы красивейши
That might be a more useful tool if it provided anglicized pronounciations as well.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
I can't wait to see this in Klingon. *grin
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Oooh, I knew this topic would draw you in, CT! All for you! <3<3<3
Posted by Fusiachi (Member # 7376) on :
quote:Russian: Я люблю вас. Вы красивейши
That might be a more useful tool if it provided anglicized pronounciations as well. [/QB]
My roommate (who is Ukranian) suggests that the Russian pronunciation of what you wrote is roughly "ya lyublyu vas". Well, at least the first part. I'll have to ask again how the rest goes.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
quote:Originally posted by ClaudiaTherese: I can't wait to see this in Klingon. *grin
Somehow I doubt that phrase is said very often in Klingon.
Now if it were "I honor your prowess, your jej'taj is shiny" then you'd be somewhere.
Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :
Klingon... My brother might still have a Klingon-English dictionary. But isn't it just throw a chair or other heavy object and scream at the person?
Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :
Senoj, that Italian is wrong. Babelfish translated the Italian for you're beautiful into the you plural instead of the you singular.
Informal is Sei bello/bella. Formal is E` bello/bella.
Edit: The Klingon Language Institute does not list I love you in their phrase section. It does, however, include today is a good day to die, which might be the equivalent: Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam
Edit #2: I just found this which may be rather useful.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn:
quote:Originally posted by ClaudiaTherese: I can't wait to see this in Klingon. *grin
Somehow I doubt that phrase is said very often in Klingon.
Now if it were "I honor your prowess, your jej'taj is shiny" then you'd be somewhere.
All the online Klingon dictionaries are choking on the word "beautiful" (also "lovely," "attractive," and "striking").
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
quote:Originally posted by Will B:
Japanese: Ai shiteru! Bijin desu yo! (I think I have that right.)
You do.
More informally: Ai shiteru! Bijin da yo!
To clarify who you're talking about, you could add: Ai shiteru! Kimi wa bijin da yo!
And bijin will apply only to females, so for males: Ai shiteru! Kimi wa hansamu da yo!
Hansamu is the katakana rendering of the English 'handsome' (ハンサム)
[ January 22, 2007, 11:09 PM: Message edited by: Euripides ]
Posted by jlt (Member # 10088) on :
French formal: Je vouz adore! Vous etes belle/beau.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: Oooh, I knew this topic would draw you in, CT! All for you! <3<3<3
I needed a little lovin', even of the theoretical variety.
Great project!
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
quote:Originally posted by jlt: French formal: Je vouz adore! Vous etes belle/beau.
Actually I'm pretty sure it should be "Je vous aime, vous êtes beau."
It's purely a spelling thing, which won't matter if you're speaking it, but might as well be correct. Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
Iema farathe r'iema. R'iema se nanavan.
Keep all the sounds at the front of your mouth. The R' is not an american sounding R but more like a japanese R or a spanish rolled R (rr) that stops after a single roll.
There are no dipthongs so keep your vowels seperated.
Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :
What language is that?
Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
In our variation of Arabic, we would say (male to female) "Ana b'hibik, ya helwi" That loosely translates to "I love you, sweet one" The word "helwi" or "sweet" also means beautiful.
In French, I would say informally (male to female again) "Je t'aime. Tu es belle."
Although I personally think "Je vous aime, ma cherie." is more effective.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by rivka: All the online Klingon dictionaries are choking on the word "beautiful" (also "lovely," "attractive," and "striking").
*grin
You'd think "striking" would be prominent somewhere in there.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
I personally would lean toward "¡Eres bella!" instead of "¡Eres muy linda!" (And, of course, point out that the object could be masculine instead of feminine.)
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
*sigh* This thread is a big ol' lie. *cries*
Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
((Olivet))
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
A very basic way to say it in Navajo would be either
Shí ayóó'íinish´ní ayor anosh'ni, t'áá ni nishshóní
or
Shí ayóó'ádeiníi´ní ayor anosh'ni, nihí bił nizhóní
But I can't confirm if the syntax for 'you are' is correct in either example. Oh well!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by ClaudiaTherese:
quote:Originally posted by rivka: All the online Klingon dictionaries are choking on the word "beautiful" (also "lovely," "attractive," and "striking").
*grin
You'd think "striking" would be prominent somewhere in there.
Wouldn't you? Alas, no.
Posted by cmc (Member # 9549) on :
Wow. No languages to add - but I'm feeling the love. No sarcasm, even, I just love this place. : )
Posted by Evie3217 (Member # 5426) on :
Phanto, I love you too. What can I say? The subtleties are just too much for my mind to handle. But then, it's hard to keep track of all the people who are in love with me.
Posted by Eduardo St. Elmo (Member # 9566) on :
"Ik leavje dy! Do bist moai!" Which should the Frisian way of saying it, though some variations are possible, depending on how strictly you adhere to the rules of the language.
Posted by anti_maven (Member # 9789) on :
Maite zaitut! Eder zaude. (Basque)
Ich liebe dich! Du bist sehr hubsch! (German, pretty instead of beautiful, but more colloquial)
Te quiero! Estas muy guapa! (Castillian Spanish - wot is spoken in Spanish Spain)
On my travels I met a fellow Brit who had translated "where is the windowsill" into fifteen languages. Not at all usefull, but I blame the beer.
Posted by Lissande (Member # 350) on :
Slovak (to female): Milujem ťa! Si krásna! Slovak (to male): Milujem ťa! Si krásny!
Note that I include only informal language, as I cannot imagine a person (in this century) who would at the same time 1) say something like this to a total stranger, and 2) use the formal while saying it.
edit to include both genders and to comment that there are obviously tons of ways to phrase this and I opted for the most straightforward for the sake of simplicity.
[ January 23, 2007, 07:33 AM: Message edited by: Lissande ]
Posted by cmc (Member # 9549) on :
What if the formal's more romantic, Lissande? Not criticizing, just thinking of a possible example...
Posted by Baron Samedi (Member # 9175) on :
Albanian: Të dua! Ti je i bukur. (pronounced: tuh doo-uh. Tee yeh ee bookoor.) Oh, and I'm assuming you're saying this to a man. If it's a woman, change "i bukur" to "e bukur".
Also, "I love you" in Tagalog is "mahal kita", but I forget how to say "you're beautiful."
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I'd like to get a copy of the Book of Mormon in all 115 languages or whatever it is now. That would be such a cool rosetta stone.
Thanks for all the new ones, guys! This is so great! Please fill in both genders, for those languages in which we only have one.
Posted by Lissande (Member # 350) on :
cmc - more romantic in what sense? I know different languages perceive the differences between you-informal and you-formal in different ways - are there languages in which formal language would be more romantic? This is an interesting question. Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
Klingon:KAPLA!!!
Yeah... right... Never mind.
Posted by ginette (Member # 852) on :
Hmm I have to correct your Dutch Senoj
Dutch:
Ik hou van jou! Je bent mooi.
Danish:
Jeg elsker dig! Du er smuk.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by GaalDornick: Hebrew: Ani Ohev Otach! At Yafa Meod!
This is in the form of a male talking to a female
But for a female talking to a male, it's Ani Ohevet Ot'cha! Ata yefei-feh!
(Though personally, I'd go with Ani Ohevet Otach! At Yefeifiah!)
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Mi ami vi. Vi bela.
I'm pretty sure that's how you'd say it in Esperanto.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
I'm correcting babelfish's Italian:
quote:Italian: Ti amo. Siete bei
should be:
Ti amo. Sei bella! ('bello' if you're speaking to a male.)
Or
Ti voglio bene! Sei carina!
I add the second because the verb 'amare' is used to connotate a very strong emotion-- you don't usually hear it expressed except between people who already have a relationship. And 'carina' connotates 'cute' or 'dear' or 'precious' rather than beautiful.
BTW, 'voglio' sounds like vo-lee-oh. The 'gl' sound in Italian is produced by stretching the back of your tongue against the molars, and blowing around the sides of it-- like the 'll' in 'million.' Sort of.
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
Iway ovelay ouyay! Ouyay areway eautifulbay!
I think that's the pig latin translation.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Klingon: qamuSHa' bI'IH (Lit. "I do not detest you. You are beautiful.") (Pronounced roughly as "kahMOOzcha BLIH-ICH.")
Note that Mark Okrand, whom I consider semi-authoritative on this point, observes that the word "parmaq" for "love" as a noun is now canon, thanks to an episode of DS9, but says he strongly objects to the idea of "love" as a verb for Klingons (and would have objected to the noun if they'd asked him). The Klingon noun for "object of my affection" or "person I love" is "bang;" unfortunately, while "you are the person I love" is therefore a valid construction, it's also not quite what we're looking for here. You might be able to say "I feel love for you," except that there is no Klingon word for "feel" in the sense of feeling an emotion.
[ January 23, 2007, 10:45 AM: Message edited by: TomDavidson ]
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
OK, be honest. How many of you really gave us translations of "Your mother's fat! And ugly!"?
Posted by anti_maven (Member # 9789) on :
You'll never know until you try...
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
Lisa: Wouldn't it be Mi ami vin. Vi estas bela?
The vi is the object, so doesn't it need an "n"? and don't you need the verb in the second sentance?
I really don't know. My esperanto is really awful.
Kojabu: That was in ththla. I needed a language for magic in my comic. So I figured I would make it something that sounded really nice to my ears.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Klingon: qamuSHa' bI'IH (Lit. "I do not detest you. You are beautiful.") (Pronounced roughly as "kahMOOzcha BLIH-ICH.")
Why does everything in Klingon sound like a violent ugly sneeze.
Posted by Sibyl (Member # 10079) on :
Don't be silly! I'm your other end!
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Wow, Chinese made it to the second page? I must be in the minority here then, and on the teeny weeny minority as a Chinese Canadian.
In any case, I give you two more (sorta...its a long story) translations.
Mandarin (took a course): Characters: 我爱你. 你很漂亮. Pinyin: wo3 ai4 ni3. ni3 hen3 piao4 liang4. As a bit of background Mandarin uses five tones (well, four tones and one lack of tone). (1=constant, 2=rising, 3=down-then-up, 4=diving 5=none)
Cantonese (mother tongue, never learned formally): Sounds like: O oi lei. Lei hou len. (Never saw a standard Cantonese pinyin and the number of tones seems to change depending on who you ask, sigh)
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
Tá grá agam duit. Ta tú álainn. Gaelic
(The first is right - though the Irish have zillions of ways to express affection and tend to be somewhat more poetic about it - "Tá mo chroí istigh ionat" for example, means "My heart is within you." The second could be wrong. It is possible that "beautiful should be one of the "you have" constructions rather than a "you are" construction and I just don't have enough grammar to know it.)
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
You could say "you have my heart" or "my heart is inside you" in Klingon, now that I think about it. Although if you left off the suffix that indicates a metaphor, it would be meant literally. *grin*
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
With Irish, nothing is meant to be taken literally.
[ January 23, 2007, 05:54 PM: Message edited by: kmbboots ]
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
Romanian: te iubesc! Tu esti frumos/frumoasa!
Tay youbesk! Too yesht froomose / froo-mwa-suh
You use frumos if the person is male; frumoasa if female.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by The Pixiest: Lisa: Wouldn't it be Mi ami vin. Vi estas bela?
The vi is the object, so doesn't it need an "n"? and don't you need the verb in the second sentance?
I really don't know. My esperanto is really awful.
You may be right. Mine's awfuler.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by kmbboots: Tá grá agam duit. Ta tú álainn. Gaelic
How is that pronounced, though?
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
Actually, I'm wrong too, now that I think about it. "ami" is the infinitive. it should be "amas."
Mi amas vin. vi estas bela.
If I had infinate time, I would study Esperanto again... (and japanese.. and spanish... and if I could only retain it all!)
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mucus: Wow, Chinese made it to the second page? I must be in the minority here then, and on the teeny weeny minority as a Chinese Canadian.
In any case, I give you two more (sorta...its a long story) translations.
Mandarin (took a course): Characters: 我爱你. 你很漂亮. Pinyin: wo3 ai4 ni3. ni3 hen3 piao4 liang4. As a bit of background Mandarin uses five tones (well, four tones and one lack of tone). (1=constant, 2=rising, 3=down-then-up, 4=diving 5=none)
Cantonese (mother tongue, never learned formally): Sounds like: O oi lei. Lei hou len. (Never saw a standard Cantonese pinyin and the number of tones seems to change depending on who you ask, sigh)
Your version works but "Piao Liang" at least for me denotes more of a, "pretty" feeling, rather then a literally, "beautiful." But people do use it to describe things as "beautiful."
"Mei3 Li4" has more of a beautiful flavor.
so, "Wo3 Ai4 Ni3! Ni3 hen2 mei3 li4!" For a slight anglo pronounciation guide.
Wo= Waw (aw as in the word "law") Ai= as in "Ai Yai Yai Yai Ya!" Ni= as in "knee" Hen= as in "Atilla the (Hun)" Mei= as in "May flowers" Li= as in "Bruce Lee"
If you want to use Piao Liang, go ahead, I don't want to sound like an elitist. Heres is a pronounciation guide for it.
Piao= say, "PeeOW" and naturally flow from the Pee to the Ow. Liang= Li="Lee" Ang= the "ong" sound in "wrong"
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa:
quote:Originally posted by kmbboots: Tá grá agam duit. Ta tú álainn. Gaelic
How is that pronounced, though?
Hmmm...my pronounciation is not good.
Tah (g)hrah ahgum dwit. Tah too ah layn.
Sort of. Gra has a very back of the throat thing going on. Almost like a voiced version of the Hebrew sound ch. D is a bit softer - towards a j sound. Ui is "ih" with a hint of the U in front. Agam the accent is on the first syllable.
Roughly.
Posted by esl (Member # 3143) on :
more detail on Russian:
Я люблю вас. Вы красивейши. ya lyublyu' vas. vui(vy) krasivejshi. Вы/вас are formal you. and it works for male and female. I'm not sure what красивейши means exactly but it sounds close enough to the version I learned.
informal you (to male) Я тебя люблю. Ты красивый. ya tebya' lyublyu'. tui(ty) krasi'vyj. I put the apostrophe after each stressed syllable.
informal you (to female) Я люблю тебя. Ты красивая. ya lyublyu' tebya'. tui(ty) krasi'vaya. I switched the 'love' and 'you' around between the male and female versions. Both work in Russian.
and Ты красавица. tui(ty) krasa'vitsa. means 'You're a beauty.' (to female)
I second Mucus on the Wow, Chinese on the second page. Mandarin looks to be in good order. piao liang is the first thing that came to mind for me, but mei li sounds good too. I'm not a native Mandarin speaker.
Cantonese: 我愛你. 你好靚. ngo5 oi3/ngoi3 nei5. nei5 hou2/hou3 leng3. Romanization from the jyutping system, found at http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk Jyutping seems to be the most widespread system at this point.
In my experience, the 'n' in 'nei' for 'you' is interchangeable with 'l'. So both 'lei' and 'nei' are acceptable.
Also, I don't know if anyone would really say 你好靚. It's a perfectly valid sentence, but sounds a little kid-y. What do you think? I know, I'll ask my family.
Posted by Jeesh (Member # 9163) on :
quote:Originally posted by Euripides: Iway ovelay ouyay! Ouyay areway eautifulbay!
Grr, you stole mine.
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
BlackBlade: Not a native Mandarin OR Cantonese speaker although technically I did learn some Cantonese before hitting the English (+ a little French) Canadian school system.
As for "Mei3 Li4", from my sketchy rememberings, I think you're right. That it is more commonly used although I learned the other one first. I also seem to recall that "Mei3 Li4" often gets shortened to "Mei3" though.
esl: No idea, I just tried to work it out as a guess since no one else had done it yet. I'm sure there's a better translation and I await yours. Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Like I said before Mucus, your sentence works just fine. Dictionary says Piao Liang means beautiful, I was speaking from experience.
If I met a girl and said either piao liang or mei li it would probably have the same effect, she'd get uncomfortable with my forwardness and would take off
I could complicate the sentence with something like "My feelings for you are purely love, you are the definition of beautiful." But that does not really do any good does it?
Mei Li would be the only suggestion I have. But its not that big a deal.
Posted by Koga (Member # 5646) on :
I've been told my father-in-law can probably settle the hindi thing, now i just have to find a way to get him to look at this thread.
Also, does anyone know which form of chinese they use in Firefly? <wonders how Kaylee would say this>
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
IIRC, according to the book Finding Serenity, Joss Whedon originally wanted Cantonese due to the parallel between the Cantonese diaspora and the people all leaving the Earth. That said, there was a miscommunication and they translated everything in Mandarin and since he did not notice for a while, they kept it. So the short answer is Mandarin.
That said, they mix it up every once in a while, the example that jumps out to my mind is the Cantonese life support warning in Out of Gas.
Posted by esl (Member # 3143) on :
From what I remember, Firefly 'Chinese' was mostly Mandarin. It sounded sorta made-up to me though. I am due to rerun the series for my girlfriend. She hasn't seen it. So I'll make sure to pay attention.
Yeah, I remember the life support warning too. I was very happy with it.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
quote: Japanese: Ai shiteru! Bijin desu yo! (I think I have that right.)
I think "aishiteru" is correct, but nine times out of ten what I've seen used is "suki desu." I know it's really more "like" instead of "love" but I just can't think of a real situation where I've heard someone use "aishiteru".
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
<amazed at the linguistic accomplishments of hatrackers>
<now wishes she could memorize all these>
=)
Posted by esl (Member # 3143) on :
So I just asked my mom earlier today. And Tatiana conveniently bumps for me.
Mom agrees that 你好靚 nei5 hou2/hou3 leng3 does sound kinda childish, but could also be used between significant others. She actally specifically said male to female. Yeah, that makes sense because this version of pretty/beautiful doesn't usually apply to guys. Wait, it applies to guys when you add the word for guy after pretty. Then, it means 'good-looking guy'. But by itself it refers to females. I still think the phrase sounds strange but I'm not as fluent as my mother.
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
quote:Originally posted by PSI Teleport:
I know it's really more "like" instead of "love" but I just can't think of a real situation where I've heard someone use "aishiteru".
It does get used. Sparingly, with the understanding that it carries all the implications of the word 'love.'
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Happy Valentine's Day!
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
Polish to female: Kocham cie, jestes sliczna
Polish to male: Kocham cie, jestes sliczny
Someone should make a list in a single post.
I agree with Lissande that informal is way more romantic. Can't really imagine saying something like Kocham Pana. Incidentally, you use informal in prayer, even if you address God as Lord.
Posted by xtownaga (Member # 7187) on :
I went though, and I think these are the final versions for what's listed. Did it in a bit of a hurry (have to get to class), so please correct me if I missed anything. I used the male->female versions if more than one was given.
English: I love you! You're beautiful! Spanish: Te quiero! Eres muy linda! Hindi: Mein tumse pyaar karti hoon. Tum bohut khoobsurat ho. Gujurati: tu mahne bow gamu chu! tu bow sarus lagu chu! German: Ich liebe dich! Du bist schoen! French: Je t'aime, tu est belle! Latin: Te amo. Tu es formosa. Japanese: Ai shiteru! Bijin desu yo! Portuguese: Eu te amo. Voce e linda. Armenian: Kezi geh sirem! Tun keghetsig es! Hebrew: Ani Ohev Otach! At Yafa Meod! Dutch: Ik hou van jou! Je bent mooi. Greek: Σας αγαπώ. Είστε όμορφοι Italian: Ti amo. Sei bella Russian: Я люблю вас. Вы красивейши Navajo: Shí ayóó'íinish´ní ayor anosh'ni, t'áá ni nishshóní Frisian: Ik leavje dy! Do bist moai! Basque: Maite zaitut! Eder zaude. Czech: Miluju tě! Jsi krásná! Slovak: Milujem ťa! Si krásna! Albanian: Të dua! Ti je i bukur. Danish: Jeg elsker dig! Du er smuk. Klingon: qamuSHa'bI'IH Mandarin: 我爱你. 你很漂亮. Cantonese: 我愛你. 你好靚. Gaelic: Tá grá agam duit. Ta tú álainn. Romanian: te iubesc! Tu esti frumoasa! Polish: Kocham cie, jestes sliczna
Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
I modified the above list to group entries into rough linguistic families (any real linguists in the audience, please shut your eyes). <edited to add Arabic, Tagalog, Bengali, Sanskrit, Urdu, Esperanto, Quenyan, and ththla>
English: I love you! You're beautiful!
Basque: Maite zaitut! Eder zaude.
Gaelic: Tá grá agam duit. Ta tú álainn.
Catalan: T'estimo. Ets maca. Esperanto: Mi amas vin. vi estas bela. Portuguese: Eu te amo. Voce e linda. Spanish: Te quiero! Eres muy linda! Spanish (alt): Te quiero! Eres muy bella! Spanish (Castillian): Te quiero! Estas muy guapa! French: Je t'aime, tu es belle! Italian: Ti amo. Sei bella Latin: Te amo. Tu es formosa. Romanian: Te iubesc! Tu esti frumoasa! Albanian: Të dua! Ti je i bukur.
Dutch: Ik hou van jou! Je bent mooi. Frisian: Ik leavje dy! Do bist moai! German: Ich liebe dich! Du bist schoen! German (alt): Ich liebe dich! Du bist sehr hubsch! Danish: Jeg elsker dig! Du er smuk.
Hindi: Mein tumse pyaar karti hoon. Tum bohut khoobsurat ho. Gujurati: Tu mahne bow gamu chu! tu bow sarus lagu chu! Bengali: Aami tomake bhalo bashi| Tumi khoob shoondor Sanskrit: Aham tava snehyaami |tvam atisundaram asi| Urdu: Mujhe tumse ishq hai. Tum khoobsurat ho.
Hebrew: Ani Ohev Otach! At Yafa Meod! Arabic: Ana b'hibik, ya helwi
Navajo: Shí ayóó'íinish´ní ayor anosh'ni, t'áá ni nishshóní
Japanese: Ai shiteru! Bijin desu yo!
Mandarin: 我爱你. 你很漂亮. Cantonese: 我愛你. 你好靚.
Tagalog: Mahal kita. Ang maganda mo.
Klingon: qamuSHa'bI'IH
Quenyan: Tye melan. ("I love you" only)
ththla: Iema farathe r'iema. R'iema se nanavan.
[ February 15, 2007, 12:50 PM: Message edited by: SenojRetep ]
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
I love you in Quenya: Tye melan.
Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
I think you missed my Arabic translation.
Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
And French would be "Tu es belle".
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Wait -- who posted the Navajo?
Posted by Abhi (Member # 9142) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: Tulsi says in Hindi it's: Mein tumse pyaar karti hoon. Tum bohut khoobsurat ho.
Apparently Tulsi knows.
She does... almost. The second sentence would be "Tum bahut sundar ho". "khoobsurat" is actually Urdu.
For a guy saying it, it would be "Main tumse pyaar karta hoon"
[ February 14, 2007, 01:43 PM: Message edited by: Abhi ]
Posted by Abhi (Member # 9142) on :
In Bengali, it'd be "Aami tomake bhalo bashi| Tumi khoob shoondor".
In Sanskrit, it'd be "Aham tava snehyaami |tvam atisundaram asi|"
In Urdu, it's "mujhe tumse ishq hai. Tum khoobsurat ho".
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: Happy Valentine's Day!
I love you! You're beautiful! Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
"Ang maganda mo" - tagalog for "you're beautiful"
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
You could compile these in a book with photographs and make a mint.
Edit: Because it would be a very nice book (just wanted to clear that up).
Who's with me?
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
In my opinion, the Spanish version should be "Te quiero! Eres muy bella!" instead of "...linda!". "Bella" is closer to beautiful, whereas "linda" is more like "cute" or "lovely".
Also, it could also be "Te amo!...". Every other Latin-like language seems to use an "amo" derivative (Portuguese, French, Italian, Latin, etc...).
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
quote:Originally posted by ClaudiaTherese:
quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: Happy Valentine's Day!
I love you! You're beautiful!
<beams>
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Nighthawk, I said the same thing on page one, but I was ignored. *shrug* What do we know . . . we only speak the language. Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
I really like this thread.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
quote:Originally posted by Icarus: Nighthawk, I said the same thing on page one, but I was ignored. *shrug* What do we know . . . we only speak the language.
Oh, sorry... Well, I do admit I didn't read the entire thread. Hard to read a thread that has every other sentence in a foreign language.
Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
quote:Originally posted by Teshi: You could compile these in a book with photographs and make a mint.
Edit: Because it would be a very nice book (just wanted to clear that up).
Who's with me?
I'm with you. I'm thinking artsy photos, some of which might be black & white, showing a native speaker, with his or her own personal beauty, across from another page which just has "I love you! You're beautiful", and maybe a little blurb about the language & culture.
There has to be at least one picture of an old woman with lots of wrinkles whose clearly lived through a lot, but has a glimmer of humor & happiness in her eyes.
Posted by suminonA (Member # 8757) on :
Catalan: T'estimo. Ets maca/maco.
[t'estee-moo. aets ma-ka/ma-koo]
A.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Jhai: Exactly.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I didn't ignore the Spanish speakers. I fixed it on my own personal list. I will go back and edit my original post so the mistake won't be propagated further.
I like this thread too!
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
No biggie--note the use of smilie. Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
(As Nighthawk pointed out in a conversation with me, it's hard not to accidentally miss posts in a thread where every other post is in a foreign language!)
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Um, he pointed it out in this thread too.
Which I guess rather proves the point . . .
Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
In English, we say "I love you! You're beautiful!"
There's a million 1337 ways to say it, for example "I <3 j00!!!!j00 am b00tifulx0rz!!!!!"
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
lol i love the l33t way! <adds it to her list>
Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :
Here's a whole list of "I love you" in different languages.
--Mel
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Thanks, Mel! <steals it to add to our list> anyone want to add "You're beautiful"s for some of these languages?
Afrikaans Ek is lief vir jou Albanian Te dua Alsacien (Elsass) Ich hoan dich gear Amharic (Aethio.) Afekrishalehou Amharic (Ethiopian) (m > f) Ewedishalehu Amharic (Ethiopian) (f > m) Ewedihalehu American Sign Language Apache Sheth she~n zho~n Arabic (m > f) Ana behibak (female to male) Arabic (f > m) Ana behibek (male to female) Armenian Yes kez si'rumem Ashanti/Akan/Twi Me dor wo Assamese Moi tomak bhal pau Bengali Ami tomake walobashi Basque Maite zaitut Bassa Mengweswe Batak Holong rohangku di ho Bemba Ndikufuna Bengali Aami tomaake bhaalo baashi Berber Lakh tirikh Betazed Imzadi Bicol Namumutan ta ka Bolivian Quechua Qanta munani Bosnian Volim te Braille :..:| ..:| |..-.. .::":.., :.:; Brazilian/Portuguese Eu te amo /Galician Querote Bulgarian Obicham te Burmese Chit pa de Cajun Mi aime jou Cambodian Kh_nhaum soro_lahn nhee_ah Canadian French (formal) Ch't'aime Canadian French (familiar) Ch'trip su' toe' ("I'm crazy for you") Catalan (Catalonian) T'estimo Catalan (Mallorcan) T'estim Catalan (Valencian) T'estime Cebuano Gihigugma ko ikaw Central Yup'ik Assiramken Chamoru (or Chamorro) Hu guaiya hao Cherokee Aya gvgeyu'i nihi Cheyenne Ne mohotatse Chichewa Ndimakukonda Chickasaw Chiholloli Chinese:(Amoy) Gwa ai li Chinese:(Cantonese) Ngo oi nei Chinese:(Hakka) Ngai oi gnee Chinese:(Hokkien) Wa ai lu Chinese:(Mandarin/Putonghua) Wo ai ni Chinese:(Wu) Ngo ai nong Corsican (m > f) Ti tengu cara Corsican (f > m) Ti tengu caru Creol Mi aime jou Croatian (familiar) Volim te Czech Miluju te! Danish Jeg elsker dig Dhivehi Varrah loabi vey Dusun Siuhang oku dia Dutch Ik hou van je Ecuador Quechua Canda munani English I love you Eritrean / Tigrinya ( m > f) Afkireki Eritrean / Tigrinya (f > m) Afkireka Esperanto Mi amas vin Estonian Mina armastan sind Ethiopian Afgreki' Farsi (old) Tora dust mi daram Farsi Tora dost daram Fijian Au lomani iko Filipino Iniibig kita Finnish (Ma") rakastan sua French Je t'aime Gaelic Ta gra agam ort Galician/Portuguese Eu te amo /Brazilian Querote Georgian Miqvarhar German Ich liebe dich German dialects: Bavarian (Bayrisch) I mog di (right answer: "I di ah") Berlin dialect Ick liebe Dick Berner-Deutsch Ig liebe di Franconian (Fra"nkisch) Du gfa"llsd mer fai Friesian (Friesisch) Ik hou fan dei Hessian (Hessisch) Isch habb disch libb Ostfriesisch Ick heb di leev Saarlandisch Isch hann disch lieb Saxon Isch liebdsch Swabian I mog di fei Swiss German Ch'ha di garn Vorarlberg dialect I ha di gern Gilbertese Itangiriko Greek Se agapo Greek (Arhea/Ancient) Philo se Greenlandic Asavakit Gronings Ik hol van die Guarani' Rohiyu Gujrati Hoon tane pyar karoochhoon. Hausa (f > m) Ina sonka Hausa (m > f) Ina sonki Hawaiian Aloha wau ia 'oe Hebrew (m > f) Anee ohev otakh Hebrew (f > m) Anee ohevet otkha Hindi (m > f) Mai tumase pyar karata hun Hindi (f > m) Mai tumase pyar karati hun Hopi Nu' umi unangwa'ta Hungarian Szeretlek Ibaloi Pip-piyan tana Ibo (Igbo) A hurum gi nanya Icelandic Eg elska thig Ilocano Ay ayating ka Indonesian Saya Interglossa Mi esthe philo tu Italian Ti amo Irish Taim i' ngra leat Irish/Gaelic t'a gr'a agam dhuit Japanese Aishiteiru Javanese Kulo tresno Kankana Laylaydek sik a Kannada Naanu ninnanu preethisuthene Kapampangang Kaluguran daka Kekchi Nactinra Kikongo Mono ke zola nge Kiswahili Nakupenda Klingon qamuSHa' Korean Tangsinul Saranghae Kpele I walikana Kurdish Ez te hezdikhem Lao Khoi hak jao Latin Te amo Latvian Es tevi milu Lebanese Bahibak Lingala Nalingi yo Lisbon lingo Gramo-te bue', chavalinha! Lithuanian Ash Tave myliu Lojban Mi do prami Luo Aheri Luxembourgish Ech hun dech ga"r Maa Ilolenge Macedonian Te ljubam Madrid lingo Me molas, Tronca! Maiese Wa wa Malay/Indonesian Saya cintakan kamu Malayalam Ngan ninne snaehikkunnu Maltese Jien inhobbok Marathi Mi tuzya var prem karato Marshallese Yokwe yuk Mikmaq Kesalul Mohawk Konoronhkwa Mokilese Ngoah mweoku kaua Moroccan Kanbhik Morse Code .. ._.. ___ ..._ . _.__ ___ .._ ___.. ___.. ("88", a Morse Code shorthand meaning "Love, hugs & kisses to you.") Nahuatl Ni mitz tla-zo-tla Navaho Ayor anosh'ni Ndebele Niyakutanda Norwegian (Bokmal) Jeg elsker deg Norvegian (Nynorsk) Eg elskar deg Nyanja Ninatemba Op Op lopveop yopuop Oriya Mun tumaku bhala pae Osetian Aez dae warzyn Pampangang Kaluguran daka Papiamento Mi ta stima'bo Pig Latin Ie ovele ouye Polish Kocham cie Portuguese Eu amo-te Portuguese (familiar) Quero-te ("I want you") Portuguese lingo Gramo-te `a brava! Pulaar Mbe de yid ma Punjabi Main tainu pyar karna Pushto Mung jane Quenya Tye-mela'ne Raetoromanisch Te amo Redneck Ya'll doo Romanian Te iubesc Rotuman Gou 'oaf se 'a"e Russian Ya tyebya lyublyu Saami Mun ra'hkistan du Samoan Ou te alofa outou Sanskrit Tvayi snihyaami Scot-Gaelic Tha gradh agam ort Serbian (formal) Ja vas volim Serbian (familiar) Volim te Serbocroatian Volim te Sesotho(Southern Sotho) Ke a mo rata Shona Ndinokuda Sinhala Mama oya'ta a'darei Sioux Techihhila Slovak Lubim ta Slovene Ljubim te Solresol do-re mi-la-si do-mi Somali Waan ku Jecelahay Spanish Te amo Srilankan Mama oyata arderyi Swahili Nakupenda Swedish Jag a lskar dig Syrian/Lebanese (m > f) Bhebbek Syrian/Lebanese (f > m) Bhebbak Tagalog Mahal kita Tahitian Ua here au ia oe Taiwanese Wa I Lee Tamil Naan unnai kadalikiren Telugu Ninnu premistunnanu Thai Khao raak thoe Timerio 1-80-17 Tongan 'Ofa 'atu Tswana Dumela Tunisian Ha eh bak Turkish (formal) Sizi seviyorum Turkish Seni seviyorum Twi Me dowapaa Ukrainian Ja tebe kokhaju Urdu Main tumse muhabbat karta hoon Vai Na lia Vdrmldndska Du dr gvrgo te mdg Vietnamese Toi yeu em Volapuk Lafob oli Vulcan Wani ra yana ro aisha Walloon Rwy'n dy garu di Wolof Da ma la nope Yiddish Ikh hob dikh lib Yoruba Mo Feran e Yucatec Maya 'in k'aatech Yugoslavian Ja te volim Zazi Ezhele hezdege Zulu Mena tanda wena Zuni Tom ho' ichema
[ February 19, 2007, 07:02 AM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
Posted by Alex Johansen (Member # 9090) on :
update your first post so people can easily check the list when a new foreign exchange student comes to their school
Posted by Abhi (Member # 9142) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tatiana:
Where is this list from Tatiana? The Hindi [both versions], Bangladeshi [it should actually be Bengali... Bangladeshi isnt a language], Sanskrit and Marathi are inaccurate.
:-/ I'm just saying...
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
It's from a link that the Crow's wife posted in the post above. I have no clue as to its accuracy. I'll have to rely on hatrackers to correct it. Feel free to do that, and add the "You're beautiful" part too.
Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :
Yeah, no guarantees as to accuracy. I just ran across it on the web.
--Mel
Posted by Abhi (Member # 9142) on :
maybe we should just compile a list of the ones we have from hattrackers... that way we have a verifiable, correct set :)
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Okay, I agree with that.
I was collecting up the ones as said to a guy, but here's my list.
Slovak: Milujem ťa! Si krásny! Armenian: Kezi geh sirem! Tun keghetsig es! Gujurati: tu mahne bow gamu chu! tu bow sarus lagu chu! Arabic: Ana b'hibak, ya helou Navajo: Shí ayóó'íinish´ní ayor anosh'ni, t'áá ni nishshóní Albanian: Të dua! Ti je e bukur. Hindi: Mein tumse pyaar karti hoon. Tum bohut khoobsurat ho. Japanese: Ai shiteru! Kimi wa hansamu da yo! Russian: Я тебя люблю. Ты красивый. Dutch: Ik hou van jou! Je bent mooi. Danish: Jeg elsker dig! Du er smuk.. Frisian: Ik leavje dy! Do bist moai!" Basque: Maite zaitut! Eder zaude Czech: Miluju tě! Jsi krásný! Hebrew: Ani Ohevet Ot'cha! Ata yefei-feh! Mandarin: 我爱你. 你很漂亮. (Pinyin: wo3 ai4 ni3. ni3 hen3 piao4 liang4.) Gaelic: Tá grá agam duit. Ta tú álainn. Romanian: te iubesc! Tu esti frumos! German: Ich liebe dich! Du bist sehr hubsch!! Esperanto: Mi amas vin. vi estas belo. Latin: Te amo. Tu es formosa. Italian: Ti voglio bene! Sei carino! French: Je t'adore, tu est beau. Portuguese: Eu te amo. Vos sois belos. Spanish: Te quiero. Eres bello! English: I love you! You’re beautiful!
[ March 07, 2007, 12:11 AM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Tatiana, I thought you'd like this site. Check out "installations" section!
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Actually, during my mission I was collecting "I love you" in various languages. Most of the ones I know have already been said, but I know one that's not even on the huge long list!
Mongolian: bi chamd hairtai
I can pronounce it, but I can't type how to pronounce it. And I don't know "you're beautful," but I'll ask Sister Gaajidmaa next time I get a letter from her. She should know - she's beautiful.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Wow, CT, that's an awesome site! Annie, be sure to post Sister Gaajidmaa's reply.
Posted by Flaming Toad on a Stick (Member # 9302) on :
Tatiana, my Arabic translation is from a guy to a girl. Girl to guy, it would be: "Ana b'hibak, ya helou".
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
All right, thanks FToaS! I corrected it. Posted by Dusty (Member # 10266) on :
Chinese: wo ai ni! ni hen piao liang!
我爱你, 你很漂亮!
Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
Ok, I've tried to reconstruct the Proto Indo-European Language form of these two sentences. Jon Boy can correct me if he notices any errors. This is all my work and tentative.
Notes, Sources and Reasoning: h¹: a neutral laryngeal ('h' pronounced in the back of the throat)
h²: the 'a'-coloring laryngeal ('h' pronounced in the back of the throat with an 'a' coloring and, when a vowel follows, giving it an 'a' coloring) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laryngeals
Adjective: Beautiful Middle English beaute, from Old French biaute, from Vulgar Latin *bellits, from Latin bellus, pretty. See deu-2 http://www.bartleby.com/61/22/B0142200.html
ENTRY: deu-2 DEFINITION: To do, perform, show favor, revere. 3. Diminutive *dw-en-elo-. beau, beauty, belle; Derivatives: beldam, belladonna, belvedere, embellish, from Latin bellus, handsome, pretty, fine. http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE89.html
There might be an adjectival declension for *dw-en-elo- but I'm not sure what it is.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
But Evie, everyone on the thread might be flirting with you wildly for all you know!
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)