"I want to tell you how much I love you." in foreign languages?
August 20, 2015 7:47 AM Subscribe
How do you say I want to tell you how much I love you in your non-English language, including specialized non-romanized lettering? Please also specify the English equivalent of the language name ("Japanese"/etc).. It's for a non-school, non-profit art project :-3
If social rank is a variable, consider the speaker to be a younger sibling, speaking to an older sister =)
If social rank is a variable, consider the speaker to be a younger sibling, speaking to an older sister =)
In Russian, but the phrasing may be a little awkward/literal because I am rusty: Я хочу тебе сказать сколько я тебя люблю.
posted by griphus at 8:00 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by griphus at 8:00 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
"Je voudrais te dire combien je t'aime" (French)
"我想告诉你我多么愛你" (Chinese)
posted by dragondollar at 8:07 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
"我想告诉你我多么愛你" (Chinese)
posted by dragondollar at 8:07 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Dutch: "Ik wil je vertellen hoeveel ik van je hou".
posted by Ms. Next at 8:08 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Ms. Next at 8:08 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ditto on the not being a native speaker, but Italian would be Voglio dirti quanto ti amo.
However since you are specifying a sibling relationship, it might be more correct to say Voglio dirti quanto ti voglio bene since amare tends to be more for romantic love and familial/platonic relations tend to use the format of wishing well for the recipient.
As always, I defer to any native speakers that chime in.
posted by romakimmy at 8:09 AM on August 20, 2015
However since you are specifying a sibling relationship, it might be more correct to say Voglio dirti quanto ti voglio bene since amare tends to be more for romantic love and familial/platonic relations tend to use the format of wishing well for the recipient.
As always, I defer to any native speakers that chime in.
posted by romakimmy at 8:09 AM on August 20, 2015
German: Ich will dir sagen, wie sehr ich dich liebe.
posted by cogitron at 8:11 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by cogitron at 8:11 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Duplicates of languages already mentioned above from additional users are welcome, as it adds to my research to establish a 'proper' translation =)
posted by Quarter Pincher at 8:14 AM on August 20, 2015
posted by Quarter Pincher at 8:14 AM on August 20, 2015
The same thing wrt siblings may apply to French, with an alternative being "Je voudrais te dire combien je tiens a toi" ("how much I care for you"). "Aimer" is still correct, but without context may be ambiguous.
posted by dragondollar at 8:14 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by dragondollar at 8:14 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, looking at the French replies and your follow up, Voglio Is literally "I want" but in speaking I'd be more likely to use Vorrei which is more along the lines of "I would like".
posted by romakimmy at 8:22 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by romakimmy at 8:22 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
farsi: می خواهم به شما بگویم که چقدر من شما را دوست دارم
"mikham be shoma begam ke cheghadr man shomara doost daram."
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 8:29 AM on August 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
"mikham be shoma begam ke cheghadr man shomara doost daram."
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 8:29 AM on August 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Spanish: Quiero decirte cuanto te amo.
posted by cobain_angel at 8:42 AM on August 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by cobain_angel at 8:42 AM on August 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
"بدي الك شو بحبك " Arabic
"Quiero decirte como te quiero" or "Quiero decirte como te amo" Spanish [not a native speaker]
"Quiero" is literally "I want" but is used both as that and as "I love", so te quiero would be correctly translated as "I love you". Te amo also means "I love you" but has more of a romantic connotation. I also believe that might differ across countries/dialects.
posted by xqwzts at 8:43 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
"Quiero decirte como te quiero" or "Quiero decirte como te amo" Spanish [not a native speaker]
"Quiero" is literally "I want" but is used both as that and as "I love", so te quiero would be correctly translated as "I love you". Te amo also means "I love you" but has more of a romantic connotation. I also believe that might differ across countries/dialects.
posted by xqwzts at 8:43 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
cobain_angel got it right, "cuanto" is how much, "como" is how.
posted by xqwzts at 8:44 AM on August 20, 2015
posted by xqwzts at 8:44 AM on August 20, 2015
I speak like kindergartner Romanian so please feel free to ignore if one of our actual Romanian speakers arrives but it would be
Vreau să-ți spun cât de mult te iubesc
Vrow suh-ts spoon koot day moolt tay ee-oo-BESK
posted by jessamyn at 8:55 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Vreau să-ți spun cât de mult te iubesc
Vrow suh-ts spoon koot day moolt tay ee-oo-BESK
posted by jessamyn at 8:55 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Spanish: Quiero decirte cuánto te quiero.
(You need the accent on cuánto because it's an exclamation.)
posted by autolykos at 9:01 AM on August 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
(You need the accent on cuánto because it's an exclamation.)
posted by autolykos at 9:01 AM on August 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'll second dragondollar's Chinese translation (I'm technically a native speaker but kindergartner level).
posted by serelliya at 9:03 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by serelliya at 9:03 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
BuddhaInABucket is right for the Persian, I'll just add that if it's between siblings, "mikham be to begam ke cheghadr man tora doost daram," would also be fine. Shoma is formal and/or plural, to is singular and informal. I use the informal with my older brother.
posted by yasaman at 9:24 AM on August 20, 2015
posted by yasaman at 9:24 AM on August 20, 2015
Portuguese: "Quero dizer-te o quanto te amo".
posted by lost_lettuce at 9:51 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by lost_lettuce at 9:51 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Native German speaker here. In this context, I personnally would say " ich möchte dir sagen, wie lieb ich dich habe."
In Japanese, although I'm not native, my boyfriend is and if asked for a literal translation would likely say something "どれだけ大好きか言わせてほしい", which sounds incredibly awkward and unnatural, so instead
posted by LoonyLovegood at 9:55 AM on August 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
In Japanese, although I'm not native, my boyfriend is and if asked for a literal translation would likely say something "どれだけ大好きか言わせてほしい", which sounds incredibly awkward and unnatural, so instead
posted by LoonyLovegood at 9:55 AM on August 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
(I hate typing into windows on the iPhone)
Instead you'd probably say 愛を表したい or something similar.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 10:01 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Instead you'd probably say 愛を表したい or something similar.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 10:01 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
K'ichee', from a non-native speaker: Kwaaj kinb'ij chaweh jampa' katinloq'ooj.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:31 AM on August 20, 2015
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:31 AM on August 20, 2015
Danish: Jeg vil gerne fortælle dig hvor meget jeg elsker dig
posted by alchemist at 10:51 AM on August 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by alchemist at 10:51 AM on August 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Finnish: Haluan kertoa sinulle kuinka paljon sinua rakastan.
(native speaker)
posted by sively at 11:33 AM on August 20, 2015
(native speaker)
posted by sively at 11:33 AM on August 20, 2015
Swedish (near native): Jag vill tala om för dig hur mycket jag älskar dig. Or if you prefer Jag vill berätta hur mycket jag älskar dig. if the implication is that they would describe how much they love them as opposed to "tell you that I love you"
posted by Iteki at 12:38 PM on August 20, 2015
posted by Iteki at 12:38 PM on August 20, 2015
Seconding "möchte Dir sagen" instead of "will Dir sagen" in German.
"Will" is a very forceful expression. Like, toddler WANTS a cookie. And he WANTS it now.
Or like this guy intends to tell you that he loves you, whether you want him to or not!
"Möchte" translates as "would like to", but would be the gentler, more loving expression.
posted by Omnomnom at 12:58 PM on August 20, 2015
"Will" is a very forceful expression. Like, toddler WANTS a cookie. And he WANTS it now.
Or like this guy intends to tell you that he loves you, whether you want him to or not!
"Möchte" translates as "would like to", but would be the gentler, more loving expression.
posted by Omnomnom at 12:58 PM on August 20, 2015
Albanian: "Dua të të them se sa të dua"
Another option is: "Dua të të them që të dua shumë" (literally "I want to tell you that I love you very much")
posted by Bobka at 1:34 PM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Another option is: "Dua të të them që të dua shumë" (literally "I want to tell you that I love you very much")
posted by Bobka at 1:34 PM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Thanks for the corrections to the German, and I defer to the native speakers! Even I agree "will" sounds forceful here--I put maybe too much weight on distinguishing between the English "I want" vs. "I'd like to." I'd lean towards "I'd like to..." in English too--so I was assuming there was a reason for the use of "want." (Unrequited love! Before I die, I want to tell you this! Here's what I want: I want to tell you..., etc.)
In other words, what a delicious plate of beans.
posted by cogitron at 6:46 PM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
In other words, what a delicious plate of beans.
posted by cogitron at 6:46 PM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
In Japanese, although I'm not native, my boyfriend is and if asked for a literal translation would likely say something "どれだけ大好きか言わせてほしい", which sounds incredibly awkward and unnatural
This Japanese says something like, "I want you to make me/let me say how much I like/love (you)". Maybe the boyfriend didn't understand the English properly?
I'd say something like どんなにあなたを愛しているか伝えたい if we were talking about romantic love. Translating this notion into Japanese about the love between siblings is a bit odd but Japanese family members don't generally say "I love you" to each other. Maybe then どんなにお姉さんが大好きって伝えたい。
posted by Tanizaki at 6:59 PM on August 20, 2015
This Japanese says something like, "I want you to make me/let me say how much I like/love (you)". Maybe the boyfriend didn't understand the English properly?
I'd say something like どんなにあなたを愛しているか伝えたい if we were talking about romantic love. Translating this notion into Japanese about the love between siblings is a bit odd but Japanese family members don't generally say "I love you" to each other. Maybe then どんなにお姉さんが大好きって伝えたい。
posted by Tanizaki at 6:59 PM on August 20, 2015
Not a native speaker of Greek, just learnt some later in life, so happy to be corrected (esp as am very rusty). However in Modern Greek (not classical) it would be: Θέλω να σου πω πόσο σ'αγαπώ (thelo na sou po poso s'agapo).
posted by Athanassiel at 7:58 PM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Athanassiel at 7:58 PM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
In Hebrew, it's "אני רוצה להגיד לך כמה שאני אוהב/ת אותך". There are some pronunciation differences based on the gender of the speaker and the … target of the phrase. It's mostly just vowel differences, so the spelling isn't affected. The only spelling change would be if the speaker is male, the word for "love" is אוהב, and if the speaker is female, the word is אוהבת.
(This goes even if you hadn't specified that this is being said to a female person. It's only the conjugation of "love" that gets a spelling difference.)
posted by cardioid at 9:58 PM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
(This goes even if you hadn't specified that this is being said to a female person. It's only the conjugation of "love" that gets a spelling difference.)
posted by cardioid at 9:58 PM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Passing on a note from a Bulgarian friend, who says it's "Искам да ти кажа колко те обичам."
posted by cardioid at 5:19 PM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by cardioid at 5:19 PM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Johnny Assay at 7:57 AM on August 20, 2015 [1 favorite]