Love is everywhere! As you are aware, Valentine’s Day is approaching soon. Do you have someone special to say “ I love you” this Valentine’s Day? Here are three different ways to say, “I love you” in Korean.

February 14^th starts a series of romantic days in the Korean calendar. In this article, I will mention 3 love days in Korea: February 14, March 14, and April 14, and three different ways to say, “I love you” in Korean.

On February 14^th,  발렌타인스 데이 (Valentine’s day) in Korea, men do not have to worry about buying  초콜렛 (chocolate) or  꽃 (flowers) for their ladies. This is the day that women cater their men with chocolate or presents to show their affection. March 14^th, Koreans call it  화이트 데이 (White Day); is the day that men give non chocolate items, such as lollipops, perfumes, flowers, or jewelry, to their ladies to show their love and care. April 14^th is a 블랙 데이 (Black Day), and this is the day that sad singles who did not receive anything on 발렌타인스 데이  or  화이트 데이, head to Chinese-Korean restaurant and share  짜장면 (Black Noodles) to comfort each other.

If you have a special someone whom you want to say, “I love you” in Korean this valentine’s day, or if you enjoy watching K-dramas and K-movies, the following expressions will come in handy for you.

A Korean word  사랑  means love, and  사랑하다  is the basic form of the verb love. As you are aware, Korean language has different levels of politeness: depending on your relationship to the person with whom you are speaking. Here are three different ways to say “I love you” in Korean. Please pay attention to verb conjugations depending on the level of politeness.

1. 사랑합니다.   (Formal – I love you)

[sa-lang-hap-ni-da]

2. 사랑해요.    (Polite – I love you)

[sa-lang-hae-yo]

3. 사랑해.      (Informal – I love you)

 [sa-lang-hae]

If you want to add a name of your special someone or proper nouns:

• With someone’s name

1. ______  씨, 사랑합니다. (Formal)

ex)아라 씨, 사랑합니다.  (Formal – Ahra, I love you.)

    [ah-la-ssi sa-lang-hap-ni-da]

2. ______  씨, 사랑해요.  (Polite)

ex) 재용  씨, 사랑해요.    (Polite – Jaeyong, I love you.)

[jae-yong-ssi sa-lang-hae-yo]

* ______ 씨  [ssi]: an honorific suffix is added to each person’s name to show respect.

3. _____아/야, 사랑해.   (Informal)

ex) 세종아, 사랑해.    (Informal – Sejong, I love you.)

[se-jong-ah sa-lang-hae]

* 아 [ah] / 야 [ya]: in an informal relationship, when you address a Korean’s name, 아  or 야  is attached to his/her name.

♦ When a Korean name ends in a consonant, 아  is added to the name.

ex) 세종 (Sejong) + 아 : 세종아  [se-jong-ah]

♦ When a Korean name ends in a vowel, 야  is added to the name.

 ex) 경화 (Kyung-Hwa) +야 : 경화야  [kyung-hwa-ya]

• With proper nouns:

1. 선생님, 사랑합니다.    (Formal – Teacher, I love you.)

[seon-sang-nim sa-lang-hap-ni-da]

2. 엄마, 사랑해요.    (Polite – Mom, I love you.)  

[um-ma sa-lang-hae-yo]

3. 여보, 사랑해.    (Informal – Honey, I love you, honey.)

[ yeo-bo sa-lang-hae]

How would you respond to someone’s love confession with “I love you, too”?

1. 저도 사랑합니다.    (Formal – I love you, too.)  

[jeo-do sa-lang-hap-ni-da]

2. 저도 사랑해요.   (polite – I love you, too.)

[jeo-do sa-lang-hae-yo]  

3. 나도 사랑해.     (informal – I love you, too.)

[na-do sa-lang-hae]

Do you remember 월계수 양복점 신사들 (The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop)? If you have watched this show, you would love this cute and lovely couple. In the following episode 태양 (Tae Yang) confesses his love to  효원 (Hyo Won). Please play this episode from 1 hour, 1 minute, and 50 seconds (1:01:50) to enjoy this adorable couples’ love chat.

Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!’

감사합니다! (Thank you!)

***Related Vocabulary***

1. 발렌타인스데이  [bal-len-ta-in-s-de-ee]   (Valentine’s day)
2. 초콜렛  [cho-cho-let]   (chocolate)
3. 꽃  [kkot] (flowers)
4. 화이트 데이  [hwa-ee-t-de-ee]   (White Day)
5. 블랙 데이  [beul-lak-de-ee]   (Black Day)
6. 짜장면    [jja-jang-myeon]    (Black Noodles)
7. 사랑    [sa-lang]    (noun. love)
8. 사랑하다    [sa-lang-ha-da]   (verb. love)
9. 사랑합니다.  [sa-lang-hap-ni-da]    (Formal – I love you)
10. 사랑해요.    [sa-lang-hae-yo]    (Polite – I love you)
11. 사랑해.     [sa-lang-hae]       (Informal – I love you)
12. 아라씨, 사랑합니다.   [ah-la-ssi sa-lang-hap-ni-da]   (Formal – Ahra, I love you.)
13. 재용씨, 사랑해요.  [jae-yong-ssi sa-lang-hae-yo]   (Polite – Jaeyong, I love you.)
14. ____씨 [ssi] is an honorific suffix is added to someone’s name to show respect.
15. 세종아, 사랑해.   [se-jong-ah sa-lang-hae]     (Informal – Sejong, I love you.)
16. -아 [ah] / 야 [ya] : in an informal relationship, when you address a Korean’s name, 아  or  야  is attached to his/her name.

        ♦ When a Korean name ends in a consonant, 아  is added to the name.

ex) 세종 (Sejong) + 아 : 세종아  [se-jong-ah]

        ♦ When a Korean name ends in a vowel, 야  is added to the name.

ex) 경화 (Kyung-Hwa) +야 : 경화야  [kyung-hwa-ya]

17. 선생님, 사랑합니다.  [seon-sang-nim sa-lang-hap-ni-da]  (Formal – Teacher, I love you.)
18. 엄마, 사랑해요.   [um-ma sa-lang-hae-yo]   (Polite- Mom, I love you.)
19. 여보, 사랑해.    [ yeo-bo sa-lang-hae]    (Informal- Honey, I love you.)
20. 저도 사랑합니다.   [jeo-do sa-lang-hap-ni-da]  (Formal – I love you, too.)
21. 저도 사랑해요.   [jeo-do sa-lang-hae-yo]   (polite – I love you, too.)
22. 나도 사랑해.   [na-do sa-lang-hae]    (informal – I love you, too.)
23. 월계수 양복점 신사들    [weol-gye-soo yang-bok-jeon shin-sa-deul]   (The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop)
24. 태양 (Tae Yang)
25. 효원 (Hyo Won)