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Yêu (to love) is something everyone is capable of and it comes naturally. Tình yêu (love) is forever a subject in literature, social studies, and common conversation. Whether it was bitter or sweet, we all experienced it.  There are periods that a couple would go through. Each period, they would express their feelings with different sets of words and sentences. Let’s learn some.

THE COURTSHIP PERIOD

Giai đoạn theo đuổi (the courtship period) is important. You have to làm quen (get to know) and tìm hiểu (learn) about each other. You better know how to nói chuyện (chat) and tán tỉnh (flirt) to give a good ấn tượng (impression) to the other person while on buổi hẹn hò (a date).

Image from Pixabay

THE “IN LOVE” PERIOD

Here are a bunch of words in the giai đoạn yêu (in-love period)

• Yêu say đắm – Deeply in love
• Yêu điên cuồng – Madly in love
• Yêu vô điều kiện – Unconditional love
• Yêu mãi mãi – Forever love
• Yêu thật sự – Truly love
• Tiếng sét ái tình – Love at first sight
• Phải lòng – Fall in love
• Tỏ tình – To declare/express love

Below are examples of some catchy sentences I bet you’ve said at least once, if not many times in your life.

• Anh/em yêu em/anh – I love you
• Yêu em/anh bằng cả trái tim – Love you with all my heart
• Anh/em là tất cả – You are my everything
• Em/anh là người duy nhất của anh/em – You are my only one.
• Không thể sống thiếu em/anh – Can’t live without you
• Anh/em yêu em/anh nhiều lắm – I love you very much
• Làm bồ/người yêu của anh/em nhé! – Be my lover/girlfriend/boyfriend!
• Nhớ em/anh nhiều lắm – Miss you very much

You may wonder what are some of the terms of endearment to call your loved one in Vietnamese; equivalent to darling, honey, dear, babe, baby, cutie pie, etc. Here are some.

• Mình: This is an old term that is used more in the north.
• Cưng: This term is used more in the south.
• Anh yêu/em yêu: This the most versatile term.
• Ông xã/Chồng yêu – This term is for spouses only, similar to “hubby”
• Vợ yêu/Bà xã – This term is for spouses only, similar to “wifey”

THE HEART’S PAIN

Of course, we don’t always get what we want in life. It’s the same for love. It takes two to tango. There is no happy ending for a tình yêu đơn phương (one-way love) and it’s definitely painful for each cuộc chia tay (break-up).

Love brings joy but could also bring pain. When one is in love and can’t see each other, he/she would have bịnh tương tư (lovesickness). When they say giã biệt (goodbye) to each other, they would have a trái tim tan vỡ (broken-heart).

Love is beautiful and powerful. Tình yêu chiến thắng tất cả (Love conquers all). If everyone could just love each other, no matter the differences in skin color, ideology, background, etc., we would have peace, more happiness, and fewer tragedies in this world. Let’s spread love – not hate!

To end this blog, I would like to cite a quote from William Arthur Ward about love:

“Love is more than a noun – it is a verb; it is more than a feeling – it is caring, sharing, helping, sacrificing.”

Translation: Yêu không chỉ là một danh từ – nó là một động từ; nó không chỉ là cảm xúc – no là quan tâm, chia xẻ, giúp đỡ, hy sinh.

To all dear readers: I love you. Thank you for reading!

Image from Pixabay