How to talk about love

There are many ways to say, “I love you” in Italian, and there are special Italian phrases for friends, family members, and one’s true love. These important phrases were discussed  in our blog from  2020, Italian Phrases for Dating, a section of which is reprinted below.

The most important ways to say, “I love you” in Italian:

“Ti voglio bene” is an old Italian expression that is still in use today for both platonic and romantic love. The meaning of this phrase is not easily translated into English, but it is used often in Italy to express one’s feeling of closeness to another. This expression has its origin in the Italian phrasal verb “volere bene (a qualcuno).” “Ti voglio bene” can been translated as, “I care for you” or “I wish you well,” but really, it is the way Italians tell others that they love them.

The expression “ti voglio bene” can be used between family members and friends, as well as for a serious romantic relationship. Watch some older Italian movies, and you will hear this expression often!

Mi vuoi bene?	Do you care for/about me? Do you love me?
Ti voglio bene.	I care for/about you. I love you.

 

The verb amare, which means “to love” is reserved for romantic love — that one true love held between a couple who are dating exclusively, fiancée and fiancé, or wife and husband. The Italian verb amare was the focus of a previous blog, How to say, “I love you” in Italian.

Remember these simple expressions with amare
to use with someone special this Valentines Day!

 

Mi ami?	Do you love me?
Ti amo.	I love you.
Ti amerò per sempre.	I will always love you.

 

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How to say,
“I love him” and “I love her”
in Italian

 

Often times when we are in love, we want to tell the world about it — or at least our best friend and the family members we are close to. Although the grammar to express this idea in Italian is a bit complicated, in the end it is easy to remember two simple phrases to say, “I love him,” or “I love her.”

 

Let’s go through a short grammar exercise to learn how to say, “I love him” and “I love her” in Italian.

First, we need to know how to conjugate the Italian verb for romantic love, which is amare. Amare is a regular -are verb in Italian. The conjugation for amare is given below, with the stressed syllables underlined. 

Amare – to love

io	amo	I love
tu	ami	you (familiar) love
Lei/lei/lui	ama	you (polite) she/he loves
noi	amiamo	we love
voi	amate	you all love
loro	amano	they love

 

How to use  Italian direct object pronouns.

Continuing on with our Italian grammar, we will have to talk about the Italian direct object pronouns that mean “him” and “her.” Direct object pronouns are important for conversation in any language, since they avoid repetition, which keeps conversation interesting and flowing smoothly.

For instance, if Mary tells her best friend that she has fallen in love with Paul, the two already know that Paul is the topic of conversation. In fact, unless the couple has just met, Mary’s friend probably knows a bit about Paul already!  So, after Paul has been introduced as the subject, both speakers may refer to Paul as “him” as they continue the conversation.  In the same way, if Paul tells his best friend that he has found true love with Mary, Paul may mention, “I love her,” rather than repeating Mary’s name again.

Below is a table of Italian direct object pronouns.

mi	me
ti	you (familiar)
la	her it (feminine objects)
lo	him it (masculine objects)
ci	us
vi	you all
li le	them (all male group/ mixed group m + f) them (all female group)

 

Direct object pronouns are placed before a conjugated verb in Italian, just like reflexive pronouns and indirect object pronouns, which have been the topic of previous blogs in this series.* For instance, in previous Valentine posts, we have mentioned how to say the classic phrase, “I love you.”  As a refresher: simply put the Italian direct object pronoun ti before the io conjugated form of amare, which is amo, to create, “Ti amo.” The short Italian phrase, “Ti amo” carries with it all the weight and shades of meaning of the English phrase, “I love  you.”

(*If you need a refresher on when to use direct vs. indirect object pronouns, visit our blogs  “Missing You” with “Mancare” or He Said/She Said… in Italian! )

 

Some words of advice about Italian direct object pronouns.

Although short and easy to create, it may be difficult to remember the phrase, “Ti amo” for an English speaker,  given that the Italian subject pronoun for “I” (io) has been omitted and the  Italian direct object pronoun for “you” (ti) is placed before the verb.

Here is a trick: rearrange the phrase in your head, and think to yourself, “It is you that I love.” This will move the English direct object pronoun “you” in proper position before the verb so that a parallel translation can be made from English to Italian. Or, simply use the Italian subject pronoun — but only think about the subject pronoun and do not repeat it out loud — to help you to remember that you must say “ti” and then conjugate amare into the io form. Think, “Io ti amo” but say, “Ti amo.”

In short, use “ti amo” and the method that works best for you
to remember the correct placement of Italian object pronouns,
as this will type of phrase will come up often in conversation!

 

As an example of another common use for Italian direct object pronouns, consider the conversations that often occur while attempting to connect the audio on a streaming platform.

At the beginning of many an online meeting, someone will often ask, “(Io) Mi senti?” for “Do you hear me?” or “(Tu) Ci senti?” “Do you hear us?” The answers: “Si, ti sento!” or “Si, vi sento!” for “Yes, I hear you!” and “Yes, I hear you all!”

Mi senti? Si, ti sento!	Do hear me? Yes, I hear you!
Ci senti? Si, vi sento!	Do you hear us? Yes, I hear you all! (to a group)

 

 

Let’s say, “I love him” and “I love her” in Italian!

Now we know enough grammar to say, “I love him,” and “I love her” in Italian. Placing our direct object pronouns before the verb, we can create the phrases, “Lo amo” and “La amo,” which mean “I love him” and “I love her.”

This is easy enough in written Italian. But these phrases may be a bit difficult to understand if listening to spoken Italian, since the vowels from lo and la can be dropped before the conjugated form of amare. Since all  vowels are pronounced with an open mouth, if the speaker leaves off the “o” and “a” in lo and la before amare, this avoids the difficulty of creating one open tone directly after another. In fact, it is a common practice in Italian to drop the ending vowel in the first word if a second begins with a vowel so the language flows smoothly.

For “I love him,” “Lo amo” can be pronounced  as “lamo” and written as “L’amo.” The direct object and verb are said as one word, which is reflected in the spelling with an apostrophe. For “I love her,” “La amo”  can also pronounced “lamo” and written in exactly the same way, as, “L’amo.”  

“L’amo” may sound a bit strange to the English ear,
but this combination of words is beautiful music
to the friends sharing and listening to a declaration of love!

Of course, if one wants to emphasize the “him” or “her,” they desire, and linger on the topic a bit longer, both the direct objects and the conjugated form of amare can be pronounced slowly and clearly.  In fact, many Italians today choose the longer version, although it is common to hear the shorter version of this important phrase as well.

Now let’s add the direct object pronouns to our original table from the first section. Repeat the phrases below out loud to practice talking about your romantic love this Valentines Day!

Mi ami? Lo ami? / L’ami? La ami? / L’ami?	Do you love me? Do you love him? Do you love her?
Ti amo. Lo amo. / L’amo. La amo. / L’amo.	I love you. I love him. I love her.
Ti amerò per sempre. Lo amerò / L’amerò per sempre. La amerò / L’amerò per sempre.	I will always love you. I will always love him. I will always love her.

 

Remember Lo amo, La amo, and L’amo,
and I’m sure you will use these phrases
to talk about your true love
this Valentines Day and every day!

 

 

 

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