How to say I love you in Korean - what does saranghae mean?

If you have ever wandered into the world of Korean entertainment, you have probably heard the words “I love you” before. You may have heard this even before learning how to say "thank you" in Korean.

Just like the rest of the world’s media, Korea’s pop culture is filled with melodramas, songs of break-up and heartache, movies about people finding their soulmates, and books describing the feelings of being in love.

In this lesson, we are going to learn how to say “I love you” in its many forms. You might have heard some of these forms before, but haven't been sure in which situations to use them. The following explanations and examples will help you become fluent in expressing love in Korean.

I Love you in Korean

1) 사랑해요 (saranghaeyo)

This form of “I love you” is the polite form. You might have heard it in a song or a drama. It can be used with people you are familiar with, but not in a relationship you speak casual language in.

You might use it with parents, older family members such as aunts and uncles or older friends. If you are not sure what form of “I love you” to use, this one is a safe bet. Before moving on, make sure you know how to pronounce “I Love you” by listening to the audio clip above.

Example:

엄마 사랑해요 (omma saranghaeyo)

Mom, I love you.

2) 사랑해 (saranghae)

This is the same word as above, but the polite ending 요 (yo) has been dropped. It carries the same meaning but is the casual form. You can use 사랑해 (saranghae) with family, friends, children, and animals. Couples also commonly use this form with each other.

Example:

오빠 사랑해 (oppa saranghae)

Oppa, I love you

오빠 (oppa) is used in many types of relationships and thus cannot be translated into one word. Women can use it when referring to an older brother, an older boyfriend, or an older male friend.

3) 사랑합니다 (saranghamnida)

사랑합니다 (saranghamnida) is the formal version of the above words. The -ㅂ니다 at the end of the word indicates this. This version is not used very often as it is extremely formal and is usually said with a lot of respect. You might hear grandchildren say it to their grandparents, a speaker says it when speaking to a large group, or even used in religious situations when speaking to God.

At first, you might find it difficult to know what situation to use each of the forms above. I recommend listening for it and analyzing each situation it is used in. Doing this will help you to understand the nuances of the word.

You might have noticed that in English “I love you” is three words while in Korean it is only one. This is because in Korean the subject and object of a sentence are often left out if they are apparent through the context of the situation.

If the “I” and “you” were to be added, it would be 나는 너를 사랑해 (naneun noreul saranghae). 나는 (naneun) means “I” and 너를 (noreul) means “you”. You can also replace 너를 (noreul) with a name.

While learning Korean, you might have someone say “I love you” to you. To reply, you would say, 나도 사랑해 (nado saranghae). 나도 (nado) means “me too”.

Example:

할머니 사랑합니다 (halmoni saranghamnida)

Grandma, I love you

나도 사랑해 (nado saranghae)

I love you too

4) 사랑행 / 사랑해용 (saranghaeng / saranghaeyong)

These are the same words as 사랑해 (saranghae) and 사랑해요 (saranghaeyo) with a ㅇ(ng) added to the end. Koreans will often do this at the end of a sentence to add cuteness. These words are mostly used in casual situations and will often be seen online or in text messages.

Example:

친구 사랑행 (chingu saranghaeng)

I love you, friend

나도 사랑해용 (nado saranghaeyong)

I love you too

Now that we know all the ways to say “I love you”, let's move on to other ways to express fondness for someone. Starting with “I like you”.

I Like You in Korean

1) 좋아해 (joahae)

좋아해 (joahae) is taken from the verb 좋아하다 (joahada), which means “to like”. It is then conjugated to match the formality of the situation. 좋아해 (joahae) is the most casual form of the word. You can use it with friends, children, animals, and family.

The word is often used when confessing feelings and means “I like you”. It also can be used in a non-romantic way with friends and family.

Example:

나는 민지를 종아해 (naneun minjireul jongahae)

I like Minji

고백하는 거 어떄? (gobaekaneun go ottyae)

How about confessing?

2) 좋아해요 (joahaeyo)

This is the polite version of “I like you”. It is used with people who you are familiar with, but cannot speak casual language with. When in doubt use this version. You can never go wrong with being polite.

Example:

진희 씨, 정말 좋아해요 (jinhi ssi naneun noreul jongmal joahaeyo)

Jinhee, I really like you.

3) 좋아합니다 (joahamnida)

좋아합니다 (joahamnida) is the formal version of this word. You might use it when talking to large crowds, giving a presentation, or talking to someone older than you or of a higher rank than you.

Just like 사랑해 (saranghae), you do not need to say the words “I” and “you” with 좋아해 (joahae). This is usually implied through context. If these words are needed to make the sentence clearer, you can say 나는 너를 좋아해 (naneun noreul joahae).

The word 많이 (mani) is also commonly used with “I like you”. It means “a lot” and is added to the beginning of 좋아해 (joahae) to become 많이 좋아해 (mani joahae).

Example:

할아버지를 많이 좋아합니다 (harabojireul mani joahamnida)

I like Grandpa a lot

We have now learned how to profess and confess love in Korean, but there is one more phrase that is essential to know when in a relationship. When you haven’t seen your significant other for a hot minute, you might call or text them and say “I miss you”. Here is how to say that in Korean.

I Miss You in Korean

1) 보고 싶어요 (bogosipoyo)

보고싶어요 (bogosipoyo) is a combination of the verb 보다 (boda) and the conjugation 고 싶다 (gosipda). 보다 (boda) means “to see” and 고 싶다 (gosipda) means “want”. Combining these two creates 보고 싶다 (bogosipda) meaning “to want to see”.

The word is then once again conjugated when spoken aloud to someone. It takes on either the causal, polite, or formal form of speech that we have discussed above. As you can see 보고싶어요(bogosipoyo) does not literally mean “I miss you”, but it is usually translated as such.

This phrase is not only for lovers, it can be used with friends, family, or really anyone you miss. Just make sure to say it with the appropriate ending matched to the formality of the situation.

Example:

나는 내 가족을 너무 보고 싶어요 (naneun nae gajogeul nomu bogo sipoyo)

I miss my family a lot

2) 만나고 싶어요 (mannago sipoyo)

This is the combination of the verb 만나다 (mannada), “to meet”, and the conjugation 고 싶다 (gosipda), ”want”. It then becomes 만나고 싶다 (mannagosipda) when combined and 만나고 싶어요 (mannago sipoyo) when conjugated to polite form.

만나고 싶어요 (mannago sipoyo) means, “I want to meet you” and can be used in almost any situation with the appropriate endings.

Example:

본지 정말 오래 됐어요 (bonji jongmal orae dwessoyo)

Its been a long time since I have seen you

그러니까요 만나고 싶어요 (geuronikkayo mannago sipoyo)

I know. I want to meet you.

You have now learned how to say “I love you”, “I like you” and “I miss you”. You have learned how to express three new emotions in this lesson so far. We will now move a little deeper into the world of romance with some more ways to express fondness for someone. Buckle up, things are about to get cheesy.

Other Ways to Say “I love you”

1) 사랑에 빠졌어 (sarange ppajosso)

This saying translates to “I’m in love” or “I’ve fallen in love”. This is the casual form and it can be changed to match the formality of different situations. There is no “I” in 사랑에 빠졌어 (sarange ppajosso), but it can be added if needed to become, 나는 사랑에 빠졌어 (naneun sarange ppajosso).

그 여자가 누구야? 나는 사랑에 빠졌던 것 같아 (geu yojaga nuguya naneun sarange ppajottton got gata)

Who is that woman? I think I am in love.

2) 너 뿐이야 (no ppuniya)

너 뿐이야 (no ppuniya) means “It's only you”, or “you are the only one”. 너 (no) is the casual word for “you”. You would only ever use this with friends, children, and animals.

Even if you speak casually with your parents or adults older than you, referring to them as 너 (no) can be disrespectful. This is because in the Korean language “you” is not used often because it can be seen as rude.

Example:

제발 가지마! 난 너 뿐이야! (jebal gajima nan no ppuniya)

Please don’t go! You are the only one for me!

3) 너 밖에 없어 (no bakke opsso)

This expression is similar to 너 뿐이야 (no ppuniya). It means “you are the only one”. If you are a k-drama enthusiast you have probably heard this said more than once.

Example:

내 눈에 너 밖에 없어 (nae nune no bakke opsso)

In my eyes, there is only you

4) 나랑 사귈래? (narang sagwilrae)

Earlier we learned 좋아해 (joahae), which can be used to confess feelings to someone. This expression might be used as a follow-up line to 좋아해 (joahae). It means “Do you want to date?”.

In English when a question is asked it is often indicated by question words like, why, what, when, where. In Korean these words do exist, but they do not have to be in a question. Instead to indicate something is a question intonation is raised at the end of the sentence. Listen to the audio clip above to hear the rise in intonation.

Example:

나는 너를 처음 봤을 때 부터 좋아했어요. 나랑 사귈래? (naneun noreul choeum bwasseul ttae buto joahaessoyo narang sagwilrae)

I liked you from the moment I saw you. Do you want to date?

5) 손 하트 (son hateu)

This one is not an expression, but rather a hand motion. 손 하트 (son hateu) means “hand heart” and it is expressed by bringing the index finger and thumb together, crossing them slightly at the first joint to create a small heart. You can see an example picture below.

This hand sign has gained popularity in Korea over the past few years and has since spread all around the world with the Hallyu wave. It has become known as the “Korean finger heart”. This is a cute way to show love and can be used with anyone, in the appropriate situation of course.

Great job so far! You have now learned how to say “I love you”, “I miss you”, “I like you”, along with many other great expressions to show fondness for someone. Now take what you have learned and go out into the world and use it! Try teaching someone else what you learned today. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes!

Also, listen for situations these expressions are used in. If you like k-pop, k-dramas or Korean movies, try to find these expressions being used in whatever form of media you prefer. The more you use it and the more you listen to it, the better you will be able to understand the nuances of each expression.

Here are some recommendations for songs that use the expressions we learned above. If you have finished the lesson and don’t know how to start practicing, give these songs a listen and see if you can recognize some of the expressions we learned above. Also, make sure to use the table below to memorize and practice pronunciation.

Thank you for seeing this whole lesson through and learning to say “I love you” in Korean with me today. I hope to see you in the next lesson! 그럼 다시 만날 때까지 (until we meet again)