Do you want to spice up your relationship and say something romantic on valentine's day? How about saying "I love you" or "I like you" in Vietnamese? This will sound different depending on if a guy or a girl is saying to one another. For a girl to say "I like you" to a guy, she would say "Em th'ch anh" and for a guy to say it to a girl, they would say "Anh th'ch em". For a girl to say "I love you" to a guy, she would say "Em yu anh". For a guy to say it to a girl, he would say "Anh yu em".
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There are different ways to say ‘I love you’ depending on the situation. Make sure you use the right one.
If you want to know how to say ‘I love you’ and other romantic phrases in Vietnamese, then read on.
Table of Contents
- How To Say ‘I Love You’ In Vietnamese To A Romantic Partner
- Pronunciation note:
- How To Say ‘I Love You’ In Vietnamese To A Parent/Grandparent
- How To Say ‘I Love You’ In Vietnamese To A Friend
- How To Say ‘I Love You So Much’ In Vietnamese
- How To Say ‘I Love You Too’ In Vietnamese
- Romantic Phrases in Vietnamese
How To Say ‘I Love You’ In Vietnamese To A Romantic Partner
The way that you tell someone that you love them in Vietnamese depends on your relationship with the person, their age and their gender.
The below phrases are used to say ‘I love you’ to a romantic partner.
Pronunciation note:
‘Yêu’ is pronounced ‘eww’. The other words are pronounced as they are spelt.
How To Say ‘I Love You’ In Vietnamese To A Parent/Grandparent
The below phrases are used in Vietnamese to say ‘I love you’ to a parent or grandparent. I’ve also included how a parent/grandparent can say ‘I love you’ to their child/grandchild.
I love you (child speaking to mother)Con yêu mẹI love you (mother speaking to child) Mẹ yêu conI love you (child speaking to father)Con yêu baI love you (father speaking to child)Ba yêu conI love you (grandchild speaking to grandfather)Con yêu ôngI love you (grandfather speaking to grandchild)Ông yêu conI love you (grandchild speaking to grandmother)Con yêu bàI love you (grandmother speaking to grandchild)Bà yêu conHow To Say ‘I Love You’ In Vietnamese To A Friend
If you want to tell a close friend that you love them in a non-romantic way, you can say:
I love you (polite)Tớ yêu cậuI love you (casual)Tớ yêu màyCheck out the below video to hear the pronunciation of all of the above ways to say ‘I love you’ to romantic partners, family members and friends:
How To Say ‘I Love You So Much’ In Vietnamese
If you want to tell someone ‘I love you so much’ then simply add ‘nhiều lắm’ to the end of the phrases above.
E.g. ‘Anh yêu em’ would become ‘anh yêu em nhiều lắm’.
How To Say ‘I Love You Too’ In Vietnamese
If someone tells you that they love you in Vietnamese a good response would be ‘I love you too’.
To say ‘I love you too’ in Vietnamese simply add the word ‘cũng’ before the word ‘yêu’.
E.g. ‘Em yêu anh’ would become ‘em cũng yêu anh’.
Romantic Phrases in Vietnamese
Try these other romantic phrases and terms of endearment including how to say ‘I miss you’ in Vietnamese.
I miss you (formal)Tôi nhớ bạnI miss you (male speaker)Anh nhớ emI miss you (female speaker)Em nhớ anhSweetheart (to a male)Anh yêuSweetheart (to a female)Em yêuI like you (formal)Tôi thích bạnI like you (female to male)Em thích anhI like you (male to female)Anh thích emThe below video includes the pronunciation of some love phrases in Vietnamese:
These phrases should come in handy whether you’ve got a love interest from Vietnam or whether you’re just visiting and want to be prepared.
Why not also learn how to say ‘how are you?’ in Vietnamese? You’ll need this essential phrase in lots of different situations.
Unlike English, there are many different ways to say “I love in” Vietnamese, depending on the intensity of the feeling, the sex of the partners, and Northern vs. Southern dialects.
Em yêu anh – I love you
The common translation of “love” is yêu (in North Vietnam) or thương (in South Vietnam). These are reserved for very serious romantic relationships, like between husbands and wives, or family members. “Yêu” wouldn’t be said among boyfriends and girlfriends, unless they were serious about getting married.
- Em yêu anh (spoken by a woman to a man, in the North), pronounced like yew.
- Anh yêu em (spoken by a man to a woman, in the North)
- Em thương anh (spoken by a woman, in the South), pronounced like too-ung.
- Anh thương em (spoken by a man, in the South)
Notice that the ordering of pronouns differs based on whether the speaker is male or female (Learn more about Em and Anh).
Em mến anh – “I have feelings for you” in Vietnamese
The gentlest way to say “I like you” or “I am interested in you” is Em mến anh (female to male) and Anh mến em (male to female). An alternative is em quý anh, which has the same meaning.
Mến/quý are used very early in courtship, when someone is just curious about the other person, but not sure whether they really like them. Mến/quý imply that they could very quickly abandon the feeling, if they met someone else better.
Mến is ambiguously romantic — it could also be said among people becoming friends, so beware that the person could be putting you in the “friend zone” by saying it!
Em thích anh – “I like you” (romantically) in Vietnamese
One step-up from “Em mến anh” is Em thích anh (female to male) or Anh thích Em. It also translates to “I like you”, and is used early-on in dating when neither partner is very committed. But it clearly means a romantic feeling, opposed to friend-like ambiguous feeling.
Em phải lòng anh – “I’m falling for you” or “I have a crush on you” in Vietnamese
Em phải lòng anh is more intense than “Em thích anh” — it means that the speaker is very clearly physically attracted to the other person, they have clear romantic feelings.
It implies a degree of commitment and monogamous intentions, like “You’ve taken over my mind!” or “I can’t think of anyone else other than you”. In other words, the speaker really really really like the other person, and can’t think about dating anyone else.
However, phải is still less intense than yêu, which would be a more formal declaration of one’s long-term romantic intentions.
Em cần anh – “I need you” in Vietnamese
A more passionate way to say “I love you” in Vietnamese is Em cần anh, which means “I need you” or “I can’t live without you”. This expression is really intense: you love someone so much you can’t live without them.
The verb cần is used for other non-sexual wants and needs as well, like “I need money” (tôi cần tiền).
Em muốn anh – “I want you” (sexually) in Vietnamese
A sexually-charged way to say “I want you” in Vietnamese is Em muốn anh. It is quite explicitly indicates that the speaker has strong sexual feelings for the other person.
The verb muốn is used for other non-sexual wants and needs as well, like “I want water” (tôi muốn nước)
RELATED: How to flirt in Vietnamese.
Familial “I love you” in Vietnamese
Among family members, the verb yêu is used in North Vietnam or thương in South Vietnam.
For example, a mother will say mẹ yêu con to her baby or child.
Gays in Vietnam – Gender Neutral “I love you”?
The Vietnamese culture is very sensitive to differences in sex and age, and the pronouns (em, anh, chi, chú, and more) are very important in communication. There is no “gender neutral” way to say “I love you” in Vietnamese: it must be the feminine Em yêu anh or masculine Anh yêu em.
So, how do homosexual partners say “I love you” in Vietnamese?
Conventionally, the partners will deside on who is the so-called “top-person” (the male-like partner) and who is the “bottom-person” (the female-like person), and will use pronouns accordingly. Therefore, both gay-couples and lesbian-couples will say Em yêu anh or Anh yêu em, based on their decided-roles as either the manly-man/manly-woman or the girly-man/girly-woman.