When it comes to learning Korean, probably the most familiar term is how to say I love you in Korean. Love is universal language so it makes sense if ์ฌ๋ํด์ (saranghaeyo) is our first Korean vocabulary. This term appears in almost every K-drama. There must be a scene for love confession. Actually, there are several ways to say I love you in Korean. We will discuss them in this section. We should remember that Korean language consists of 3 basic speech levels: formal, casual, and informal (banmal). What you should notice is the kind of occasions and with whom you are talking to. The sentence depends on what kind of circumstances you are in.
1. ์ข์ํ๋ค (Johahada) โ Common Way to Say I Love You in Korean
We begin with the basic way to express our love feeling. ์ข์ํ๋ค (Johahada) is the basic form and means โto likeโ. For informal way, you may say ์ข์ํด (johahae). If you prefer casual but still polite way, ์ข์ํด์ (johahaeyo) is enough. However, if you are talking to older people or are in the formal occasions, you should say ์ข์ํฉ๋๋ค (johahamnida). The meaning is obvious: I like you. Based on grammatical pattern, the complete sentence is ์ ๋ ๋๋ฅผ ์ข์ํฉ๋๋ค (jeoneun neoreul johahamnida). ์ (Jeo) is subject pronoun for โIโ followed by subject particle -๋ (-neun). ๋ (Neo) is object pronoun for โyouโ followed by object particle -๋ฅผ (-reul). However, if itโs a direct speech, you may drop the subject/ object and just say ์ข์ํฉ๋๋ค.
2. ์ฌ๋ํ๋ค (Saranghada) โ Popular Way to Say I Love You in Korean
I believe ์ฌ๋ํด์ (saranghaeyo) is the popular Korean term. Perhaps this is our very first vocabulary in Korean. Its meaning is obvious: I love you. It derives from the base form ์ฌ๋ํ๋ค (saranghada). ์ฌ๋ํด (Saranghae) is informal or banmal form. ์ฌ๋ํด์ (Saranghaeyo) is polite way but it sounds more casual. If you are in formal occasions (such as wedding ceremony) or are talking to older people (such as parents), you should say ์ฌ๋ํฉ๋๋ค (saranghamnida). The grammatical rule is same with ์ข์ํ๋ค explanation in point 1. You may drop the subject/ object for direct speech and just say the verb itself.
3. ์ฌ๊ท๋ค (Sagwida)
Whatโs the next step after saying I love you in Korean? Ask your crush to get along! ์ฌ๊ท๋ค (Sagwida) means โto date, get along, or go outโ. Itโs a chance to get closer each other. If you want to ask him/ her to date, just say ์ฐ๋ฆฌ ์ฌ๊ท๋์ (uri sagwillaeyo). It means โLetโs dateโ (์ฐ๋ฆฌ = us). Alternatively, you can say ๋๋ ์ฌ๊ท๋์? (Narang sagwillaeyo). ๋ (Na) is object pronoun for โmeโ and added by particle -๋ (-rang) that means โwithโ. ๋๋ ์ฌ๊ท๋์? (Narang sagwillaeyo) means โDo you want to date with me?โ. Surely both sentences sound polite. If you prefer the informal way, just drop suffix -์ from the verb.
4. ๊ฒฐํผํ๋ค (Gyeorhonhada)
Letโs bring your love to the next level, marriage or ๊ฒฐํผ (gyeorhon) in Korean. ๊ฒฐํผํ๋ค (Gyeorhonhada) means โto get marryโ. How to ask someone to marry us? You can say ๋๋ ๊ฒฐํผํ์ (narang gyeorhonhaja). ๋ (Na) is object pronoun for โmeโ and -๋ (-rang) is particle โwithโ. ๊ฒฐํผํ์ (Gyeorhonhaja) is basically from ๊ฒฐํผํ๋ค (gyeorhonhada) added by particle -์ (-ja) to indicate asking someone to do something (marry). So, it means โmarry meโ in English.
5. ์งํฌํ๋ค (Jiltuhada) โ Another Way to Say I Love You in Korean
Jealousy or ์งํฌ (jiltu) is an implicit way to say I love you in Korean. Itโs normal to get jealous if we are in a relationship or seeing him/her with other. However, people tend to not show their jealousy and even hide it although we can clearly see their expression. So, you may ask ์งํฌํด์? (Jiltuhaeyo). It means โAre you jealous?โ And 99,99% they will deny it and react ์งํฌ ์ํด์ (jiltu anhaeyo) or โI am not jealousโ.