愛してる

Japanese phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness. For other Japanese entries on this topic, see Love.

A phrase forming a complete sentence, consisting of 愛 (ai, “love”) + して (shite, conjunctive form of verb する suru, “to do”) + いる (iru, “to be, to be doing something”). The shite iru contracts in informal speech into shiteru.

• IPA^(key): [a̠i ɕite̞ɾɯ̟]

愛(あい)してる • (ai shiteru) 

1. (informal) I'm in love with you, I love you

This literally just means “[someone] loves [someone]”, with the two “someones” (grammatical subject and object) understood from context.

Although common in popular media such as anime or J-pop, this expression is considered very intense in real life and is usually reserved for serious situations such as when making a marriage proposal, or telling a family member while on your death bed that the speaker loves them. A way to express these feelings in a less intense, i.e. romantic, manner would be to use 好(す)きだよ (suki da yo) or 大(だい)好(す)きだよ (daisuki da yo) which respectively mean to like/to really like someone.

• 大(だい)好(す)き (daisuki)
• アイ・ラブ・ユー (ai rabu yū)
• 愛(あい)している (ai shite iru)

• 愛(あい) (ai): love
• する (suru): to do

• Chinese: 阿姨洗鐵路／阿姨洗铁路 (āyí xǐ tiělù)