On this Valentine’s Day, we start to think about love and what it means to us. For many, you think of your other half. However, we can also celebrate love with our family and friends. We can think about our children, our sibling, and our parents and celebrate with them! If you are like me and have an international family or you have a partner from abroad, it can sometimes be hard to really express how you feel. This can create distance sometimes. No need to worry! We are here to help you.
In this blog, we’ll dive deep into different expressions that will help you convey your feelings in English. Trust us that after this, you’ll get extra brownie points with your loved one!
We’ll start off with an easy one – your partner. This is the most popular as having a partner that does not have the same mother tongue as you is getting more and more relevant. As the world gets smaller and people now travel with ease, falling in love with someone from your hometown is not always the way anymore.
Picture this. You have your reservation at a fancy restaurant with the person of your dreams, but feel like you can’t let them know properly how you feel. There are lots of ways to tell someone you love them in English. If you’ve been following some of our blogs, you know that English speakers love their idioms. Here are just a few ways to say “I love you”.
This saying can be used early on in the relationship, especially if you’re not ready to say the “I love you”. It’s a cute way to let someone know that you care and really like them without going too over-the-top. You can say that you are smitten with them since your first date. This one is mostly used, though, for others to describe someone else’s relationship. For instance, your friend could say “Oh my God, you are smitten!”.
This means exactly what it says on the tin, and is a lovely way to tell someone that you are exclusive. You can use this expression at the beginning of a budding relationship or just because you’d like them to know! This will let your loved one know that you won’t be swayed to another person and that you are in it for the long haul.
This one is also used at the start of a relationship when you would like to let your partner know that you are falling in love. For some, this can happen very quickly and for others, this may be a few months in. Either way, it’s a seriously romantic way to tell someone that you have confidence in the relationship and that you feel that it is going somewhere special.
Your relationship may be further along than previously stated. You may have already said what everyone wants to hear; I love you. So, how can you express even more so how you feel? If you say that you love them with all your heart and soul, this means that you are basically giving them your heart. You love them with every fiber of your being (another great saying!). It is a great step-up from the traditional way of saying I love you and will really show them you care.
We all know that beautiful song by Berlin singing about how “you take my breath away”. But, what does that mean? It means that when you love someone so much that they make you stop breathing (metaphorically, of course). This comes from when your heart skips a beat and you have a little trouble breathing and getting the blood to circulate. Sounds a little dangerous, we know. But, it definitely conveys how you are feeling! This saying is perfect to use when someone is dressed up for your date and you’d like to let them know that they look gorgeous. Alternatively, you can use it during a slow dance and passionate kiss.
You are ready to make the big move and get married! Pop the question is a cute and funny way to say that you are proposing. WARNING: Do not use this while actually proposing. It is only to be used to let others know that are about to and already have asked the question.
As we’ve said, Valentine’s day and celebrating love, in general, is not always in relation to a romantic partner. We can also celebrate our relationship with our parents, our children, and our friends. You may now have a child that moved to an English-speaking country with their partner and now have grandchildren. You may have grandparents or estranged siblings that you find hard to communicate with.
This Valentine’s why not show them how much you care by learning some key phrases and idioms in the English language!
This is a description of a loved person, normally to a child. It is a lovely expression to use for children or grandchildren that may be living in another country to you and has grown up in an English-speaking country. This is such an endearing expression and simply means that you love them deeply. This idiom can only be used for a platonic relationship, and from an older family member to a younger family member.
Another lovely saying to use for grandchildren or children or even siblings is “you are my sunshine”. It’s a very universal expression and very tame, so it’s a nice one to keep in mind. Calling a loved one your sunshine is quite endearing. It literally means that you light up their life and make everything brighter as the sun does.
This may sound a little strange to those who aren’t familiar with it, but let us explain! Going to the moon and then back again is a very long distance. Do you know when people hold out their arms and say “I love you this much” and it means a lot? Well, can you imagine how much you’d love someone for thousands of miles! Like our last idiom, this is pretty much universal and very easy to use in any situation. If you’re visiting close family for holidays, this is a nice one to use. But be sure to use this for close relationships only, because it can be a very strong affection.
Do you feel ready to have that conversation? We sure hope you do! If you’ve found a saying up above that fits you, try googling movies, songs, and books that have that saying in them and get even more vocabulary to help with your love monologue!
If these are the types of conversations that you are looking to learn, then General English Lessons Premium is the class for you. This includes homework, but don’t worry! Homework given is normally watching clips or reading your favourite books in English. This week our topics are all about LOVE.
