This is as baffling to some students of English as all the different forms of “you” are to people learning Japanese. No matter what kind of love we’re talking about in English, we can use one single word for it: “love”. But when it comes to the word “love” itself, this one word can express all of these concepts and more.Ĭonsider the following English sentences: What do you suppose this says about those cultures?Įnglish has a few different words for different kinds of love, including fondness, affection, and infatuation (though one could argue that not all of these are actually types of love). Likewise, there are many languages that have several different ways to express the concept of love. They’re integral to Japanese culture, and they give foreigners valuable insight into an intangible aspect of that culture, namely that status and relationships are very important in Japan.

There are even different ways to address a suspected criminal depending on whether they’ve just been accused, are on trial, or have been convicted.ĭo all these different words for “you” exist just to annoy foreigners learning Japanese? Of course not. There are different ways of addressing men and women, immediate superiors, higher superiors, inferior colleagues, male children, female children, your boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse. There are polite forms, very polite forms, impolite forms and downright rude forms. The Japanese language has dozens of ways to say “you”. There are more words for “love” than there are languages in the world. I made this video guide to help you get started: There are so many different ways to say “I love you” and to share the love. Full disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Love in tamil words