# je t'adore / je t'aime / je t'aime beaucoup



## catmint11

may i know which one show stronger sensation of "love"

 je t'aime  or je t'aime beaucoup or je t'adore

i think je t'adore is stronger than je t'aime and latter one is stronger than je t'aime beaucoup, am i right?

*Moderator note*: Multiple threads merged to create this one. This thread is about_ adorer_ and _aimer (beaucoup)_ for people.  For impersonal/inanimate usage, please see  aimer / adorer.  For "like" v.s. "love," please see je t'aime / je t'aime bien.


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## la reine victoria

catmint11 said:
			
		

> may i know which one show stronger sensation of "love"
> 
> je t'aime or je t'aime beaucoup or je t'adore
> 
> i think je t'adore is stronger than je t'aime and latter one is stronger than je t'aime beaucoup, am i right?


 
Hi Catmint,

1.  Je t'adore
2.  Je t'aime beaucoup.
3.  Je t'aime.


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## franck_usa

well the verb adore is mostly used to tell to a friend that he's a good friend .
 in french you hardly ever use  " adore" to tell to your boy/girlfriend that you love her/him 
i love you  means  je t'aime 
i love you so much means  je t'aime beaucoup
i love you to death means je t'aime a la folie

anyway you have numerous ways to  express your feelings to someone in french


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## Nza

Je t'adore is the strongest feeling catmint11


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## DearPrudence

Nza said:
			
		

> Je t'adore is the strongest feeling catmint11


 
As I had already said in another thread, what's weird is that 'adorer' is supposed to be stronger than 'aimer' but is not. You can say that to your friends while you definitively couldn't say 'aimer'.
ex: Agnès, je l'adore, elle est trop sympa.  (first name that came to my mind, sorry) et pas Agnès, je l'aime, elle est trop sympa (sorry again  ).
So I disagree with Nza, sorry, but 'je t'aime' is far stronger than 'je t'adore' (as I see it).


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## Xanthius

I agree that aimer is stronger than adorer...

Mais, posts #2 and #3 are in conflict...  is it:

je t'aime (strong)
je t'aime beaucoup (strong*er*)

or the other way around??? Cheers.


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## anangelaway

Hello!

Yes, the other way around.

on #3, ''I love you *so* much'' is stronger than ''I love you'', but ''I love you so much'' does not mean ''Je t'aime beaucoup'', it means ''Je t'aime *tellement*.''

"Je t'aime beaucoup'' is ''I love *like*  you a lot''.

Edit: The HO's translation is absolutely correct = "I like you very much''


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## The Ho

Je t'aime : I love you
Je t'aime beaucoup : I like you very much

Never say to your sweetheart : J_e t'aime beaucoup,_ he/she would feel it's not forever.


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## Rinias

That's so funny... I didn't know that! Though I would say that if you said "Je t'aime" often enough, "je t'adore" could become very useful...  And one of the things that I really miss about English is poetic license. I mean, I could chose to make "je t'adore" stronger than "je t'aime" if i wanted to. Or I could just make something up. French seems (is?) much more strict in regard to that... Just my 2 cents 

Rinias


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## akhater

Well "je t'adore" simply means I adore you it's the same in English


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## lyrwriter

Anglophones learning French are often confused by the fact that "adorer" is translated as "to love" and "aimer" as "to like", yet one says "je t'adore" to a friend and "je t'aime" to a boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse. I just thought of something that might make this distinction seem clearer and more logical...hopefully... 

If you can , try to remember way back in middle and high school, when everyone had crushes on everyone else. When talking about/dealing with crushes, one nearly always uses the verb "to like", i.e. 

"Did you hear? Josh likes Caitlin!" 

In this context, this _always_ implies romance. Telling someone "I like you" nearly always means you "like" them as more than a friend (this is an example of the complicated distinction between "like" and "_like_" ). Very rarely do you hear the word "love" in regard to romance except in the case of established relationships.

Yet in high school especially, it's extremely easy to tell anyone, regardless of gender, that you love them (e.g. "David, I love you! You're awesome!"). This carries few connotations regarding romance and many regarding friendship.

Perhaps it's easier to keep the difference between "je t'aime" and "je t'adore" clear in your mind if you think of high school relationships?...

Just a thought... I know my explanation must be extremely confusing...


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## xav

Ce n'est pourtant pas si compliqué. Comme une inflation terrible a cours dans ce domaine comme dans beaucoup d'autres (voir l'évolution du verbe "adorer", qui signifiait au départ "se mettre à plat ventre, ou à genoux, devant quelqu'un"), nous avons réservé la formule "je t'aime" à la déclaration d'amour, et à l'expression de sentiments très forts.

C'est pourquoi, lorsque certains chrétiens (dont je fais partie) chantent "je t'aime de l'amour du Seigneur", ils évitent en général de se regarder dans les yeux. Cette phrase provoque en français une certaine gêne, je ne sais pas s'il en est de même en anglais.

"Je t'aime beaucoup" est donc une façon de répondre non à la question (implicite ou explicite) "M'aimes-tu ?"

Et "Il/elle ne m'aime plus" est aussi une phrase lourde de sens.


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## CrazyDaisy

Hello
Please help me! I know the translations of the words (I love you, I adore you) But which is stronger? If someone tells me "Je t'aime" is it as strong as "I Love You" in English? 
Is Je t'adore less strong? (more like "I like you a lot" or "you are wonderful"?)

I need to understand the way these expressions are used not just the direct translations. (Its important  !!!)

Thank you so much
(and any other tips or useful expressions for this kind of thing would be really helpful too)


*Moderator note*: for a discussion of non-romantic usage, please see  aimer / adorer


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## frenchaudrey

Hi

Welcome on the Forum 

I don't know the way you use "I love you" etc.. in English, but I'll try to make you understand the way I use the other expressions in French.
Personally I would use "je t'adore" for friends, or for my boyfriend at the beginning of a relationship, and "je t'aime" for him a little later, because it implies much stronger feelings 

Hope you got what I mean


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## Violet Green

"Je t'adore" can be playful, you can risk saying it just for fun, for example if a friend of the other sex has made a joke and you've just had a good laugh. It doesn't imply that you necessarily want to go out with him en tête à tête. 
You can't say "je t'aime" so casually.


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## shamtown

Personally, I would use "adorer" for loving a thing (I love coffee! - j'adore le cafe) and "aimer" for romantic or familial love (I love you - je t'aime). And perhaps if I was saying an informal "I love you" to a platonic friend that just did something great ("Like, omg, I love you!", for example) I would use je t'adore!

so perhaps it's a formal "I love you" vs an an informal one.

hope that helps just a little.


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## titi82

Some might disagree with me, but strangely enough
 j'aime le café=I like  vs j'adore le café=I love
but... je t'aime=I love you  vs  je t'adore=I really like you 

go figure... (and if ever involved with a french person, don't get them mixed up)


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## aimZ_xox

Hi everyone!

If you are talking to your boyfriend or girlfriend - to say, '*I love you'* would you use either:

*je t'aime!

*or...

*je t'adore!

*I've always been confused about which one would be used in this context.

Merci.


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## Heaven_2709

Salut aimZ_xox!

S'il s'agit d'exprimer tes sentiments amoureux, je te conseille "je t'aime".

Quant à "je t'adore", je l'utilise plus pour des personnes que j'apprécie énormément, amis proches, famille...

Adorer peut également signifier "to worship"


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## Crème Brulée

Hi, 
You're right, it is confusing, because us anglophones see "aimer" as "to like" and "adorer" as "to love".
However, in French, when talking to a boyfriend/girlfriend, you would say "je t'aime" to mean "I love you."


[...]


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## usmarinewife

What does this mean in English : Je t'aime beaucoup?


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## Micia93

"I love you very much"


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## cropje_jnr

I love you a lot.


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## Micia93

cropje_jnr said:


> I love you a lot.


 
Hi Cropje,
what is the difference between "I love you very much" and "I love you a lot" ?
I can't feel the subtle difference
thanks !


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## danelsr12

Actually there's not so much differences, in English you can find lots of adverbs that they're really the same, you can say so much, very much, a lot, etc. those are quantity adverbs


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## racehorse

This is true but more sublte meanings come out as tone, connotation, and voice. This is an artifact of English not being a very inflected langauge, the vocabulary and idiomatic expressions dictate a lot of the subtleties. Fortunately, about 1/3 of that vocabularly comes from French.

For instance, here, "I love you very much" might be something a someone would say to their spouse of 20 years and is not necessarily very sexual. I would have to do more with commitment than with passion. It could also be meant to be reassuring, if a child feels like he/ she has disapointed his/ her parent this might be a good time to say this.

It is harder to find a context for "I love you a lot." It would probably not be said out of the blue, better a response to a question like, "How much do you love me?" or it could be part of a break up, "I love you a lot but...I think we should just be friends/ it's not working out/ but my job is more important to me," et cetera. (Is there an equivalent to this in the Francophone world that gets used a lot? "I think we should just be friends")

Anyways, I imagine this to be one of the trickiest things about English so I thought it would be good as my *first post in the french forums.*


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## Micia93

racehorse said:


> (Is there an equivalent to this in the Francophone world that gets used a lot? "I think we should just be friends")


 
not really an equivalent ; I think all depends on the *tone* you say it :
"je t'aime beaucoup, mais ....."


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## sanne78

Sorry, I'm slightly off topic, but I never know how to say in French "I like you a lot/very much"...

I love you = Je t'aime.
I love you a lot/very much = Je t'aime beacoup.

I like you = Je t'aime bien.
I like you a lot /very much = *????? *

Also:

I don't love you = Je t'aime pas.
I don't like you = Je t'aime pas. (*???*)


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## Micia93

sanne78 said:


> Sorry, I'm slightly off topic, but I never know how to say in French "I like you a lot/very much"...
> 
> I love you = Je t'aime.
> I love you a lot/very much = Je t'aime beacoup.
> 
> I like you = Je t'aime bien.
> I like you a lot /very much = *je t'aime vraiment bien ????? *
> 
> Also:
> 
> I don't love you = Je *ne *t'aime pas.
> I don't like you = Je t'aime pas *vraiment*. (*???*)


 
that's how I feel it though !


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## tonality

agreed with everything so far. "i love you very much" is much more sincere, so to speak, than "i love you a lot."


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## Keridwen

"Je t'aime beaucoup " is generally followed by "mais..."
for instance: "Je t'aime beaucoup, mais tu es comme un frère pour moi, et je ne voudrais pas gâcher cette relation entre nous." (typical girl sentence meaning: you're way too ugly/poor/dull to have social intercourse with me)
How frustating ! Beware of "je t'aime beaucoup".


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## Staarkali

Many answers already for a regular topic; I just want to add that _Adorer_ and _Aimer beaucoup_ express the same thing at various intensity, with _Adorer_ usually stronger. 
_Aimer_ (when talking someone) is a different feeling (although it can be seen as stronger in power)

[...]


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## MyuuNoMegami

Bon jour!
Quand on dis <<je t'aime>> et <<je t'adore>>, quelle est la différence?


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## RuK

As with I love you and I adore you, it's probably just a question of personal style. Technically, adoration is more like veneration, a form of reverence, but this applies in English too and most people ignore the distinction in both languages.


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## Missrapunzel

_Je t'aime_ mostly often means romantic feelings, while _Je t'adore_ can be said to friends with no ambiguity. 
_Je t'adore_ usually means you are fond of this person, but not in love.


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## Spanishdream

I've hardly ever hard 'Je t'adore' and it's something I would never say personally though it is used. As an English native, it sounds more passionate, romantic and intense though I have been told that is used in a more friendly sense. Complete opposite to English.
Adoration is stonger than love one could say. 

[...]


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## Missrapunzel

Actually, the use of the word "_adorer_" no longer means much about genuine adoration, nowadays, in French.  Which I'm sure can be very confusing. 
J'adore le chocolat, j'adore faire la grasse matinée, j'adore mon travail, j'adore décorer le sapin de Noël.... 

[...]


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## rebusico

If someone says to you:

"je t'aime beaucoup, ma vie avec toi c'est très bien"

Please, what does it mean?

Thanks
Renata


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## Micia93

Welcome Rebusico 

litterally : "I love you a lot, I enjoy my life with you" (a native would be more accurate though)


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## rebusico

Micia93 said:


> Welcome Rebusico
> 
> litterally : "I love you a lot, I enjoy my life with you" (a native would be more accurate though)



If it's a native French that says would mean differently? What it would mean?


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## Micia93

Sorry, I don't understand your question  can you word it a different way?


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## rebusico

Micia93 said:


> Sorry, I don't understand your question  can you word it a different way?



Sorry :-(

I understand what it mean but u said that a native would have said differently right?
Well, a French native person said that to me and I would like to know what does it mean. What is the difference if a native say that phrase


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## Micia93

ha! when I said "a native" I meant "an english native" ,because of my translation in english, but the meaning is the same. Have you got it?


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## DearPrudence

Hello and welcome to the forums, rebusico 

Micia meant that her translation into English might be better phrased by a native English speaker.
What your friend meant was something like:
*"I like you a lot, my life with you is great."*


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## Wozzeck

DearPrudence said:


> As I had already said in another thread, what's weird is that 'adorer' is supposed to be stronger than 'aimer' but is not. You can say that to your friends while you definitively couldn't say 'aimer'.
> ex: Agnès, je l'adore, elle est trop sympa.  (first name that came to my mind, sorry) et pas Agnès, je l'aime, elle est trop sympa (sorry again  ).
> So I disagree with Nza, sorry, but 'je t'aime' is far stronger than 'je t'adore' (as I see it).



 When you say to a friend "je t'adore...", from my point of view this is an emphasis, a kind of hyperbole, "adorer" is understood here in a more figurative way, we can say also this is a kind of joke, the two persons know this is exaggerated.

 Moreover "adorer" doesn't always mean "love between two lovers". The first meaning is "adorer Buddha or any other God". So we come back to a kind of joke with your friend : I love you not as you could be my lover, but I love you as I could love god... this is an hyperbole.

But if you say : "je t'adore" to someone who could be your wife or husband, this is different, there is no joke of hyperbole.


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## DearPrudence

Wozzeck said:


> But if you say : "je t'adore" to someone who could be your wife or husband, this is different, there is no joke of hyperbole.


Sorry, but to me "je t'aime" is still the strongest way to expression love.
If my husband said "je t'adore" to me, or whispered "je t'adore" in my ear, and never "je t'aime", I would be more than annoyed (worried more like).
To me, "je t'adore" doesn't have a hint of romanticism in it... I mean, it would be strange to receive flowers from your loved one with "Je t'adore" on it, or shouting "Je t'adore" off the top of a roof. Why not "Je t'aime beaucoup" or "je t'aime vraiment bien" ! 
Personally I have no problem saying "je t'adore" to friends. "je t'aime" is far harder to say and in theory is not used among friends (well, at least I don't. But then I was brought up as a repressed catholic ).


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## Wozzeck

DearPrudence said:


> Sorry, but to me "je t'aime" is still the strongest way to expression love.
> If my husband said "je t'adore" to me, or whispered "je t'adore" in my ear, and never "je t'aime", I would be more than annoyed (worried more like).
> To me, "je t'adore" doesn't have a hint of romanticism in it... I mean, it would be strange to receive flowers from your loved one with "Je t'adore" on it, or shouting "Je t'adore" off the top of a roof. Why not "Je t'aime beaucoup" or "je t'aime vraiment bien" !



 Each woman is different and may feel things differently, for that reason "vive le français", which offer various ways to say something.

   But I was just explaining the "hyperbole" in the case of friend, I have personally no opinion on what is better between "Je t'adore", "Je t'aime beaucoup" ... in case of lovers.

But I know now what I should say to you...


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## rebusico

DearPrudence said:


> Hello and welcome to the forums, rebusico
> 
> Micia meant that her translation into English might be better phrased by a native English speaker.
> What your friend meant was something like:
> *"I like you a lot, my life with you is great."*



So if I understand right it means that when they say je t'aime beaucoup it doesn't mean that they love you, just that they like to be with u. I asking because f


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## Micia93

yes it does, since the next sentence is "my life with you is great"


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## rebusico

Micia93 said:


> yes it does, since the next sentence is "my life with you is great"



Thanks a lot / merci beaucoup


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