# to like vs. to love (French translations)



## frogzoo

*Moderator noete: Several threads about the French nuances of the English terms like and love (and synonyms of them) have been merged into one thread. *




En Anglais, c'existe une distinction clair entre "like" and "love", mais les deux sont rendre en Francais comme "aimer", et le difference ambigu se peut on embarrasser. Est-ce que en Francais une expression alternative pour "like", que c'nest pas "aimer"?


----------



## Dothy

I first would say you can translate *like* by *aimer bien*, *apprécier* someone or something.
However it will be useful if you could give more context.

Cheers,
D.


----------



## frogzoo

Salut Dothy,
Je pense

"I like you, I'd like it if we could be just friends", 

which is perhaps quite different from

"I like you, I'd like it if we could be friends"


----------



## Dothy

yes, but the subtlety here is on the "just".

For the first one, I would say:
"Je t'aime bien/je t'apprécie (beaucoup), mais je préfèrerais que l'on reste amis"

for the second one:
"Je t'aime bien/je t'apprécie (beaucoup), j'aimerais bien/j'apprécierais (beaucoup) que l'on soit amis.


----------



## xanana

Chers Dothy et frogzoo,

Il est possible que l'on utilise "se plaire" pour exprimer "to like" surtout quand l'objet est une chose.

La chemise me plait.


----------



## superjules

Hola,
quand on recherche 'fond of', le dictionnaire dit: 'Avoir un faible pour'
  Cela me parait plus 'faible' que 'aimer'!
ciao
sj


----------



## abr71310

Wouldn't "like" be "aime", yet "love" be "adore"?


----------



## superjules

Hola,
all these expressions, as it seems to me, can mean very much or very little, dep. on the context, person or thing, etc.
bye
sj


----------



## mikki104

> abr71310:     Wouldn't "like" be "aime", yet "love" be "adore"?


No... "aimer" is generally the word for "to love," "adorer" is another, less frequently used way of saying "love."

I am still curious about the "like" question, though. In English, you often use "like" when you have a crush on someone; at a point when you want to pursue them, but you're not yet involved enough to use the word "love." It definitely implies that you like someone MORE than in just a friendly way. Can "je l'aime bien" or "il me plait" carry the same connotation?


----------



## Aoyama

Aimer = love (sens fort), aimer _bien_ = like.
Le point intéressant est que le verbe aimer en français soit le seul verbe qui ne "supporte" pas de superlatif, ces superlatifs _diminuent_ le sens du verbe. Aimer bien et aimer beaucoup sont moins forts qu'aimer. Molière fait souvent dire à ses jeunes personnages (amoureux) " en un mot, j'aime !". Et puis, exemple type : "je t'aime bien mais je ne t'aime pas" (triste).


----------



## Swimxx2234

like i'm not sure the difference between 
how you say like
i love you to a friend
or i love you to someone you really love
or like kisses from friends
or like kisses from someone you really love?


----------



## Tayllc

This is my understanding of loving and liking in French: 

*Je t'aime*= I love you. (a very close friend, a lover, your grandma)
*Je t'aime bien*= I love you like a friend
*bisous!* = kisses (my french friend often signs her letters with this)
*J'adore le chocolat*= I LOVE chocolate. the verb adorer literally translates into "to adore" but I think the more accurate translation is how we often say I love food,movies, ect. in American
*J'aime le pizza*= I like pizza 

I am not a native french speaker but this is what I have come to understand. Hope it helps!


----------



## Swimxx2234

thank you soo much!


----------



## itka

Tayllc said:


> This is my understanding of loving and liking in French:
> 
> *Je t'aime*= I love you. (a very close friend, a lover, your grandma)
> *Je t'aime bien*= I love you like a friend
> *bisous!* = kisses (my french friend often signs her letters with this)
> *J'adore le chocolat*= I LOVE chocolate. the verb adorer literally translates into "to adore" but I think the more accurate translation is how we often say I love food,movies, ect. in American
> *J'aime la pizza*= I like pizza
> 
> I am not a native french speaker but this is what I have come to understand. Hope it helps!



You're right !
I just add : *je t'aime beaucoup* = I love you a lot (but I don't *love you*)


----------



## Swimxx2234

then how would you say like I adore you
I apologize I do not understand french only english and spanish.


----------



## Qcumber

Tayllc said:


> This is my understanding of loving and liking in French:
> 
> *Je t'aime*= I love you. (a very close friend, a lover, your grandma)
> *Je t'aime bien*= I love you like a friend
> *bisous!* = kisses (my french friend often signs her letters with this)
> *J'adore le chocolat*= I LOVE chocolate. the verb adorer literally translates into "to adore" but I think the more accurate translation is how we often say I love food,movies, ect. in American
> *J'aime les pizzas*= I like pizza
> [une pizza]


Basically French has the two verbs you mention: *aimer* and *adorer*.
They can be used in all situations. Three degrees can be expressed:
stronger: *adorer*
medium and referential: *aimer*
weaker: *aimer bien*


----------



## Qcumber

Swimxx2234 said:


> I adore you.


 
*Je t'adore / Je vous adore.*


----------



## Swimxx2234

so if you wanted to say like i love you strongly it would be *Je t'adore
?
*


----------



## itka

No. Sorry Qcumber but "Je t'adore" is weaker than "je t'aime" 
You can "adore" chocolate, like Tayllc told you. You can "adore" some god.
But if you say to your best friend "je t'adore !" it is sympathetic, it is nice but it is much less than if you say "je t'aime" !

And please, Qcumber, could you tell me why did you correct "j'aime la pizza" and wrote "j'aime les pizza(s)". Do you think my french is not good enough ?


----------



## Qcumber

itka said:


> No. Sorry Qcumber but "Je t'adore" is weaker than "je t'aime"
> You can "adore" chocolate, like Tayllc told you. You can "adore" some god.
> But if you say to your best friend "je t'adore !" it is sympathetic, it is nice but it is much less than if you say "je t'aime" !
> [...]


[...]

I disagree with you as regards *adorer*. *Adorer* like *aimer* or *aimer bien* can be used about anything or anyone.
You can say it about food, about a style, to a friend, to a lover, to a person you admire. There is no limit.


----------



## wannabebelge

informal kisses to friends, as french speakers often sign letters/emails, etc
bisous (as mentioned)
bises
biz (emails and text messages)
a more personal way to kiss/embrace/hug:
je t'embrasse


----------



## itka

Qcumber said:


> In your original version your wrote: *"le pizza". This is wrong. Pizza is feminine. So I corrected it first as "la pizza". Then I thought you meant the plural as it is a generalization, and that you had forgotten the <s>. Hence my second correction.
> 
> Please, look at the messages : Tayllc made the mistake *le pizza that I corrected in my post.
> Than, I used the singular (not the plural) as a generalization :
> You have to say : "j'aime *le* poulet" if you like to eat it. "J'aime *les* poulets" if you like to live with them, take care of them...
> So : "j'aime *la* pizza", "j'aime *le* rôti de veau" "je n'aime pas *le* café". It means "I like (or I don't like) the taste of"
> "j'aime *les* chiens" "j'aime *les* livres" or anything : I like to live with them around me (but I never eat them).
> 
> I disagree with you as regards *adorer*. *Adorer* like *aimer* or *aimer bien* can be used about anything or anyone.
> You can say it about food, about a style, to a friend, to a lover, to a person you admire. There is no limit.
> 
> That's exactly what I wrote : you can use *"adorer"* for a lot of things... but the feeling is not so strong as *"aimer".
> *I wouldn't like it if my husband said : "je t'adore" instead of "je t'aime". That's not the same feeling !


----------



## missjenny

Mais je croyais que "je t'aime bien" est plutot pour un ami...

If you say, "je t'aime bien" to someone, it means you like them AS A FRIEND... or could it also mean I like you as MORE THAN a friend?


----------



## Micia93

"je t'aime bien" est juste une marque de sympathie envers quelqu'un que l'on connaît depuis peu et qui risque de devenir un (e) ami (e) par la suite
on ne dira pas "je t'aime bien" à un (e) ami (e) - en tous cas, pas moi - , mais plutôt "je t'aime beaucoup" ou "j'ai beaucoup d'affection pour toi"
et "je t'aime" à son amoureux (se) comme le dit Ayoama

:=)


----------



## Flynnzane

Je kiffe j'adore ! j'aime ! I'm fond of - *slang *
*Je la kiffe - je l'aime !*
the kiffe word  could be use instead of the old ones : like and love


----------



## Souxie

A propos d'amour:
Comme dit xanana, on peut utiliser aussi _plaire_.
Tu me plais = I like you (crush on someone)
Je te kiffe ça marche aussi, mais pas pour des utilisateurs de plus de 20 ans! Et ça a un sens assez inconséquent.
Je t'aime bien dénote peu d'investissement, pas beaucoup d'engouement.
Tu l'adores = Tu es crazy about her/him (je ne sais plus si on dit crazy about ou mad about)
Je t'aime = I love you (true love, deep love)

Effectivement selon le contexte aimer utilisé tout seul ne signifie pas amour, mais ce n'est le cas que lorsqu'on parle de quelque chose et pas d'une personne. J'aime le vin.
Aoyama a raison pour les locutions aimer + bien ou beaucoup, mais pas pour _je t'aime éperdument_ par exemple, qui a un sens très fort  (si on vous dit qu'on vous aime éperdument, j'espère que c'est réciproque car il se peut que cela soit fantastique!)


----------



## Aoyama

> _je t'aime éperdument_ par exemple, (..) a un sens très fort


c'est vrai, même si on pourrait discuter sur la fréquence de cet adverbe avec aimer, dans la langue contemporaine.
On aurait aussi "je t'ai dans la peau" etc, mais ces expressions nous éloignent de la question initiale qui porte sur like/aimer bien (et non aimer d'amour).
Ceci dit, Vaugelas disait bien (repris encore une fois par Molière) : "aimer ne souffre aucun adverbe".


----------



## Souxie

Je t'aime énormément, profondément, terriblement, fantastiquement, comme jamais, pour toujours, plus que tout?
Oui effectivement nous ne sommes plus vraiment dans to like, ici...(tiens j'ai oublié je t'aime vraiment)
Mais l'amouuuur, l'amouuur


----------



## Aoyama

Plus simplement : je t'aime à la folie, passionnément ... Pour 





> Je t'aime énormément, terriblement, fantastiquement


 ... hum ...
Profondément, d'accord .


----------



## Icetrance

I really think that people "overthink" all of this. The context lets you know if it's really about "love" or "like". Technically, you're supposed to use "bien aimer" in reference to a person to mean "like", but you'll hear people say "J'aime mon prof" or  "je n'aime pas mon prof" to just mean "I like" and "don't like" respectively (the "bien" is often left out, particularly in the negative). Whenever you're not sure, you can always say "aimer d'amour" or "aimer d'amitié" to clarify (as I said above, context usually suffices).

With things and ideas, etc. "aimer" just means "to like", with or without "bien". "Adorer" is more similar to "love" when you're talking about a place or thing.

Note: If a girl is talking about "being in love with her high school teacher", then "j'aime mon prof" means "to love", not "to like". It's all about the context (can't stress it enough).


----------



## Graine de Moutarde

Hi!

I was wondering, how would you differentiate the two if they were used in the same situation? I just thought of this phrase that I read recently, when this guy was confessing that he was in love with his friend:

"You like me. You wouldn't waste time and energy on someone you didn't like. But I think I've loved you from the very first moment I saw you."

In that situation, would you use 'aimer' for like and 'adorer' for love? or would you use 'aimer bien' for like and 'aimer tout court' for love--I heard that in a song once, I think... 

Or could you just simply say 'aimer' for like and 'être amoureux' for love?


----------



## Icetrance

Graine de Moutarde said:


> Hi!
> 
> I was wondering, how would you differentiate the two if they were used in the same situation? I just thought of this phrase that I read recently, when this guy was confessing that he was in love with his friend:
> 
> "You like me. You wouldn't waste time and energy on someone you didn't like. But I think I've loved you from the very first moment I saw you."
> 
> In that situation, would you use 'aimer' for like and 'adorer' for love? or would you use 'aimer bien' for like and 'aimer tout court' for love--I heard that in a song once, I think...
> 
> Or could you just simply say 'aimer' for like and 'être amoureux' for love?



I wouldn't use "adorer" - that's more with things (in terms of love). _Adorer_ with people can be superficial, but you can say "_il adore sa femme_" (he thinks the world of her).

I might say in your case:_ T__u dois ressentir quelque chose pour moi alors_;_ pour moi c'était de l'amour dès le tout début.
_
You can say "_tu dois bien m'aimer au moins_" (the "bien" is necessary here to contrast it with "love").

You have many options: you can say "amoureux d'elle", too, or even "aimer d'amour", etc.

I don't know if I'd use "aimer tout court" as that's often used to just let someone know that you love him or her - END OF STORY! Possible, depends on you how you word it here.

Note: "Adorer" in religion means to "worship" or "adorer comme Dieu".


----------



## Icetrance

I don't know why people keep saying over and over again that "aimer" with people can only mean some sort of love. That's a false statement.

I hear people say all the time "_J'aime mon prof cette année_."  It just means "I like my teacher", no matter if the "bien" is put in the mix or not. It surely has nothing to do with real love. If you want to say that you love your teacher this year, one would say "_J'adore mon prof cette année_" (superficial).  It's all about context. There isn't necessarily a hard and fast rule here like everyone thinks. Let's contrast the following example with what is said above: If a girl has an affair with her high school teacher (scandaleux) and says, "_J'aime mon prof_" - yes, she's in love with him (amoureuse de lui).

One more thing: If someone says "_J'aime bien mon père, mais on n'est pas vraiment dans les meilleurs des termes_."  The person still loves his or her father - no question. But the "bien" is added to show a bit of distance in their relationship at the moment.  It's definitely not translated by "like." lol.

Again, it's all about context. There is no hard and fast rule, although "bien" does mitigate a bit the love in question when the the context is all about real love.


----------

