>.< -.-' Im troubled!

[SleeplessNite]

Lately, Ive been hearing WAAAY too many words in Jap for 'Love' Im trying to figure out if they are all the right way to say it. (Please excuse my poor grammar Im hearing the words spoken, not read)

Daisuki - love

and

skedai (this is wrong spelling, I know. Sorry)

Please help! Im soo confused!

[Akihiko Yamamoto Hozagaki]

Well, there's a huge difference between the noun and verb.

大好き (daisuki) - to love (to like a lot)
This is a lot more common to use to tell someone you love them.

あなたが大好きです。
Anata ga daisuki desu.
I love you.

Or we shorten it to simply, 大好きだよ! (Daisuki da yo!)

You will also commonly hear: 愛してる (aishiteru) or あなたを愛してる (anata o aishiteru). I hear this in anime commonly, and I'm guessing that's where you hear it too.

I know two different nouns though:
恋 - koi
愛 -ai

They both mean the same thing, though. As for which one is more common, I actually don't know.

[MistressPookyChan]

There is a little bit of a difference from what I've seen. Daisuki is more common and is used for everything from "I love you!" to "I love cheese!".

Aishiteru, on the other hand, is a deeper sort of love. Mainly reserved for weddings and other romantic things. If you say "aishiteru" to a guy you just met, he might freak out. ;)

[Rizuchan]

"Daisuki" and "suki" are one of those strange language nuances. "Daisuki" litterly means "big love" or "I love you a lot" while "suki" is merely "love", but suki is actually the more powerful of the two.

For example:
Daisuki is the word a child might use for an adult they care about (In a platonic way, mind you) Or it might be the word you say to a friend that just did you a huge favor.
"Will you loan me $20 for that wallscroll, please?? I'll pay you back as soon as I can, I swear!"
"Fine..."
"Yay! Daisuki!" (I love you!)
(Yeah, I just got back from a con, sue me for the silly sentence. Or don't, seeing as I'm $20 poorer at the moment. :p)
Or, as MistressPookyChan said, Daisuki can be used for material objects as well. Suki can as well, but Daisuki generally is used for something that's your absolute favorite.

I'm kind of surprised that no one else has mentioned "suki", it's probably the most common way of saying "I love you". In truth, I can hardly think of a time I've ever heard "Ai shiteru". (The only one that comes to mind is a Jpop song I heard a long time ago that says it over and over again, as it gets stuck in my head sometimes. X.X)


I hear this [aishiteru] in anime commonly, and I'm guessing that's where you hear it too.
I'm curious as to what anime you watch, because, as I've said above, I hardly ever hear it. It's always "suki".

Ai and Koi generally mean the same thing, but I was always under the impression that Koi is a 'cuter' kind of love while Ai is more serious.

[Ertai87]

There is a little bit of a difference from what I've seen. Daisuki is more common and is used for everything from "I love you!" to "I love cheese!".

Lol.

Sorry, I'll go away now.

[Yiuel]

Another word used for love is ren'ai 恋愛, but as readers of kanji will notice, it is only a combination of both characters used for love. It is used as a radical for speciality words like Ren'aikekkon 恋愛結婚, a marriage for love.

According to what I read in my Kanji Jiten (from Nihon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kyoukai), Ai 愛 has connotations of "care for someone", while koi 恋 is more related to "longing for someone". There seems to be some kind of permanency of love involved with koi as well, through the various examples given. Suki 好き, on the other hand, is related to "good" and preference, though it also has a tendency to be synonymous to ai in some situations.

As for expressions, I have heard 大好きだ／好きだ／愛する／恋する at a rather equal level. I'd be safe to use the suki ones only for objects or perhaps friends (though I'd have other ways to show gladness), and keep ai-suru for "real" love.

[Rizuchan]

As for expressions, I have heard 大好きだ／好きだ／愛する／恋する at a rather equal level. I'd be safe to use the suki ones only for objects or perhaps friends (though I'd have other ways to show gladness), and keep ai-suru for "real" love.

I disagree. I've heard the expression "aisuru monotachi" (loved ones) quite a few times, and it encompasses family, friends, etc. And I definitely have heard "suki da yo" or "suki desu" (or just plain "suki") in reference to being in love, with people, far more than any other expression.

[dabura667]

I disagree. I've heard the expression "aisuru monotachi" (loved ones) quite a few times, and it encompasses family, friends, etc. And I definitely have heard "suki da yo" or "suki desu" (or just plain "suki") in reference to being in love, with people, far more than any other expression.


Let's calm down, and do thing that lots people who study language tend not to do...

Look at your own language... (not what you just speak, but in broader)

in english...

"like" "love" "romance" "lust"

some examples:

I like cheese
チーズが好きです chiizu ga suki desu

I love cheese (I like cheese a lot)
チーズが大好きです

I love her.
彼女を愛してます

I love my friends.
友達を愛してます

I love my dog.
うちの犬を愛してます

I fell in love. (to fall in love is usually based on lust/longing attraction... this knowledge is built in Japanese)
恋に落ちた (we don't say ai ni ochita for fall in love)


I am in love with a high school student. (and she is with me too)
女子高生と恋してます。 (note: we don't use wo for koi... I am "in love" is usually said with koi, as "in love" implies that you are lovey duvey and may also have real love (ai) but the lovey duvey is like koi)



Very similar to english really...

english has many uses of the words of these feelings, and Japanese is no different.

Suki means like

Ai means love (in a caring way, like "true love" so not things mostly)

koi means longing lustful love of like girlfriend

ren'ai is just the word for "a relationship with the person who you love intimate"



ok, hope you understand

[SoRen-Ji]

There is a little bit of a difference from what I've seen. Daisuki is more common and is used for everything from "I love you!" to "I love cheese!".

Aishiteru, on the other hand, is a deeper sort of love. Mainly reserved for weddings and other romantic things. If you say "aishiteru" to a guy you just met, he might freak out. ;)

Suki or Daisuki commonly used to people, while food usually we just say, ureshii, which means delicious and we love that food.:laugh:

yup~ you're right about aishiteru.;)

[suzumi]

I know two different nouns though:
恋 - koi
愛 -ai

They both mean the same thing, though. As for which one is more common, I actually don't know.

They are both common. But 恋　(koi) is what you feel for a lover, while 愛　(ai) is love in general.



Suki or Daisuki commonly used to people, while food usually we just say, ureshii, which means delicious and we love that food.:laugh:

Actually, it's oishii (おいしい). Ureshii (うれしい) means to be glad/happy/delighted about something.

Like Mistress said, in Japan, the word "aishiteru" is considered a very heavy one. And you rarely hear people saying it. Of course you will in dramas, or in anime, but that's mainly because it's tv. When people do use it, they usually say it jokingly.

Itoshii (愛しい・いとしい) is also another word for love. But, in my opinion, it means "adoration" more than anything else.

Suki or daisuki (好き・大好き), literally translates into "to like", and "to like a lot". And since it's basically the equivalent of "like" it's a lot easier to use in everyday life.

Here's a clip from a popular Japanese variety show that kind of shows how embarasing it is to say "aishiteru" to someone. Note; I said kind of. Nobody would do this for real. It's stupid, but it's funny...
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=_4787NDIyyo

[Anuket]

I know two different nouns though:
恋 - koi
愛 -ai

They both mean the same thing, though. As for which one is more common, I actually don't know.


I think I'd go with "ai", "koi" is too formal.

[xCloudz]

some japanese girl told me, aishiteru means i LOVE you and suki means i LIKE you. love-like is a BIG difference... tho i heard more times suki then aishiteru.... aishiteru means love.