{"id":116733,"date":"2014-02-06T02:43:35","date_gmt":"2014-02-06T07:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/french-valentines-day-romantic-vocabulary-words-phrases-list\/"},"modified":"2025-01-24T00:32:40","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T05:32:40","slug":"french-valentines-day-romantic-vocabulary-words-phrases-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-valentines-day-romantic-vocabulary-words-phrases-list\/","title":{"rendered":"12 French Valentine’s Day Phrases [With Audio]"},"content":{"rendered":"
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French isn’t known as the language of love for nothing. The French have an enchanting way with words that perfectly capture the spirit of romance.<\/p>\n

Check out these 12 French Valentine’s Day phrases you can use to express your feelings on\u00a0la Saint-Valentin. <\/em>They’ll help you write a heartfelt card, impress your partner or add some flair to your French conversations.\u00a0
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1. Je t\u2019aime<\/i> (I love you)<\/h2>\n
You’ve likely seen this expression before. <\/i>Note that by adding the word bien<\/em> to the end to form Je t\u2019aime bien,<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>the phrase changes meaning to “I like you.”\u00a0<\/div>\n

2. Tu me manques<\/em> (I miss you)<\/h2>\n
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In French, the feeling of missing somebody gets expressed a bit differently than in English, since tu me manques\u00a0<\/i>literally means something like “you are missing to me.”<\/p>\n

When you tell your friends how much you miss your partner, you can say Il me manque<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/i>or E<\/em>lle me manque<\/i><\/strong>\u00a0<\/i>(I miss him\/I miss her).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

3. Mon ch\u00e9ri\/ma ch\u00e9rie <\/i>(Darling)<\/h2>\n

There are a great number of French nicknames, or petit noms<\/i>, to call your partner.\u00a0 The masculine m<\/em>on ch\u00e9ri\u00a0<\/i>and feminine\u00a0ma ch\u00e9rie\u00a0<\/i>both\u00a0<\/i>mean “my darling” or “my dear.”<\/p>\n

4. Mon coeur<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>(My heart)<\/h2>\n

Here’s another popular term of endearment. You can also try mon chou<\/strong>,<\/em> which translates literally to “my cabbage” but means something like “my sweetie.”<\/p>\n

If addressing a guy, you can use mon loup<\/em><\/strong> (my wolf), loulou<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/i>(probably derived from\u00a0loup<\/i>), or doudou<\/em><\/strong> (sweetie). For women, try ma puce<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/i>(my flea- it’s cute in French!), or ma caille<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/i>(my quail).\u00a0<\/p>\n

5. Un c\u00e2lin<\/em> (A hug\/cuddle)<\/h2>\n

The most commonly used verb phrase with this term is faire un c\u00e2lin \u00e0…<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/i>meaning “to cuddle with…”. It can also be used as a plural noun, meaning “hugs” or “cuddles.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

6. Un c\u0153ur d\u2019artichaut<\/em> (Someone who falls in love easily)<\/h2>\n

This phrase doesn\u2019t have an exact equivalent in English. Its literal translation is “an artichoke heart,”<\/strong> but it’s used to describe a person who falls in love easily and often.<\/p>\n

7. Follement amoureux de<\/em>\/Follement amoureuse de<\/em> (Madly in love with)<\/h2>\n

Follement amoureux de <\/em>is used if a man is speaking and follement amoureuse de <\/em>is used by a woman.\u00a0You can also use f<\/em>ollement \u00e9pris de<\/i>\u00a0<\/i>(for a man) or follement \u00e9prise de<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>(for a woman).\u00a0<\/p>\n

8. En amoureux<\/em> (Romantic)<\/h2>\n

You can tack en amoureux<\/i> onto pretty much any activity to signal that it’s going to be a romantic occasion. For example,\u00a0passer un week-end en amoureux \u00e0…<\/em> (to spend a romantic weekend in\/at…) or faire un d\u00ecner en amoureux<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>(to have a romantic dinner).<\/p>\n

9. Avoir le c\u0153ur qui bat la chamade<\/em> (To have a racing heart)<\/h2>\n

The chamade<\/em> is a musical term referring to the call of a trumpet or drums announcing surrender to the enemy. This expression indicates that one’s heart is racing at the thought of doing something romantic or succumbing to someone’s flirtatious advances.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

10. Se dire des mots doux<\/em> (To say sweet nothings to each other)<\/h2>\n

Mots doux<\/em> literally means “sweet\/soft words,” but the best English equivalents would be “tender words” or “sweet nothings,” depending on the context.\u00a0<\/p>\n

11. Jouer les cupidons<\/em> (To play Cupid)<\/h2>\n

This is an excellent phrase for those of you who tend to be more enthralled in others\u2019 love lives than your own. It refers to being a matchmaker or someone who’s constantly trying to set up their friends.<\/p>\n

12. Rouler une pelle\/Rouler un patin <\/i>(To French kiss)<\/h2>\n

The first phrase literally means “to roll a shovel” and the second, “to roll a skate.” Both expressions mean to kiss someone extremely passionately, or in simpler terms, to French kiss. However, the French don\u2019t chalk this style of kissing up to their own culture!<\/p>\n

To learn more romantic French phrases in real-life contexts, you can use a language learning program like FluentU<\/a>.

FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n

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You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

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