# I Love You in Chinese: Romantic Phrases for Dating, Texting and Saying How You Feel You confess a crush with 我喜欢你很久了, ask someone out for a film, text 晚安 and 520, and take a compliment with a modest 哪里哪里. Made for adult beginners starting from zero, with every line on the free audio. Source: https://www.saymei.app/resources/downloads/i-love-you-in-chinese ## At a glance - Level: Total beginner · HSK 1 - Format: Workbook · PDF · 21 pages · US Letter (prints on A4) - Price: Free · free with a saymei account · updated Nov 4, 2026 ## Download Free with a SayMei account, on the workbook's page: https://www.saymei.app/resources/downloads/i-love-you-in-chinese. SayMei emails a copy too. ## A line from the workbook 我爱你。 (Wǒ ài nǐ.) — I love you. ## By the end you can - Say I love you and know how strong it sounds. The scale goes 喜欢 (like), then 很喜欢 or 好喜欢 (really like), then 爱 (love). Many people say 我爱你 less often than English speakers say "I love you", and mean it as something big. 我爱你。 (Wǒ ài nǐ.): I love you. - Tell someone you like them and ask them to be your partner. Confess with 我喜欢你很久了, then ask with 好吗 at the end, which turns a request into a gentle question that leaves them free to answer. 我喜欢你很久了。 (Wǒ xǐhuan nǐ hěn jiǔ le.): I've liked you for a long time. - Ask someone out, and say yes or "another time". Invite someone for a meal, a film or a walk with 一起…吧, accept with 好啊！几点见？, and turn one down kindly with 下次吧. 周末有空吗？ (Zhōumò yǒu kòng ma?): Are you free this weekend? - Say I miss you to someone near or far. Before a person 想 means "miss", and before a verb it means "want to". In messages, 想你了 drops the 我 and sounds warm and natural. 想你了。 (Xiǎng nǐ le.): Miss you. - Give a compliment that sounds natural, and take one well. 好看 works for anyone, where 漂亮 is said more of women and 帅 of men. Take a compliment with 谢谢 and a smile, or the modest 哪里哪里. 你今天真好看！ (Nǐ jīntiān zhēn hǎokàn!): You look great today! - Read and send love messages. Ten lines for texting: 早安 and 晚安, 在干吗？, 到家了吗？ after a date, and the number codes 520 and 1314, which sound a little like 我爱你 and 一生一世. 晚安，好梦！ (Wǎn'ān, hǎo mèng!): Good night, sweet dreams! - End things kindly and comfort a friend. Soften a hard no with 不太, say you only see someone as a friend, and comfort a friend after a breakup with 别难过 and 我陪你. 我们不太合适。 (Wǒmen bú tài héshì.): I don't think we're right for each other. - Get through a first date, from the invitation to goodnight. The review puts it all together: ask, agree a time, give a compliment over dinner, and text goodnight when you're home. 好啊！几点见？ (Hǎo a! Jǐ diǎn jiàn?): Sure! What time shall we meet? ## What's inside - I Love You: Learn: I Love You and I Like You · Practice: How Much Do You Say? - I Like You: Learn: Telling Someone You Like Them · Practice: Say How You Feel - Ask Someone Out: Learn: Asking Someone Out · Practice: Yes, or Another Time - I Miss You: Learn: Missing Someone · Practice: Miss You Messages - Sweet Compliments: Learn: Sweet Compliments · Practice: Give and Take a Compliment - Love in Texts: Love in Your Messages · Reply to Love Messages - When It Ends: Learn: Ending Things Kindly · Practice: Say It Gently - Review: A First Date, Start to Finish ## How to use this book Seven chapters and a first-date review, each a Learn page and a Practice page. Play the chapter on the free audio, say every line in the pause, then do the Practice page. At a chapter every two days, it takes just over two weeks. - Days 1–4: I love you and I like you. Pages 3 to 6. Learn how strong 喜欢 and 爱 sound, then practise saying how you feel at three strengths and asking with 好吗. - Days 5–6: Ask someone out. Pages 7 and 8. Invite with 一起…吧, answer the two voice messages on the audio, and practise a kind "another time". - Days 7–10: Missing someone and compliments. Pages 9 to 12. Tell the two meanings of 想 apart, write three "miss you" messages, then give and take a compliment. - Days 11–12: Love in texts. Pages 13 and 14. Keep page 13 by your phone and reply to the six practice messages. Send a real goodnight message if you have someone to send it to. - Days 13–14: Ending things kindly. Pages 15 and 16. Make hard lines gentler with 不太, and practise comforting a friend in three short lines. - Day 15: The first date. Page 17. Act out the whole date with a partner, swap in your own day and time, and check your answers and the listening scripts at the back. ## Who it's for Adult beginners who are dating in Mandarin, or hope to: people who want to say how they feel, ask someone out, text sweetly and take a compliment. 女朋友 and 男朋友 work whoever you are asking. Before you start: Nothing. Every line has characters, pinyin and English, and the free audio reads each one with a pause to say it back. The answers and the listening scripts are at the back. ## What's in the book? Seven chapters, each a Learn page and a Practice page: I love you and I like you, telling someone you like them, asking someone out, missing someone, compliments, love in your messages and ending things kindly. Page 17 puts it all together in a first date, from the invitation to goodnight. ## Do Chinese speakers say 我爱你 as often as English speakers say I love you? Usually not. Many people keep 我爱你 for someone they are serious about, and 我喜欢你 is the usual first step. Many couples show love with care more than words: a message like 吃饭了吗？ (Have you eaten?) can be full of love. ## What do 520 and 1314 mean in a message? 520 (wǔ èr líng) sounds a little like 我爱你, "I love you", and 1314 sounds a little like 一生一世, "for a whole lifetime". Together, 5201314 means "I'll love you forever" and is popular on 20 May. Page 13 explains them with the other texting lines. ## Is there audio? Yes, free on the book's page on saymei.app. Every line is read clearly with a pause to say it back. The listening tasks use lines that aren't printed on the page, and their script is in the answer key at the back. ## How long does it take? At a chapter every two days, just over two weeks. On day 15 you act out the first date on page 17 with a partner, swapping in your own day and time. ## Does it cover pet names or meeting my partner's parents? No. This book stays on dating and feelings, from the first I like you to a first date. Pet names, your partner's parents and family visits are in Mandarin for Couples: Talk with Your Partner and Meet Their Family, another free SayMei workbook. ## Do I need a SayMei account? Yes, to download the PDF, and the account is free: sign up with Google, Apple or your email address. With it we email you a copy of the workbook, keep every workbook you download on your account on all your devices, save your place in the free online practice, and you can practise speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's AI tutor. ## How do I print it? The PDF is US Letter size. On A4 paper, choose "Fit to page" (or "Scale to fit") in the print dialog so nothing is cut off. Print the whole workbook or only the pages you need; colour looks best, and black and white works too. Version 2026-11, updated Nov 4, 2026.