101 Romantic French Words and Sayings for Valentine's Day

Valentine’s day, what is it about? It is about love of course. The celebration of love with a big L! But it is also the celebration of friends as friendship is love too. And in these days, any kind of love is welcome!

In the United States, « Valentines » can send love cards to several recipients. While in France people usually concentrate on the chosen one. They offer her/him a little present. A jewel, perfume, chocolates for the sweetness or a red rose, symbol of passion. That they will offer during a romantic candlelit dinner. Telling each other sweet nothings and cuddling.

But when did lovers start to coo on the 14th of February? Actually, nobody knows exactly. Its origin is definitely pagan and has to do with fecundity. Or more exactly with the renewal of nature that appears around mid-February. Also, all lovers around the world do not celebrate love on that day. Many countries glorify love according to their own history, culture and hemisphere (indeed, because of the renewal of nature!).

And did you know that for a long period of time Valentine’s day celebrated single men and women? On that day, singles were playing a giant hide-and-seek game around villages. The boys had to find the girls. And then marry them during the year! Useless to say that some games were fixed in advance following small agreements between lovers ;-)

At VidaLingua, we love Love. And thanks to apps such as French English Dictionary + for iPhone & Android, and PhraseMates, hide-and-seek games can extend to the whole world! People can meet and enrich themselves with others’ language. Because love has no limits, we are very happy to give it wings!

Here is a bonus list of essential love phrases and expressions. Use them to woo somebody special or rekindle the love with your better half!

WORDS

Valentine's Day	la Saint-Valentin
lovers	les amoureux
love	l'amour
jewel	un bijou
perfume	du parfum
chocolates	des chocolats
to coo	roucouler
a kiss	un baiser
to smooch	se bécoter
a caress	une caresse
endearment	la tendresse
single	célibataire
to flirt	flirter
to hit on	draguer
to smooth-talk	baratiner
to tickle	faire des papouilles
to cuddle	se faire des câlins
to get engaged	se fiancer
engagement	les fiançailles
to propose	demander en mariage
to marry	épouser
wedding ring	une alliance
honeymoon	la lune de miel

EXPRESSIONS

the chosen one	l'élu(e) de son cœur
to make a present	faire un cadeau
to give flowers	offrir des fleurs
a candlelit dinner	un dîner aux chandelles
to succumb to somebody's charm	être sous le charme
to make puppy dog eyes	faire les yeux doux
to whisper sweet nothings	dire des mots doux
words of love	des mots d'amour
a smooth-talker	un beau parleur
to fall in love	tomber amoureux/euse
to be deeply in love	être éperdument amoureux/euse
love at first sight	un coup de foudre
to date somebody	sortir avec quelqu’un
a love story	une histoire d'amour
to French kiss	rouler un patin
to make love	faire l'amour
an engagement ring	une bague de fiançailles
to marry somebody	se marrier avec quelqu'un
wedding night	la nuit de noces
endless love	un amour éternel
to live on love alone	vivre d'amour et d'eau fraîche
to find true love	trouver le grand amour
a proof of love	une preuve d'amour
out of sight, out of mind	loin des yeux, loin du cœur
lucky at cards, unlucky in love	heueux au jeu, malheureux en amour
true minds	des âmes sœurs
to find your soulmate	trouver l'âme sœur
to have a crush on somebody	en pincer pour quelqu'un
to be crazy about somebody	être raide dingue de quelqu'un
to hold hands	se tenir la main
to flirter	conter fleurette
to make love	faire crac-crac
to look each other straight in the eye	se regarder dans les yeux
to make a declaration of love	faire une déclaration d'amour
to keep a promise	tenir une promesse
to whisper in the ears	murmurer à l'oreille
to be starry-eyed	avoir des étoiles plein les yeux
to devour somebody	dévorer quelqu'un des yeux
a love nest	un nid d'amour
to be brokenhearted	avoir le cœur brisé
to be jealous	être jaloux/ouse
to be very much in love	filer le parfait amour

PHRASES

Love gives you wings.	L'amour donne des ailes.
I love you with all my heart.	Je t’aime de tout mon cœur.
You are the love of my life.	Tu es l’amour de ma vie.
I love you forever.	Je t'aime pour toujours.
You are the sunshine of my life.	Tu es le soleil de ma vie.
I want to live with you.	Je veux vivre avec toi.
I want to spend my life with you.	Je veux passer ma vie avec toi
Do you want to marry me?	Veux-tu m’épouser ?
I miss you.	Tu me manques.
Love is an open door.	L’amour est un cadeau.
I feel something for you.	J'ai des sentiments pour toi.
You make my head spin.	Tu me fais tourner la tête.
I want you.	J'ai envie de toi.
I am yours.	Je suis à toi.
I belong to you.	Je t'appartiens.
When will I see you again?	Quand te reverrai-je ?
Love is stronger than anything.	L'amour est plus fort que tout.
We are meant for each other.	Nous sommes faits l'un pour l'autre.
Love is blind.	L'amour est aveugle.
You mean so much to me.	Tu représentes tellement pour moi.
You are a part of me.T	Tu fais partie de moi.
I love you to death.	Je t'aime à mourir.
I have totally fallen for you.	Je suis dingue de toi.
I am addicted to you.	Je suis accro à toi.
I think of you all the time.	Je pense à toi tout le temps.
I have a crush on you.	J'ai le béguin pour toi.
You are the one.	Tu es celui/celle que j'attendais.
You make me burn with desire.	Je brûle de désir pour toi.
I cannot live without you.	Je ne peux pas vivre sans toi.
I am crazy about you.	Je suis fou/folle de toi.
I cannot bear to be apart from you.	Je ne supporte pas d'être séparé(e) de toi.
I cannot bear to be far from you.	Je ne supporte pas d'être loin de toi.
You are my everything.	Tu es tout pour moi.
I have you under my skin.	Je t'ai dans la peau.
My heart pounds wildly.	Mon cœur bat la chamade.
You broke my heart.	Tu m'as brisé le cœur.

Good luck with your romantic adventures on Valentine's Day and throughout the year!

Want to improve your French? Check out these great articles.
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Christine Ducos-Restagno
Lead French Linguist
VidaLingua