12 French Valentine’s Day Phrases [With Audio]
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.
Check out these 12 French Valentine’s Day phrases you can use to express your feelings on la Saint-Valentin. They’ll help you write a heartfelt card, impress your partner or add some flair to your French conversations.
Contents
- 1. Je t’aime (I love you)
- 2. Tu me manques (I miss you)
- 3. Mon chéri / ma chérie (Darling)
- 4. Mon coeur (My heart)
- 5. Un câlin (A hug/cuddle)
- 6. Un cœur d’artichaut (Someone who falls in love easily)
- 7. Follement amoureux de / Follement amoureuse de (Madly in love with)
- 8. En amoureux (Romantic)
- 9. Avoir le cœur qui bat la chamade (To have a racing heart)
- 10. Se dire des mots doux (To say sweet nothings to each other)
- 11. Jouer les cupidons (To play Cupid)
- 12. Rouler une pelle / Rouler un patin (To French kiss)
- And One More Thing...
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
1. Je t’aime (I love you)
2. Tu me manques (I miss you)
In French, the feeling of missing somebody gets expressed a bit differently than in English, since tu me manques literally means something like “you are missing to me.”
When you tell your friends how much you miss your partner, you can say Il me manque or Elle me manque (I miss him/I miss her).
3. Mon chéri / ma chérie (Darling)
There are a great number of French nicknames, or petit noms, to call your partner. The masculine mon chéri and feminine ma chérie both mean “my darling” or “my dear.”
4. Mon coeur (My heart)
Here’s another popular term of endearment. You can also try mon chou, which translates literally to “my cabbage” but means something like “my sweetie.”
If addressing a guy, you can use mon loup (my wolf), loulou (probably derived from loup), or doudou (sweetie). For women, try ma puce (my flea- it’s cute in French!), or ma caille (my quail).
5. Un câlin (A hug/cuddle)
The most commonly used verb phrase with this term is faire un câlin à… meaning “to cuddle with…”. It can also be used as a plural noun, meaning “hugs” or “cuddles.”
6. Un cœur d’artichaut (Someone who falls in love easily)
This phrase doesn’t have an exact equivalent in English. Its literal translation is “an artichoke heart,” but it’s used to describe a person who falls in love easily and often.
7. Follement amoureux de / Follement amoureuse de (Madly in love with)
Follement amoureux de is used if a man is speaking and follement amoureuse de is used by a woman. You can also use follement épris de (for a man) or follement éprise de (for a woman).
8. En amoureux (Romantic)
You can tack en amoureux onto pretty much any activity to signal that it’s going to be a romantic occasion. For example, passer un week-end en amoureux à… (to spend a romantic weekend in/at…) or faire un dìner en amoureux (to have a romantic dinner).
9. Avoir le cœur qui bat la chamade (To have a racing heart)
The chamade 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.
10. Se dire des mots doux (To say sweet nothings to each other)
Mots doux literally means “sweet/soft words,” but the best English equivalents would be “tender words” or “sweet nothings,” depending on the context.
11. Jouer les cupidons (To play Cupid)
This is an excellent phrase for those of you who tend to be more enthralled in others’ love lives than your own. It refers to being a matchmaker or someone who’s constantly trying to set up their friends.
12. Rouler une pelle / Rouler un patin (To French kiss)
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’t chalk this style of kissing up to their own culture!
To learn more romantic French phrases in real-life contexts, you can use a language learning program like FluentU.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
To add some more French romance to your life, check out these French love songs next!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing...
If you like learning French at your own pace and from the comfort of your device, I have to tell you about FluentU.
FluentU makes it easier (and way more fun) to learn French by making real content like movies and series accessible to learners. You can check out FluentU's curated video library, or bring our learning tools directly to Netflix or YouTube with the FluentU Chrome extension.
One of the features I find most helpful is the interactive captions—you can tap on any word to see its meaning, an image, pronunciation, and other examples from different contexts. It’s a great way to pick up French vocab without having to pause and look things up separately.
FluentU also helps reinforce what you’ve learned with personalized quizzes. You can swipe through extra examples and complete engaging exercises that adapt to your progress. You'll get extra practice with the words you find more challenging and even be reminded you when it’s time to review!
You can use FluentU on your computer, tablet, or phone with our app for Apple or Android devices. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
