English for people in love

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and to celebrate we’ve thought about lovers, international couples who use English to communicate their feelings and just about anybody who wants to learn words, phrases and expressions useful in all matters that have to do with love.

As you probably already know, especially in English speaking countries, but now also in the rest of the world, the tradition on the 14^th of February is to give flowers, chocolate and maybe a small symbolic gift to the person we love. However, the most important is not the gift, but writing a card declaring our love. The cards that are used on this day have the same name as the festivity, they are called Valentine's Day cards, or simply valentines. The person to whom you give the letter, whether male or female, is also called valentine (sometimes capitalized- Valentine). For this reason, on February 14^th we ask: Would you be my Valentine?

A little strange to call someone by another name, right? Apparently the tradition started with a person named Valentine who sent a love letter and signed it: "From your Valentine." And who was Saint Valentine? Legend has it, he lived in ancient Rome during a time when the emperor had prohibited marriages because he thought married men made bad soldiers. Valentine, a priest who, as it seems, still believed in love, continued marrying people in secret and lost his life when the authorities found out. For this reason, he was made a saint.

But if what you are really interested in is "English for lovers" and not so much the traditions, at Lewolang we’ve prepared for you some words and expressions that might come in handy.

To be romantic, you have to go beyond the generic: I love you. You can say: I adore you, I am in love with you, I am head over heels for you, I have fallen in love with you or just I have fallen for you. You can call the person you love, man or woman: honey, darling, baby, sweetie, sweetheart, sweetie pie etc.

If you spend a lot of time on the internet you may have also heard some of the following slang terms: babe (an alternative to baby), bae (acronym of before anyone else), beau (only used with men, from the French term beau that means handsome), boo (from beau, but can be used with both men and women) or if you are very serious ride or die (the person you’d do anything for).

If you are in a stable relationship and you think you have found unconditional love, you can say: You are my one-and-only, or maybe the more poetic: You are my sunshine. You can even say: You are my soulmate.

The term soulmate is equivalent to media naranja in Spanish, although you can also say other half or better half in English. And if you're still looking for your better half, in English you'd say you're looking for Mr. Right, or even Prince Charming if he's a man, and Mrs. Right if she's a woman.

On the contrary, if you just started developing feelings for somebody and someone asks you: Do you fancy anyone/Do you have your eyes on someone? you can answer with some of these informal expressions: I have a crush on someone, I am into someone or I have a thing for someone.

But be careful! Maybe the boy is a Casanova (a player, a ladies' man, a womanizer) or a person, man or woman who might break your heart (heartbreaker, from the verb break someone's heart).

And if you are single do not worry. Valentine's Day can be a good excuse to find a partner. You can find someone who appeals to you because she is pretty (you will only use this word for a woman), handsome (only if he is male) or good-looking and attractive (for both genders). It can also be a boy or girl who is smoking hot (gorgeous, beautiful) and then you will have even more reasons to flirt or try to seduce them. Informally, these attempts are also called hitting on somebody. You may be lucky and hit it off or it may even be love at first sight. If this is the case, approach this person but please do not say a cheesy pick-up line such as: Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?

It’s better to just introduce yourself, ask if that person already has a partner: Are you seeing anybody at the moment/ Are you dating anybody right now? and then ask if he or she wants to go out with you: Would you like to go out sometime/meet up sometime/get together/hang out/go on a date? or even ask for his or her phone number: Can I have your number? If everything goes well you might hold hands or give each other a hug or a kiss. You really have nothing to lose!