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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

How to speak the Spanish language of love

The Spanish language is one of the most romantic in the world. here's our St Valentine's Day guide to speaking the language of love!

Published: 12 February 2020 14:26 CET
Updated: 14 February 2021 13:20 CET
How to speak the Spanish language of love
Photo by HangJian ZHU on Unsplash

Whether you want to learn a few new words and improve your vocabulary or your trying to win the love of your Spanish sweetheart, here we give you some great phrases to help you navigate the dating scene in Spanish.

Spanish phrases when you meet someone

 

When you meet someone for the first time whether online or in person: Here are some useful words/expressions to suggest your interest in them.

  • Me gusta tu perfil

        I like your profile (if you meeting the person online)

 

  • Tienes una sonrisa bonita:

        You have a beautiful smile 

 

  • ¡Qué ojos más bonitos tienes!

        You have beautiful eyes

 

  • ¿Tienes algún hobby?:

        What are your hobbies?

Spanish phrases to ask someone out

So, you've started chatting and you are interested and you are ready to make a move but: How do you ask them out? Here are some lines you can use:

  • ¿Qué haces el viernes?

        What are you doing on Friday?

 

  • Estrenan una película este fin de semana. ¿Quieres venir?

       There is a new film coming out this weekend. Do you want to come?

 

  • ¿Te gustaría quedar?

       Would you like to meet up sometime?

 

  • ¿Vamos a tomar algo?

     Shall we go for a drink?

 

  • Conozco un sitio genial para comer…

     I know a really nice place to eat…

 

READ ALSO: Seven of the best cheesy chat up lines in Spanish

 

Spanish phrases when you're on a date

Whoop, whoop! You've made it to dating stage! Now, it's all about keeping the conversation flowing. Learn how to be 'chatty' in Spanish!

  • Cuéntame sobre tí…

       Tell me about yourself…

 

  • ¿Te apetece tomar algo?

      Would you like to get a drink?

 

  • No te preocupes, yo invito.

        Don't worry, I'll pay.

 

  • ¿Te pido algo más?

      Should I order you something else?

 

  • ¿A que te dedicas?

       What do you do for a living?

 

  • ¿Cuando volvemos a quedar?

      When are we seeing each other again?

What to say in Spanish when you like someone 

At this stage you are completely sure you like this person and your ready to let it all out! Here are some smooth phrases in Spanish:

  • ¡Me gustas mucho!

        I really fancy you (British)/ I'm really into you (American)!

 

  • Me encanta pasar tiempo contigo.

       I love spending time with you.

 

  • ¡Eres increíble!

      You're amazing!

 

  • ¿Me gustaría volver a verte?

       I would love to see you again

 

Spanish phrases when you're thinking about someone

When you miss that special one… Love is in the air!

  • No puedo parar de pensar en tí.

        I can't stop thinking of you.

 

  • Te echo de menos.

        I miss you.

 

  • Estuve pensando en tí.

        I've been thinking of you.

How to lay on the romance if you're already with someone

Want to whisper sweet nothings to your partner and impress them with your Spanish? Here are some seriously smooth phrases:

  • Te quiero

         I love you.

TIP: In Latin America te amo is used more widely but in Spain it sounds quite cheesy!

  • Eres lo más bonito que tengo.

       You are the most precious thing I have.

 

  • ¡Eres preciosa/o!

      You're beautiful!

 

  • ¡Qué bien te queda …!

     That really suits you!  

For example: ¡Qué bien te queda ese vestido! That dress looks really good on you!

 

  • ¿Qué tal fue el día, amor?

      How was your day, honey?

 

  • ¡Haría cualquier cosa por tí!

      I'd do anything for you

 

So there you have it! All the Spanish you need to make Valentine's Day the most romantic day of the year.

Check out our word of the day posts

 

This word of the day has been contributed by LAE Madrid, the leading Spanish academy in Madrid. Accredited by the Insitituto Cervantes, it offers Spanish courses for all levels and also has Spanish classes for kids and families.

 

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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Le Havre rules: How to talk about French towns beginning with Le, La or Les

If you're into car racing, French politics or visits to seaside resorts you are likely at some point to need to talk about French towns with a 'Le' in the title. But how you talk about these places involves a slightly unexpected French grammar rule. Here's how it works.

Published: 30 November 2021 13:04 CET
Updated: 4 December 2021 17:47 CET
An old WW2 photo taken in the French port town of Le Havre.
An old WW2 photo taken in the French port town of Le Havre. It can be difficult to know what prepositions to use for places like this - so we have explained it for you. (Photo by AFP)

If you’re listening to French chat about any of those topics, at some point you’re likely to hear the names of Mans, Havre and Touquet bandied about.

And this is because French towns that have a ‘Le’ ‘La’ or ‘Les’ in the title lose them when you begin constructing sentences. 

As a general rule, French town, commune and city names do not carry a gender. 

So if you wanted to describe Paris as beautiful, you could write: Paris est belle or Paris est beau. It doesn’t matter what adjectival agreement you use. 

For most towns and cities, you would use à to evoke movement to the place or explain that you are already there, and de to explain that you come from/are coming from that location:

Je vais à Marseille – I am going to Marseille

Je suis à Marseille – I am in Marseille 

Je viens de Marseille – I come from Marseille 

But a select few settlements in France do carry a ‘Le’, a ‘La’ or a ‘Les’ as part of their name. 

In this case the preposition disappears when you begin formulating most sentences, and you structure the sentence as you would any other phrase with a ‘le’, ‘la’ or ‘les’ in it.

Masculine

Le is the most common preposition for two names (probably something to do with the patriarchy) with Le Havre, La Mans, Le Touquet and the town of Le Tampon on the French overseas territory of La Réunion (more on that later)

A good example of this is Le Havre, a city in northern France where former Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, who is tipped to one day run for the French presidency, serves as mayor. 

Edouard Philippe’s twitter profile describes him as the ‘Maire du Havre’, using a masculine preposition

Here we can see that his location is Le Havre, and his Twitter handle is Philippe_LH (for Le Havre) but when he comes to describe his job the Le disappears.

Because Le Havre is masculine, he describes himself as the Maire du Havre rather than the Maire de Havre (Anne Hidalgo, for example would describe herself as the Maire de Paris). 

For place names with ‘Le’ in front of them, you should use prepositions like this:

Ja vais au Touquet – I am going to Le Touquet

Je suis au Touquet – I am in Le Touquet 

Je viens du Touquet – I am from Le Touquet 

Je parle du Touquet – I am talking about Le Touquet

Le Traité du Touquet – the Le Touquet Treaty

Feminine

Some towns carry ‘La’ as part of their name. La Rochelle, the scenic town on the west coast of France known for its great seafood and rugby team, is one such example.

In French ‘à la‘ or ‘de la‘ is allowed, while ‘à le‘ becomes au and ‘de le’ becomes du. So for ‘feminine’ towns such as this, you should use the following prepositions:

Je vais à La Rochelle – I am going to La Rochelle

Je viens de La Rochelle – I am coming from La Rochelle 

Plural

And some places have ‘Les’ in front of their name, like Les Lilas, a commune in the suburbs of Paris. The name of this commune literally translates as ‘The Lilacs’ and was made famous by Serge Gainsbourg’s song Le Poinçonneur des Lilas, about a ticket puncher at the Metro station there. 

When talking about a place with ‘Les’ as part of the name, you must use a plural preposition like so:

Je suis le poinçonneur des Lilas – I am the ticket puncher of Lilas 

Je vais aux Lilas – I am going to Les Lilas

Il est né aux Lilas – He was born in Les Lilas  

Islands 

Islands follow more complicated rules. 

If you are talking about going to one island in particular, you would use à or en. This has nothing to do with gender and is entirely randomised. For example:

Je vais à La Réunion – I am going to La Réunion 

Je vais en Corse – I am going to Corsica 

Generally speaking, when talking about one of the en islands, you would use the following structure to suggest movement from the place: 

Je viens de Corse – I am coming from Corsica 

For the à Islands, you would say:

Je viens de La Réunion – I am coming from La Réunion 

When talking about territories composed of multiple islands, you should use aux.

Je vais aux Maldives – I am going to the Maldives. 

No preposition needed 

There are some phrases in French which don’t require any a preposition at all. This doesn’t change when dealing with ‘Le’ places, such as Le Mans – which is famous for its car-racing track and Motorcycle Grand Prix. Phrases that don’t need a preposition include: 

Je visite Le Mans – I am visiting Le Mans

J’aime Le Mans – I like Le Mans

But for a preposition phrase, the town becomes simply Mans, as in Je vais au Mans.

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