French guides · French words explained
Je t’aime: three words, one dangerous adverb.
Je t’aime means “I love you” — je (I) + te (you) + aime (love), with te shortened to t’ before the vowel. It is pronounced zhuh TEM. It is the full, romantic declaration — the real thing. And French does something English never does: adding the word “well” to it makes it less serious, not more.
The three words, taken apart
| Part | Means | Note |
|---|---|---|
| je | I | always lower-case unless it starts the sentence |
| t’ | you | short for te; the e drops before a vowel |
| aime | love | from aimer, to love or to like |
French word order puts the object before the verb: literally “I you love”. That feels backwards at first and then stops being noticeable.
Je t’aime is zhuh TEM — the zh is soft, like the middle of “measure”, and t’aime rhymes roughly with English “temp” without the P. Do not pronounce a separate e on the end.
The bien trap
In English, “I really love you” is stronger than “I love you”. French runs the opposite way: aimer means both to love and to like, and the qualifier is what tells them apart. Bare je t’aime is the strong one. Qualify it and you downgrade it.
| French | Say it | What it actually means |
|---|---|---|
| je t’aime | zhuh TEM | I love you — romantic, or deep family love |
| je t’aime bien | zhuh tem BYAN | I like you — friendly, and firmly not romantic |
| je t’aime beaucoup | zhuh tem boh-KOO | I’m very fond of you — warm, still not a declaration |
| je t’adore | zhuh tah-DOR | I adore you — often lighter and more playful than je t’aime |
| tu me plais | tew muh PLEH | I’m attracted to you — the early-stages phrase |
Je t’aime bien is exactly what a French speaker says to be kind while turning someone down. If you mean the declaration, say the two words and stop.
Je t’aime or je vous aime?
French has two words for “you”. Tu is singular and familiar; vous is formal, or plural. Love is intimate, so it takes tu — which is why the phrase is je t’aime and not je vous aime.
Je vous aime is not wrong, but it means something else: “I love you all”, said to a group — a crowd, a family, an audience. Said to one person it sounds antique, the register of a period drama.
How to answer it
| French | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| moi aussi, je t’aime | mwah oh-SEE zhuh TEM | I love you too — the full answer |
| moi aussi | mwah oh-SEE | me too — short and completely normal |
| je t’aime aussi | zhuh TEM oh-SEE | I love you too |
| moi non plus | mwah nohn PLEW | “me neither” — answers a negative, not this |
That last one is worth knowing because of a song. Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin’s 1969 Je t’aime… moi non plus — “I love you… me neither” — was banned by several broadcasters and is the reason a great many English speakers know the phrase at all.
Hear it, then say it
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Quick answers
Je t’aime, answered.
Saying it, softening it, and answering it.