Learning romantic words and phrases in Spanish is a great way to improve your command of the language, but it will also allow you to express your feelings better if your partner is a Spanish speaker. In order to help accomplish this, this article will teach you different expressions to say ‘I love you’ and ‘I miss you’ as well as some Spanish terms of endearment. By the end of it, you’ll increase your romantic Spanish vocabulary.
Romantic phrases to say I love you
Even though ‘Te amo’ is the easiest way to say ‘I love you’, in Spanish, we have some phrases and expressions that you can use to talk about your feelings in a more romantic way. Here are some of the most common ones that you can add to your vocabulary. Be aware that all them imply a strong and deep love, as a result, you want to be careful with whom you use them.
- Eres mi media naranja/ Eres mi otra mitad – You’re my better half.
- No puedo vivir sin ti – I can’t live without you.
- Te amo desde el fondo de mi corazón – I love you from the bottom of my heart.
- Eres el amor de mi vida – You’re the love of my life.
- Te amo más que a nada en el mundo – I love you more than anything in the world.
- Eres tan guapo como el día que te conocí* – You are as handsome as the day I met you.
- Te amé desde el primer momento en que te vi – I loved you since the first moment that I saw you.
- Soy muy afortunado de tenerte a mi lado* – I’m very lucky to have you by my side.
- Me has robado el corazón – You have stolen my heart.
- Te amo más que ayer, pero menos que mañana – I love you more than yesterday, but less than I will tomorrow.
- Me vuelves loco* – You drive me crazy.
*Note: in some phrases, you’ll need to change the adjective to match your gender or your partner’s. For example:
Me vuelves loca
Soy muy afortunada de tenerte a mi lado
Eres tan guapa como el día que te conocí
Romantic and Love Vocabulary in Spanish
One of the most valuable things you can do to improve your knowledge of love and romantic words in Spanish is learning some specific vocabulary to this topic. In the next sections, you’ll find some of the most common verbs and terms of endearment that you can start using.
Vocabulary: Romantic Verbs in Spanish
In the following list, you will find some common verbs that you can use to express your feelings for your significant one.
| Abrazar | To hug |
| Acurrarse/Abrazar | To cuddle |
| Amar | To love |
| Besar | To kiss |
| Conquistar | To captivate |
| Declararse | To ask someone to be your partner |
| Desear | To want/To wish/To desire |
| Enamorar | To make someone fall in love |
| Estar clavado | To be madly in love |
| Estar colado por | To be smitten/madly in love |
| Estar locamente enamorado de | To be lovesick |
| Proponer | To propose |
| Sentar cabeza | To settle down |
| Traer de cabeza | To drive someone mad/To be madly in love |
| Traer de un ala | To be madly in love |
Ana está colada por Felipe Ana is madly in love with Felipe
Mañana, José se le va a declarar a Dalia Tomorrow, José is going to ask Dalia to be his girlfriend
Tania y su novio siempre se acurrucan para ver películas Tania and his boyfriend always cuddle when watching movies
There are some things that you need to keep in mind when using the verbs from the previous examples. Although the direct translation would be ‘to declare someone your love’, in Spanish, ‘declararse’ is used to tell someone that you want to have a more personal and exclusive relationship. In other words, it’s a way to ask someone to be your partner.
‘Estar colado’ is only used in Spain. In Latinamerican countries, you may hear ‘Traer de cabeza’ , ‘Traer de un ala’ or ‘Estar locamente enamorado’. If you use ‘estar colado’, you should know that using this phrase in diminutive form expresses a greater degree of being in love.
Maricarmen está coladita por Juan Maricarmen is madly in love with Juan
Terms of Endearment in Spanish
In the following list, we’ve compiled some of the most common terms of endearment in Spanish. Keep in mind that these words may be a little bit general since couples tend to make up their own nicknames. Additionally, keep in mind that most of these terms of endearment cannot be translated directly into English because they’re used as loving terms. As a result, we used the closest expression.
| Amante | Lover |
| Amor | Love/honey |
| Amor mío | My love |
| Amorcito | Dearie |
| Bebé | Babe |
| Bizcochito | Pudding |
| Bombón/Bomboncito | Cutie |
| Cariño | Sweetie/Honey |
| Chaparrita | Shorty/Cutie |
| (Mi) Cielo | Sweetheart/Pumpkin |
| Corazón | Sweetie |
| Dulzura | Sweetie pie |
| Flaco/Flaca | Skinny (literal translation) |
| Flaquito/Flaquita | Skinny |
| Gorda/Gordo | Cutie/Sweetie |
| Gordita/Gordito* | Cutie/Sweetie |
| Guapo/Guapa | Handsome/Pretty |
| Hermosa | Gorgeous |
| Mi amor | My love |
| Mi vida | Honey |
| Mi reina | My queen |
| Mi rey | My king |
| Muñeca/Muñeco | Doll |
| Osito/Osita | Honey bear |
| Princesa | Princess |
| Príncipe | Prince |
| Querido/Querida | Dear |
| Ricura | Cutie pie |
| Tesoro | Treasure/Darling |
As you may have noticed, in Spanish we use a lot of adjectives for physical appearance as a term of endearment. However, in this context, these words are not describing that person’s body or figure. As a result, ‘gordita’ is not translated as ‘fatty’ because in this situation it means ‘cutie’ or ‘sweetie’.
¿Qué quieres hacer mañana, gordita? What do you want to do tomorrow, cutie?
Mi flaco y yo vamos a celebrar nuestro aniversario My skinny and I are going to celebrate our anniversary
Be aware that ‘flaco’ and ‘flaquito’ are translated the same way (skinny). However, in Spanish, ‘flaquito’ may be considered slightly more lovable. The same happens with ‘gordo’ and ‘gordito’.
Expressing that you miss your partner
If you’re talking about love and romance in Spanish, you may also want to learn how to say ‘I miss you’. In Spanish, we have different verbs to express this feeling and even though they all have the same intention, you’ll find that in some Spanish countries one verb is more common than others. Here are some of the verbs that you can use as a translation of ‘I miss you’.
- Extrañar (very common in Latinamerica)
- Echar de menos (very common in Spain)
- Hacer falta
- Acordarse de
Let’s see some examples and nuances in meaning that you need to know in order to use these verbs properly:
| Corazón, te extraño mucho | I miss you very much, sweetie |
| Te echo mucho de menos | I miss you very much |
Notice that in order to refer to your partner, both ‘extrañar’ and ‘echar de menos’ need to work with the indirect pronoun ‘te’ (you). You need to follow this pattern every time you’re talking directly to your partner.
Depending on the context, ‘hacer falta’ can vary its meaning. However, it’s commonly used as a way to say ‘I miss you’. Be aware that with this verb, we’re not translating word by word, we’re rather translating the meaning and the purpose of the phrase. Here are some examples:
Me haces mucha falta, mi amor I miss you very much, my love
Cada vez que te vas me haces falta Everytime you leave I miss you
Other uses of ‘extrañar’ and ‘echar de menos’
If you want to improve your love vocabulary in Spanish, you can also use ‘extrañar’ and ‘echar de menos’ to express that you miss something about your partner or doing an activity with her or him. Here is how you do it:
Extraño/Echo de menos + verb (infinitive form)
Extraño ver películas contigo I miss watching movies with you
No sabes cuánto extraño pasar tiempo contigo You have no idea how much I miss spending time with you
Be aware that you use the verb in infinitive form to express the activity you miss. If you want to talk about something you miss about your partner, then, you need to follow the next examples:
Echo de menos tu sonrisa I miss your smile
Extraño tus chistes y tus abrazos I miss your jokes and hugs
Idiomatic expressions and phrases to say ‘I miss you’
On top of having specific verbs to say ‘I miss you’, in Spanish, we also have some idioms and phrases to express this intention. Here are some of the most common ones:
‘I can wait to see you’
- Ya quiero verte
- No veo la hora de verte
‘I wish you were here with me’
- Desearía que estuvieras aquí conmigo
- Quisiera que estuviera aquí conmigo
‘You occupy my thoughts’
- Estás en mis pensamientos
- Eres dueña/dueño de mis pensamientos
Although ‘Desearía que estuvieras aquí’ is the direct translation of ‘I wish you were here’, in Spanish, this phrase may be considered a little more formal. As a result, it’s more common to say ‘Quisiera que estuvieras aquí’.
Wrapping Up
Learning romantic and love phrases can be a fun way to improve your vocabulary and practice your Spanish in a different context.
In this article, we discussed some phrases to say ‘I love you’ and ‘I miss you’ as well as some grammar rules that you need to keep in mind. We also learned some of the most common terms of endearment in Spanish and their nuances in meaning. Now, you’re ready to start applying these expressions and words with your partner.
Related Questions
How many ways can you say ‘love in Spanish? Generally speaking, in Spanish there are two ways to say ‘love’: ‘amar’ and ‘querer’. ‘Amar’ is stronger than ‘querer’ and we can use it with family and our partner. ‘Querer’ is softer and it’s meant for friends and recent relationships. If you’re interested, check out my article on it, I’ll show you how to use te amo and te quiero properly.
How do you say ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ in Spanish? In Spanish, the following phrases are used to say ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’:
- Feliz día de San Valentín
- Feliz día de los Enamorados
- Feliz día del Amor y la Amistad
All of these expressions are well known in Spanish speaking countries; however, there’s a chance that each country is more one than the others. For example, in Peru they use more ‘Día del Amor y la Amistad’, while in Argentina ‘Día de los Enamorados’ is more popular. In this article that I wrote, you can find specific vocabulary for Valentine’s Day in Spanish.