53 Italian Phrases About Love (Romantic Sayings to Melt Her Heart)19 min read

So you recently started a relationship with an Italian girl, or maybe you’ve been seeing her awhile. She is smart, loves to laugh, and most importantly, makes you feel complete. So far, you have always been speaking in English, but now you’d like to take a step forward by learning the basics of her primary language.

The reason we’re here? To help you out, of course! Our post, in particular, is focused on Italian phrases you can use to express love and affection. We included 53 full sentences, but you’ll also find pet names and other stuff.

Italian Sayings about Love

Gentleman Within’s goal is to create guides everyone can read, even those who have no knowledge of the Italian language.

For most people, learning a new language can be a challenge. What is the hardest thing for a non-native speaker? Assigning the correct meaning to everyday words. In Italian, you can find hundreds of common terms with different shades of meaning. Thus, it’s difficult to understand how they should be translated when placed in a specific context.

To help you get into the swing, we created a logical scheme. First, we sorted the phrases in Italian by importance. (Yes, if you’re browsing through the article to learn how to say I love you in Italian, you have to scroll till the middle of the post). 

Not only did we create a list by putting phrases that express deeper feelings at the bottom, but we also tried to distinguish between clichés and original phrases. Again, you’ll find the clichés at the top, while you’ll have to scroll down a bit to find the more impactful ones. Finally, we created five distinct categories, each one representing different stages of every relationship.

The five categories include:

• Expressions you should never use in a romantic relationship

• Phrases you can use in the early stages of the relationship

• Phrases to express your feelings of love

• Things you can say at any stage of your relationship

• Ideal words to propose to your girlfriend.

» Readers’ Favorite: Check out this guide on How to Meet Women.

3 Italian terms you should never use to refer to your girlfriend (and 5 you can use to replace them instead)

We know; blog posts of this kind typically start by presenting the basics of the language. 

Don’t worry, soon we’ll teach you how to say I like you in Italian and tons of other romantic phrases. Yet, we think that identifying obsolete terms to avoid is a priority.

“Tesoro”, “cara”, and “cuore mio” are a no go

Before writing this piece, we performed a little research. And we found out a few blogs claimed you can address your beloved with one of the following expressions:

• Tesoro;
• Cara;
• Cuore mio.

There is no doubt these terms were used by the vast majority of Italians in the past. However, they are no longer in vogue now. 

To be honest, cara is still around, but you can only call your partner that way if you’ve been married for 30 years. Moreover, this term is considered rather snobbish, and only elites use it.

Tesoro is also popular to a certain extent, but it is used in other contexts. For instance, in Italy, people often use this word to address close friends. For an Italian, sending a friend a message that says “come stai tesoro?” (“how are you darling?”)  is perfectly normal.

Some posts spent a few words on nicknames too. Those articles, specifically, claimed that pet names have gone out of fashion. But that’s not all. Some authors, in fact, argued that if you really want to use one, you should opt for “biscottino”, which is the Italian word for “Noodle”.

Boom! For starters, in Italy, couples still use nicknames. Yet, they do not use ready-made ones, but they prefer to create something that fits like a glove. So forget about biscottino, because you’ll hear that only in the movies.

You might enjoy these Italian & dating related books:

• La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World’s Most Enchanting Language
• Dating Sucks, but You Don’t: The Modern Guy’s Guide to Total Confidence, Romantic Connection, and Finding the Perfect Partner
• An Italian Love Story: Surprise and Joy on the Amalfi Coast, Italian Journeys
• One Italian Summer: A Novel
• Atomic Attraction: The Psychology of Attraction
• Easy Italian Phrase Book: Over 1500 Common Phrases for Everyday Use and Travel

If you like pet names, opt for one of these

So how should you address your better half? As we already said, the best thing to do is to ask her if she likes pet names or not. And, in case she says yes, create one yourself. If you are not that creative, as an alternative, you can try some classics, such as:

• passerotto (little bird);
• topolina (little mouse);
• tata (babe);
• piccola (baby);
• patata (honey).

You can introduce the topic by saying “Posso chiamarti xxx?”, which means “Can I call you xxx?”. Of course, those x are just a placeholder, so remember to replace them with one of the nicknames we mentioned above!

Just a note before going on: tata, piccola and patata are only suitable if you are in your teens or twenties. Calling a 30 or 40 year old woman like this is kind of embarrassing. The best option when you grow up? If you are serious about the girl, just call her “amore”.

» You might like this guide on Signs that a Woman Likes You.

How to say I like you in Italian

The basics

Now that you know which are the words you should never use to address your better half, it’s time to move on with something more intriguing. That is, some short sentences you can use to express your interest in the girl/woman you are dating. 

Let’s picture a scenario. You and the girl have gone on a date 4 or 5 times, so it’s too early to say you are in love. Yet, you can tell there is something different about her.

You still have no idea if that is just physical attraction or something more, but you know you like her. And you have the feeling this is reciprocated. How to confess to her? If you have no knowledge of the Italian language, you can simply tell her “mi piaci”, which means “I like you”. 

If you want to make a big impression, use these phrases

To be honest, “mi piaci” is a weak statement. It’s true, in many countries, saying I like you is enough to express affection. And in Italy, there are reserved people who prefer to speak little too.

Yet, for many Italians speaking of your feelings is essential. Thus, if you really like the person you are dating, you should add something to this phrase. How to make the sentence powerful? Just add “molto” at the end of the sentence.

Are you a pro at learning languages? Then you can both confess and ask her for one more date. You just have to say “Mi piaci molto, posso rivederti?”. If she has a hard crush on you, there is no way she’ll give you a “no” as an answer.

“Attratto” and “attrazione” are not the appropriate terms to convey romantic feelings

As we wrote above, before creating this guide, we surfed the web and read a few posts dedicated to the Italian language. And we couldn’t help but notice that some articles gave the expression “Sono attratto da te” the wrong meaning. Those posts, specifically, claimed you can use the phrase above to express romantic feelings.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. That specific sentence in fact, is only used for expressing a strong physical attraction. Typically, the phrase that follows is “Vorrei fare l’amore con te”, which means “I want to make love to you”. 

When saying I like you is not enough

4 Italian phrases to tell your partner she is special 

Finally, it’s time for the hot stuff. Below, you’ll find a few Italian phrases you can use to tell your love interest she holds a special place in your heart.

Tengo molto a te 

It means “I really care about you”. While this is not a love declaration, this sentence still has a deep meaning. True, Italians may also say these words to their close friends. Yet, when you tell them to your special one, there is no doubt about the meaning behind them.   

Per me sei speciale 

What does this phrase mean? The literal translation is “You are very special to me”. This sentence is pretty, yet it’s somewhere in the middle. We like it because it suggests you have feelings for that person, but it doesn’t reveal too much. Would you like to make it more powerful? Then opt for this version: “voglio che tu sappia che per me sei speciale”.

Sei la mia principessa 

It means “you are my little princess”. Some men use this phrase on first dates, but those who do it are considered Latin lovers, and none trust them. Thus, we suggest you date the girl for some time before saying it. How long should you wait before telling your princess what you feel for her?

There is no set time frame, but we think 2 – 3 months is a good range. 

Another warning: “principessa” is a pretty cheesy nickname, thus, we suggest using it a piccole dosi. True, some girls love cheesy compliments. Yet, saving it for special occasions is better, because this way you’ll let your sweetheart know you really mean it.

For example, you can use this term on romantic dates. Just think about it: you show up at her place with a huge bouquet of her favorite flowers. Then, you surprise her by taking her to the most chic restaurant in the city. There is no way she will not be impressed!

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And when she asks you why you did it, you can answer by using one of the expressions below:

• “L’ho fatto perchè sei la mia principessa”

Which means “I did it ‘cause you are my little princess”.

• “L’ho fatto perché la mia principessa merita il meglio”

It translates as “I did it ‘cause my little princess earned it”.

• “L’ho fatto perchè la mia principessa era triste”

The meaning is “I did it ‘cause I don’t want my princess to cry”. Of course, this phrase is only appropriate if you know your special someone had a bad day, so only use it on those occasions. 

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How to tell her she makes you feel good 

Telling your love interest that she holds a special place in your heart is of primary importance. But we think telling her how she makes you feel is crucial as well. So here are 9 phrases you can use to express what’s on your mind. 

Quando sorridi spunta il sole 

The literal meaning is “when you smile, the sun comes out”. It’s a rather cheesy phrase, yet we think any girl would be pleased to hear it. Our suggestion? Use it in small doses!

Mi fai stare bene 

These are words people typically use at the beginning of the relationship. The reason Italians like this phrase is it does not have a strong connotation. And, yet it is able to convey to the other person you’d like to spend more time with her. 

How do you translate it into English, you say? Well, this sentence means “you make me feel good”.

Sei l’unica con cui riesco a essere me stesso

Without a doubt, this line is a little stronger than the previous one. What does it mean? It translates as “you are the only one who makes me feel at ease”. You can also translate it as “when I am around you, I can be myself”. 

Ti ho pensata tutto il giorno

It literally means “I thought about you all day long”. We think this is one of the best phrases you can say when the relationship is developing, isn’t it? 

Non faccio che pensare a te 

You can both translate it as “all I can think of is you” or “I can’t stop thinking about you”. A true classic that you can use when you are ready to confess to your special someone.  

Passare del tempo con te è tutto ciò di cui ho bisogno 

People use this phrase when they want to tell the other person he/she makes the difference. Since these words carry a deep meaning, translating them into English is not easy. Yet we think “all I want is to spend some time with you” is a good translation. 

If you don’t like this phrase that much, you can opt for something similar, like “stare con te è tutto ciò di cui ho bisogno” (all I need is to be with you).

Senza di te, la giornata non passa mai

So far, we talked about things you can say on a date. That is, words to say during a vis-a-vis meeting. Yet, some sentences are more impactful when in written form. This is the case of the sentence above. 

How to make your better half smile from her heart? In our opinion, these words should be used to cheer up your girlfriend if you have to spend time apart. If, for instance, at the end of the day, she writes you on Whatsapp complaining that she is lonely, you can reply with this phrase. Alternatively, you can also tell her these words during a video call.  

Non voglio stare senza di te 

It means “I don’t want us to be apart”. As you can guess, this sentence should be used only on special occasions. We agree, it’s a powerful phrase, and you can also say it to your better half when you are watching stars. Yet, using it in particular circumstances makes it even more impactful.

Picture this scene inside your head: you have to be separated for some time because of your work. Thus you have decided to date for the last time before parting ways. You are walking hand in hand, but the mood is weird. 

To make her understand you will miss her, you can cup her chin and tell her “non voglio stare senza di te” while you look into her eyes. Totally romantic, isn’t it?

Mi fai impazzire 

It translates as “you drive me crazy.”. To be honest, this phrase is a little old-fashioned. Also, these words are very intimate, and people usually say them between one kiss and another. However, if all you can think of is your girlfriend, we allow you to use this phrase from time to time.

Quick note: If you’re enjoying this in-depth guide on Italian phrases about love, then you’ll probably find my other writing on all things style useful. Each week, I share updates, style tips and other things not shared on the blog through my free email newsletter.

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If you just want to tell her you love her, stop here

Ok, we think we gave you enough tools to tell your crush you like her. Now it’s time to move on to the real thing and learn how to express love in Italian.