How to Say "I Love You" in German

After Glory Lennon gave us such great insight into how to say "I love you" in Spanish, I will do the same with German today.

First of all, there are two ways to say it. It depends on who you say it to. If you say it to a lover, for example, you say "Ich liebe dich". This implies really strong feelings and is normally exclusively used for lovers, though it can be said to parents or children too. It would look very strange, however, if you said this to a good friend.

For all other persons, there is the term "Ich hab dich lieb" or, more common, the shorter version without the personal pronoun: "Hab dich lieb!"

You use the latter at the end of a letter, email or text message, for example, or in everyday speech. As you don't just tell anyone that you love him or her, the term "(Ich) hab dich lieb" is usually used towards family (parents, children, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles etc) and close friends for whom you feel strongly. It is more common among female friends and I guess most guys would shoot you a weird glance if you told them "Ich hab dich lieb."

A few examples:

When you talk to your lover, you tell him "Ich liebe dich."

Towards your parents or children, you can either use "Ich liebe dich" or "Ich hab dich lieb", whereas the latter is more common.

Within family relations, you usually use "(Ich) hab dich lieb."

If you are a girl, you might say to your close female friends or gay male friends "Hab dich lieb."

If you are a boy and not gay, you will likely get weird looks if you say to anyone of your friends "Hab dich lieb."

Finally, thanks to Glory Lennon, the Beatles Song "She Loves You in German" (I didn't even know that song before...) :)