Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Saying "I love you" in Hebrew

Most people believe that saying I love you in a different language, other than English, is more romantic.  French's accent in je t'aime (I love you) can be a very powerful and romantic sign of affection.  Spanish often comes in second with the saying te amo.  There is, however, an even another loving affectionate way to say "I love you."  This comes from the Hebrew אני אוהב אותך, which is said Ani Ohev Ota[kh] from a man to a woman.  A woman saying "i love you" to a man would be  אני אוהבת אותך, which is said like Ani Ohevet Ot[kh]a.
The Hebrew language is like most other languages in regards to pronoun matching with the verb.  In this case, if you (a man) want to say I love you to a woman, the verb takes on a masculine ending, which actually nothing is added to the word.  When a feminine ending is added, the verb either takes on a "t" or "h" sound at the end of the verb. 
The same goes with the pronoun "you."  Except, the pronouns here take on a possession.  The person "I" is the one loving "you," which then adds a possessive pronoun to the end of the word- this is called an enclitic pronoun.  For the masculine enclitic pronoun a "kha" sound is added, whereas a "kh" is added when saying it so a woman.
Hope this was helpful and will provide you another means to say I love you to that special someone in your life :).

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