How To Say In Italian

Describing love in Italian:

Italian is known as a language of love, and for good reason. So how do you express your feelings in Italian? For romantic love, you say:

Ti amo. [tee AH-moh]
I love you.

However, this would not be appropriate for family members, close friends, and other non-romantic relationships. To express platonic or non-romantic love, there is a different phrase which is difficult to translate directly, but essentially means “I love you” or “I care about you” in a non-sexual or non-romantic way.

Ti voglio bene. [tee VOH-yoh BEH-neh]
I love you.

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Describing text messages in Italian:

Italians have fully embraced cellphones (telefonini, lit. little telephones), and text messaging especially.

Mandare un messagio. [mahn-DAH-reh oon meh-SAH-joh]
Mandare un sms. [mahn-DAH-reh oon ESSEH-EMMEH-esseh]
To send a text message.

Sta sempre a mandare messagi!
She’s always texting!

Like the text message shorthand developed in English (how R U?), Italian teenagers have developed their own text message dialect that can seem incomprehensible to those unfamiliar. Here’s a cheat-sheet:

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