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How do you say I love you in Hindi?

मैं तुमसे प्यार करता हूँ (main tumse pyaar karta hoon) if you are male, मैं तुमसे प्यार करती हूँ (main tumse pyaar karti hoon) if you are female. The verb ending changes with the speaker's gender, not the listener's.

That gender rule catches everyone out. Karta is said by a man, karti by a woman, regardless of who they are speaking to. A woman saying karta hoon is a grammatical error, not a stylistic choice.

Softer and stronger versions

To family

Hindi speakers rarely say pyaar to parents or siblings. Affection is shown through action and through terms of address — बेटा/बेटी to a child, भैया/दीदी to a sibling. A grown child telling a parent "main tumse pyaar karta hoon" would sound theatrical to most Indian ears.

A note on tum and aap

तुम is informal and correct for a partner or close friend. आप is formal. Using aap in a declaration of love sounds either very old-fashioned or very poetic — which is exactly why film songs do it.

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