Japanese

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Kanji in this term
あい
Grade: 4
on’yomi

Etymology

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A phrase forming a complete sentence, consisting of (ai, love) + して (shite, conjunctive form of verb する suru, “to do”) + いる (iru, to be, to be doing something). The shite iru contracts in informal speech into shiteru.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [a̠i ɕite̞ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

Phrase

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(あい)してる (ai shiteru

  1. (informal) I'm in love with you, I love you

Usage notes

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This literally just means “[someone] loves [someone]”, with the two “someones” (grammatical subject and object) understood from context.

Although common in popular media such as anime or J-pop, this expression is considered very intense in real life and is usually reserved for serious situations such as when making a marriage proposal, or telling a family member while on your death bed that the speaker loves them. A way to express these feelings in a less intense, i.e. romantic, manner would be to use ()きだよ (suki da yo) or (だい)()きだよ (daisuki da yo) which respectively mean to like/to really like someone.

Synonyms

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Descendants

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