The French language is renowned for its romantic and poetic qualities that have captivated people for centuries.
If you’re looking to express your love in French, there are many romantic nicknames you can call your lover.
In this article, we’ll explore some of the most popular romantic French nicknames and phrases to help you express your love in the most romantic way possible.
Let’s dive into the world of French romance.
How Do You Say “I Love You” in French?
The most common way to express your love is Je t’aime “I love you”. This phrase is used with your love partners, but also family and friends.
French is known for its romantic language, and saying Je t’aime in a smooth and suave way can certainly add to the romance.
Another way to express your love is by saying:
Je t’adore.
I adore you.
Je t’adore adds more passion to your words, and can be used rather with your romantic partner.
To learn more about French verbs aimer and adorer check out our post Talking About Love in French.
Pay attention that the verb aimer, which has the specificity of being a reciprocal verb. Read the Guide to Reciprocal Verbs in French.
How to Call Your Lover in French? French Terms of Endearment
We know you don’t need a manual to be an amazing lover, but you may need some help if your lover is French. Addressing the person you love with cute nicknames, is certainly one way to show affection. French is known for a wide variety of cute love nicknames, from classic ones like mon amour to weird ones like mon chou.
After discovering all about French love nicknames, the next step is to choose the best love nickname to match your love style.
So, let’s start from the basics, and we’ll build up to more sophisticated love nicknames in French.
Mon amour
My love
Mon amour is a classic and timeless way to convey love and devotion in the French language. It’s often said between romantic partners, with close friends and family members.
In the morning, you can say, for example.
“Bonjour, mon amour!”
“Good morning, my love.”
You can always take a few love words in French, and play with them. A variation to mon amour can be mon amoreux, or mon amoreuse, which means “my loved one”.
mon amoreux (m.)
loved man
mon amoreuse (f.)
loved woman
Mon amour is a more general term of affection and can be used for anyone who you care for deeply, including friends and family members, as opposed toamoreux or mon amoreuse, which is designed only for romantic partners.
If you wish to accentuate that a person is love of your life, you can say “L’amour de ma vie”.
Here is an extensive list of Cute Love Nicknames in French.
- Mon homme (m): my man
- Ma nana (f.): my girlfriend (informal)
- Mon chou: literally means “my cabbage”, but chou can also come from a French cream puff called chou à la crème
- Chouchou: Originally derived from chou
- Mon ange: my angel
- Mon bébé: my baby
- Mon coeur: my heart
- Mon trésor: my treasure
- Ma chérie (f), mon chéri (m): my darling
- Ma puce: my flea
- Mon trésor: my treasure
- Ma moitié: my better half
- Mon mignon: my cutie
- Ma douce (f): my sweet
- Ma beauté (f): my beauty
- Ma belle (f.) / mon beau (m.): are very common French terms of endearment translated as “my beautiful” for women, or “my handsome” for men. Mon beau is also commonly used not only for your boyfriend but for close friends or family members. On the other hand, ma belle is used for women specifically.
If you’re curious about the cute nicknames that French people give their loved ones, check out a video where random people in France share cute French nicknames.
While we’ve talked about love nicknames in theory, this video shows the actual endearing terms that French people use.
The Most Beautiful Word in French
To me, every French word sounds beautiful, even if the meaning is not so pretty, like merde. However, there’s one word that’s declared to be the most beautiful word in French, in both its meaning and sound. And, it has to do with love.
Can you guess which one is it?
One of the most beautiful words in French is considered to be Ma chérie or Mon chéri.
Ma chérie and mon chéri are feminine and masculine forms of the French word that translates as “my dear,” “my darling,” or “my sweetheart.” These terms can be used for both friends and romantic partners.
If you wish to learn more words about Love in French, click here.
Weird French Love Nicknames
The French often tease those they love, so it’s no surprise that you’ll run into many pet names that would horrify anybody else.
I gathered a short list of French romantic nicknames that could seem a bit weird to the rest of the world.
- Ma truffe: means truffle, but also a dog’s nose, so they leave the interpretation entirely up to you!
- Ma crotte: Literally means “my little poop”.
- Mon gros (M), ma grosse (F): means “My fat” and it’s a very common French term of endearment.
- Ma chatte (F): Be careful with this one, as it has a double meaning in English and means “pussycat”.
Show Your Love in French: It’s More Romantic<3
French terms of endearment are just so sweet, don’t you think?
In this article, you learned all love words in French, from, mon amour (my love) tomon chou(my cabbage). Remember that you can always add on other cute words like mon petit (my little one) or ma belle (my beautiful). Using terms of endearment is not only a way to address your lover, but it also adds a touch of affection and appreciation to your conversations!
Now it’s time to give your lover a romantic French nickname. Or find a French partner, if you haven’t done it already!
Learn more about the French lifestyle.