How to Say I Love You in Persian (and 30 Terms of Endearment)

The everyday way to say “I love you” in Persian is دوستت دارم (dustet dâram). For romantic, head-over-heels love, Iranians say عاشقتم (âsheghetam), “I’m in love with you.” To be polite or speak to several people, use دوستتون دارم (dustetun dâram). Warm words like عزیزم (azizam, “my dear”) fill daily speech.

Persian is a language where affection is said out loud, often, and to many people: your partner, your grandmother, the neighbor’s toddler, even a friend who just lent you a pen. Below you will find the main ways to say I love you, what each one really means, 30 terms of endearment with their literal meanings, how to answer when someone says them to you, and two verified lines of classical love poetry.

How to say I love you in Persian: the main phrases

The core verb is دوست داشتن (dust dâshtan), which covers both “to like” and “to love.” دوست (dust) means “friend” or “dear,” and داشتن (dâshtan) means “to have.” Add the object ending ـت (-et, “you”) and you get دوستت دارم Listen, literally “I hold you dear.” In careful speech the ending sounds like -at (dustat dâram); in everyday Tehran speech it is -et (dustet dâram).

Dustet dâram vs. âsheghetam: what is the difference?

دوستت دارم Listen is broad. A mother says it to her son, a husband to his wife, a student to a favorite teacher. Because the same verb also means “to like,” you will hear it about food and hobbies too: چای دوست دارم (châi dust dâram) means “I like tea.” Context does the work.

عاشقتم Listen comes from عاشق (âshegh), “lover, someone in love,” the same word that runs through centuries of Persian poetry. It is a short spoken form of عاشقت هستم (âsheghet hastam). It carries passion, so between adults who are not a couple it can sound romantic. Between close friends and siblings, though, it is common as a joking, affectionate “I adore you,” the way English speakers say “I love you, man.”

A note on friends: between two friends of the same gender, دوستت دارم is normal and warm. Said to a friend of the opposite gender, it may be read as a declaration, so many people choose برام خیلی عزیزی instead.

Formal, written and literary forms

In writing, the object ending is usually spelled the same way: دوستت دارم. The polite or plural دوستتان دارم (dustetân dâram) appears in letters and speeches, while دوستتون دارم is how people actually say it. In older and poetic Persian you will also meet دوستت می‌دارم (dustat midâram), which sounds lofty and literary today. Use it in a love letter, not at the dinner table.

30 Persian terms of endearment, with meaning and usage

Most Persian endearments are built with the ending ـم (-am), “my.” So عزیز (aziz, “dear”) becomes عزیزم (azizam, “my dear”). Some of the most loved ones are not sweet nicknames at all but small vows of self-sacrifice. They belong to the polite tradition Iranians call تعارف (ta’ârof), in which a speaker humbly lowers themselves and raises the listener. Encyclopaedia Iranica’s entry on ta’ârof gives قربان شما (ghorbân-e shomâ, “your self-sacrificer”) as a routine way to say goodbye or close a letter.

Everyday endearments for anyone close

Romantic terms of endearment for your partner

Endearments for children

Endearments for parents, elders and friends

Which of these surprised you most? Many learners pick “my liver.” Tell us in the comments which one you plan to use first.

How to reply when someone says I love you in Persian

The direct answer is منم دوستت دارم Listen (manam dustet dâram), “I love you too.” منم (manam) is the spoken blend of من هم (man ham), “me too.” Other natural replies:

Endearments also get answered with endearments. If your friend says مرسی گلم (mersi golam, “thanks, my flower”), a typical reply is خواهش می‌کنم عزیزم (khâhesh mikonam azizam, “you’re welcome, dear”). And when someone calls your name from the other room, answer جانم؟ Listen instead of a flat “yes.”

Persian love poetry: two verified lines

Romantic Persian is soaked in poetry, but be careful with quotes you find online. Many “Rumi love quotes” shared in English cannot be traced to anything Rumi wrote. The two lines below are checked against the Persian text on Ganjoor, the standard online library of classical Persian poetry. The translations are ours.

Hafez, Divan, ghazal 152 (opening couplet):

در ازل پرتو حسنت ز تجلی دم زد / عشق پیدا شد و آتش به همه عالم زد Listen

dar azal partov-e hosnat ze tajalli dam zad / eshgh peydâ shod o âtash be hame âlam zad
“In the beginning of time, the ray of your beauty shone out in a flash; love appeared and set fire to the whole world.”

Rumi, Masnavi, Book 1 (section 6 in the Ganjoor edition):

عاشقی گر زین سر و گر زان سرست / عاقبت ما را بدان سر رهبرست Listen

âsheghi gar zin sar o gar zân sar ast / âghebat mâ râ bedân sar rahbar ast
“Whether love comes from this side or from that, in the end it is our guide to the other side.” Rumi means that human love and love of the divine lead to the same place.

If these lines move you, our free Masnavi proem lesson walks through the opening of the Masnavi line by line, and the 100 Most Common Poems of Hafez collects Hafez in Persian with English translation.

Which words fit who you are saying it to?

Choosing the right word is mostly about the relationship. Pick the person below to see phrases that fit, plus a next step for learning more spoken Persian.

Quick tips for sounding natural

• Spoken vs. written: say دوستتون دارم (dustetun), write دوستتان دارم (dustetân). Say قربونت برم, write قربانت بروم. In Tehran speech, â before n often becomes u: ghorbân becomes ghorbun, jân becomes jun.
• Stack them: Iranians often pile up endearments, as in عزیزم، جانم، قربونت برم. It sounds warm, not excessive.
• The sacrifice phrases are not literal: nobody expects anyone to be sacrificed. Think of them as a heartfelt “oh, sweetheart.”
• Watch the slang: جیگر (jigar) and عشقم (eshgham) toward someone you barely know can come across as flirting.

Do you have a favorite Persian endearment from your own family that we did not include? Share it in the comments, with who uses it.

Sources: Ganjoor, Hafez, ghazal 152, Ganjoor, Rumi, Masnavi Book 1, section 6, Encyclopaedia Iranica, “Ta’ârof”, Wiktionary, جان.

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