Key Facts
- Hangul: 사랑하다 (saranghada)
- Meaning: to love
- Level: A1
- Stem: 사랑하
- Class: 하다 type
- Objects: transitive
- Honorific polite: 사랑하세요
What Does 사랑하다 Mean?
사랑하다 means to love: to feel deep affection for a person or thing, as in 가족을 사랑하다. It is transitive, so the loved one takes 을/를 (가족을 사랑해요). The noun 사랑 means love.
Meanings:
- to love. Feel deep affection for a person or thing, as in 가족을 사랑하다.
It is a strong word: family and partners are the typical objects. For ordinary liking, Korean prefers 좋아하다.
How Do You Pronounce 사랑하다?
The dictionary form is read as written. The past 사랑했어요 is read [사랑해써요], the formal present 사랑합니다 is read [사랑함니다], and the plan form 사랑할 거예요 is read [사랑할꺼예요].
How the forms sound:
- 사랑했어요 [사랑해써요]
- 사랑할 거예요 [사랑할꺼예요]
- 사랑하겠어요 [사랑하게써요]
- 사랑합니다 [사랑함니다]
- 사랑했습니다 [사랑핻씀니다]
- 사랑할 것입니다 [사랑할꺼심니다]
- 사랑했어 [사랑해써]
- 사랑할 거야 [사랑할꺼야]
- 사랑하고 싶어요 [사랑하고 시퍼요]
- 사랑하지 않아요 [사랑하지 아나요]
How Do You Use 사랑하다 in a Sentence?
저는 우리 가족을 사랑해요.
I love my family.
우리 가족 means my family, in the Korean way of saying our family. The polite present 사랑해요 states a lasting feeling. (사랑해요)
그때는 그 노래를 사랑했어요.
At that time I loved that song.
그때는 (at that time) puts the feeling in the past, and 그 노래를 shows that a song can be the object. 사랑했어요 is the past. (사랑했어요)
사랑하는 사람에게 편지를 써요.
I write a letter to the person I love.
사랑하는 is the present modifier, and 사람에게 marks the recipient of the letter. The verb at the end, 써요, is a different verb. (사랑하는)
How Does Saranghada Conjugation Work?
사랑하다
| Form | Korean | Romanization | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polite present | 사랑해요 | ||
| Polite past | 사랑했어요 | ||
| Polite future | 사랑할 거예요 | ||
| Polite future (guess) | 사랑하겠어요 | ||
| Formal present | 사랑합니다 | ||
| Formal past | 사랑했습니다 | ||
| Formal future | 사랑할 것입니다 | ||
| Casual present | 사랑해 | ||
| Casual past | 사랑했어 | ||
| Casual future | 사랑할 거야 | ||
| Want to (polite) | 사랑하고 싶어요 | ||
| Honorific polite | 사랑하세요 | ||
| Because / and then | 사랑해서 | ||
| Conditional | 사랑하면 | ||
| Present modifier | 사랑하는 | ||
| Past modifier | 사랑한 | ||
| Future modifier | 사랑할 | ||
| Short negative | 사랑 안 해요 | ||
| Long negative | 사랑하지 않아요 |
| Form | Korean | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Polite present | 사랑해요 | as written |
| Polite past | 사랑했어요 | [사랑해써요] |
| Polite future | 사랑할 거예요 | [사랑할꺼예요] |
| Polite future (guess) | 사랑하겠어요 | [사랑하게써요] |
| Formal present | 사랑합니다 | [사랑함니다] |
| Formal past | 사랑했습니다 | [사랑핻씀니다] |
| Formal future | 사랑할 것입니다 | [사랑할꺼심니다] |
| Casual present | 사랑해 | as written |
| Casual past | 사랑했어 | [사랑해써] |
| Casual future | 사랑할 거야 | [사랑할꺼야] |
| Want to (polite) | 사랑하고 싶어요 | [사랑하고 시퍼요] |
| Honorific polite | 사랑하세요 | as written |
| Because / and then | 사랑해서 | as written |
| Conditional | 사랑하면 | as written |
| Present modifier | 사랑하는 | as written |
| Past modifier | 사랑한 | as written |
| Future modifier | 사랑할 | as written |
| Short negative | 사랑 안 해요 | as written |
| Long negative | 사랑하지 않아요 | [사랑하지 아나요] |
Is 사랑하다 Regular or Irregular?
사랑하다 is a 하다 word built on the noun 사랑. The 하 meets 여 and contracts to 해 before any 아/어 ending: 사랑해요, 사랑했어요, 사랑해서. See the 하다 to 해요 page. For the short negative, both 사랑 안 해요 and 안 사랑해요 are heard; the table shows the first, which follows the usual 하다-verb pattern. The page on negating 하다 verbs explains the placement.
Which Mistake Do Learners Make with 사랑하다, to Love?
Wrong: ✗ 나는 너를 사랑하다 (as a spoken sentence)
Correct: ✓ 사랑해요 / 사랑해
Why: Use the 해요 or 합니다 ending in conversation, not the dictionary form 사랑하다.
Learners lift a line from a song or a script and say 나는 너를 사랑하다. The dictionary form is a label, not a sentence ending. In conversation say 사랑해요, or 사랑해 to a partner or close friend. Korean usually drops both 'I' and 'you' here, and 당신, the textbook word for 'you', sounds stiff outside couples and song lyrics.
How Does 사랑하다, to Love, Differ from Similar Words?
| Word | How it differs |
|---|---|
| 좋아하다 | 좋아하다 is the everyday word for liking, while 사랑하다 is stronger and deeper. Using 사랑하다 about food is possible in jokes, but for a plain preference 좋아하다 is the default. |
| 그립다 | 그립다 is to miss someone. 사랑하다 is the love itself, and 그립다 is the feeling of absence. |
A Birthday Call to Mum
A daughter calls her mother on her birthday. The mother uses casual speech to her daughter; the daughter uses polite speech to her mother. The warmth comes from the relationship and the words, even though their endings differ.
Daughter
엄마, 사랑해요.
Eomma, saranghaeyo.
Mum, I love you.
Mother
나도 사랑해.
Nado saranghae.
I love you too.
Daughter
카드에 사랑한다고 썼어요.
Kadeue saranghandago sseosseoyo.
I wrote in the card that I love you.
Mother
고마워.
Gomawo.
Thank you.
나도 means “me too”, so the mother does not need to repeat the object. In 사랑한다고, the ending quotes a statement of love. The daughter is reporting what she wrote, while 사랑해요 in her first line speaks directly to her mother.
Phrases with 사랑 That You Will Meet
사랑하는 사람 means “the person I love” or “a loved one”. The ending 는 attaches the feeling to the following noun. In a letter, 사랑하는 엄마 means “Dear Mum” with an affectionate tone, literally “Mum whom I love”. It is warmer than simply addressing someone by their title.
첫사랑 means “first love”. It can name the feeling or the person associated with it. In a drama, a character talking about their 첫사랑 may be remembering someone from school, rather than announcing a current relationship. It is written as one word.
사랑에 빠지다 means “to fall in love”. The image of falling matches English, but Korean marks 사랑 with 에. This phrase describes entering that feeling; 사랑하다 describes loving someone. That difference helps when following a story about how a couple met.
Where Will You Hear 사랑해요 and 사랑합니다?
A couple may use 사랑해 in private, while a child may say 사랑해요 to a parent. Neither form tells you whether the love is romantic: the people and the situation supply that meaning. Adding 요 makes the ending polite without weakening the affection.
At a concert, 사랑합니다 can address the audience as a whole. In a speech or a public thank-you, the formal ending suits the setting. You can also meet 사랑하다 in campaigns about loving your community or country, where the object is broader than one person.
Songs often use 사랑했어요 when looking back on a relationship. The past tense places the feeling in an earlier period; by itself it does not explain why the relationship ended. Listen for the surrounding story before treating a past form as a breakup message.
What Is Tricky about 사랑하세요?
사랑하세요 contains the honorific 시, which respects the person who loves. It does not automatically make the person being loved honorific. The same form can also function as an instruction, so translating every occurrence as “I love you politely” would give the wrong meaning. For your own declaration, choose 사랑해요 or 사랑합니다.
Keep 사랑하다 together as one word in its dictionary form. The long negative 사랑하지 않아요 separates the auxiliary 않아요. The space marks the boundary between the negative construction's two words, while 사랑해요 remains a single word.
Related Words for Talking about Affection
| Korean | Meaning | Useful distinction |
|---|---|---|
| 사랑 | love | The noun for the feeling itself. |
| 연인 | romantic partner; lovers | Names a romantic relationship. |
| 가족 | family | A common object of 사랑하다 without a romantic meaning. |
| 첫사랑 | first love | Often appears in memories and relationship stories. |
The emotions vocabulary lesson places love alongside other feelings. For family relationships, learn the titles in the family vocabulary lesson so you can address the person naturally.
Mini Drill: Choose the Right Form
- Give the polite present for “I love my family”: 가족을 ___.
- Change 사랑해요 to the polite past.
- Put 사랑하다 before 사람 to mean “a person I love”.
Show answers
- 가족을 사랑해요.
- 사랑했어요.
- 사랑하는 사람.
Quick Self-Test
- Does 사랑해 always refer to romantic love?
- Who receives grammatical respect in 사랑하세요: the lover or the loved person?
- Which phrase describes falling in love rather than already loving someone?
Show answers
- No. It also expresses affection within families and other close relationships.
- The person doing the loving.
- 사랑에 빠지다.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Object Does 사랑하다 Take?
을/를 for the loved one, as in 가족을 사랑해요.
Is 사랑하다 the Same as 좋아하다?
No. 사랑하다 is stronger and deeper. 좋아하다 is the everyday word for liking.
Which Negative Should I Use?
Both 사랑 안 해요 and 안 사랑해요 are heard. The table shows 사랑 안 해요, which follows the usual 하다-verb pattern, and the long form 사랑하지 않아요 works in any context.
What Does the Noun 사랑 Mean?
Love. It is the noun inside the verb, and 하다 makes it a verb.
Which Words Are Related to 사랑하다?
What Should You Learn Next?
Read 좋아하다 for liking, 그립다 for missing someone, and 행복하다 for being happy. 보고 싶다 is the common phrase for wanting to see someone. The Korean verb conjugator checks any form of 사랑하다; the whole Korean verb dictionary lists the other entries, and the class rule is on the 하다 to 해요 page.