Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "to love" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

любить

Meaning: to love, like, need, require, prefer

Pronunciation: [lyoo-BEET']

Part of speech: verb (imperfective aspect)

Rank: #179 (see frequency list)

She loves her daughter.

Example sentences:

Я люблю́ тебя́.
I love you. (familiar)
Онá лю́бит дочь.
She loves her daughter.
Мы лю́бим нáших роди́телей.
We love our parents.
Я люблю́ му́зыку.
I love music
Он лю́бит, когда идëт дождь.
He likes it when it rains.
Рáньше онá люби́ла читать, а сейчác - нет.
She used to like reading, but now she doesn't like it anymore.
Розы лю́бят теплó.
Roses need warm weather.
Я не люблю́ ссор.
I don't support quarrels.
literal I don't like quarrels.
Мой сын лю́бит, чтóбы ему́ пéли пécни.
My son likes when people sing songs to him.
Ты бу́дешь меня́ люби́ть, когдá я бу́ду стáрым?
Will you still love me when I get old?
Люби́те смéлых парнéй!
Fall in love with brave guys!
Ми́ша и Та́ня лю́бят друг дру́га.
Misha and Tanya love each other.
Они люби́ли плáвать.
They liked swimming.

Idioms and set expressions:

лю́бит-не лю́бит = he (she) loves me, he (she) loves me not
люби́ть вы́пить = to be fond of the bottle
люби́ть до безу́мия = to dote
люби́ть от всего́ се́рдца = to love from the bottom of one’s heart

Related words:

любóвь = love
люби́мый = favourite, beloved
любóвный = love (adjective)
обожáть = adore, worship
влюби́ться = fall in love

Proverbs and sayings:

Когдá меня́ лю́бишь, и мою́ собáчку люби́.
If you love me, love my dog.
Лю́бит как собáка пáлку.
He (she) doesn't love him (her) at all.
literal He (she) loves him (her) as a dog loves a stick.
Люби́ть тяжелó, не люби́ть тяжéле того.
It's difficult to love, but it's even more difficult not to.
Люблю́ как чëрта в углу́.
I don't love (him, her) at all.
literal I love (him, her) as a devil in the corner.
Лю́бишь ката́ться, люби́ и са́ночки вози́ть.
After the feast comes the reckoning.
literal If you like a ride, you should like carrying your sledges too.

Verb conjugation:

Present Tense

I	люблю́
you (singular)	лю́бишь
he, she, it	лю́бит
we	лю́бим
you (plural)	лю́бите
they	лю́бят

Past Tense

I, you (singular), he	люби́л
she	люби́ла
it	люби́ло
we, you (plural), they	люби́ли

Future Simple Tense

The imperfective verb любить is not used in the Future Simple Tense. Use the perfective verb полюбить instead.

Future Compound Tense

I	буду люби́ть
you (singular)	будешь люби́ть
he, she, it	будет люби́ть
we	будем люби́ть
you (plural)	будете люби́ть
they	будут люби́ть

Imperative Mood (Command Form)

you (singular)	люби́
you (plural)	люби́те

View full conjugation table for the verb pair любить/полюбить

Vocabulary lesson: By Russificate blog exclusively for MasterRussian

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.

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