Using "love" to address someone

Question

For example: Girlfriend: Hello, love! Boyfriend: Hello!

In English it doesn't change if you're talking to a guy or a girl, but I've noticed some words might change in Russian if you're talking to a guy or a girl.

I gotta warn you that this is not a translation service per se. — shabunc, Jan 26 '20 at 11:55

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Jan 26 '20 at 23:58

English "love" can be used in a wider set of scenarios compared to the "любимый" mentioned in an answer provided. "Любимый" is for somebody very closely-related, a wife, a lover, a child may be, well, may be a woman can tell it to her close friend.

Russian word "дорогой" ("дорогая" in feminine) is the other word one might look for when trying to transmit English "love" in this context. It's more neutral yet applicable if one might want to express an extreme level of sympathy. See also this question answers to which give a nice summary of what else can be used, like милый(милая in feminine).

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 30 '20 at 16:09

'Love' is not necessarily about addressing a girlfriend. Here's about its British usage towards strangers:

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/199609/can-i-help-you-love-love-as-a-form-of-address-is-it-used-regionally-to-talk

As I can remember, in the famous 'Blowup' movie that form of address was used there towards a girl just working in the same photo studio (a co-worker). In Russian, such form might sound like something between красавица and (not as nice) дорогуша.

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 25 '20 at 23:44

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In this context the word "love" could be translated as

любимый (to a guy)
любимая (to a girl)

And "Hello, love!" to a guy is translated as

Привет, любимый!

answered Jan 25 '20 at 23:44

Dmitry

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thank you for your help! – Illiana Jan 25 '20 at 23:57
@Illiana And I have to warn you to be cautious when using the words in the answer - these Russian equivalents are way more intimate (when used to address someone) than the English 'love'... – tum_ Jan 26 '20 at 20:02
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FWIW, “любовь моя” is also acceptable. – Ainar-G Jan 27 '20 at 15:31

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 30 '20 at 08:12

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Любимый sounds very intimate. It is better to use a neutral style - Милый, милая addressing somebody.

answered Jan 30 '20 at 08:12

V.V.

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Пилум · Answer 5 · 2020-03-03T17:50:53.270

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To be exact, this is the meaning of "Моя любовь" (My Love), I think, it have very pathos, and it is an intimate.

It doesn't have declination on the gender to real addressee..

edited Mar 03 '20 at 17:50

answered Feb 28 '20 at 09:12

Пилум

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Using "love" to address someone

5 Answers5