[Originally posted on 08/23/13 on the Duolingo French for English speakers forum by Remy]
In French, there are 3 main verbs to express fondness for something.
“aimer bien”, which translates to “like” or “enjoy”
- ex: “J’aime bien cette fille” = “I like this girl”
- ex: “J’aime bien être ici” = “I enjoy being here”
“aimer”, which can either translate to “(really) like”, or “love”
- ex: “J’aime ce tableau” = “I (really) like this painting”
- ex: “J’aime cette fille” = “I (really) like/love this girl”
“adorer”, which can either translate to “love” or “adore”
- ex: “J’adore ce film !” = “I love/adore this movie!”
- ex: “J’adore cette fille” = “I love/adore this girl”
Selected comments on original post
Where would ‘I quite like’ fit into this discussion? It could mean ‘I like a lot’ or ‘I like somewhat’ depending on your background. In the States, ‘quite’ is normally used to temper the strength of the emotion, in the sense that I don’t want to commit myself. ‘I quite like their music’ would mean that yes, it’s OK but I I’m not entirely sure. In the UK on the other hand, ‘I quite like …’ is often used to mean that I like it a lot. I translated ‘j’aime bien’ as ‘I quite like, which could actually mean either, and gets me off the hook from just translating as ‘j’aime’.
Remy [contributor]
“I quite like their music” translates to:
- J’aime assez leur musique.
- J’aime plutôt leur musique.
- J’apprécie plutôt leur musique.
Remy [contributor]
Yes, it is. “Really like” translates to “aimer vraiment” (or “aimer beaucoup”).
Ex: “I really like this music.” translates to “J’aime vraiment cette musique”
Duolinguists 