Love (noun) — a strong feeling of deep affection for someone or something.
Love (verb) — to feel deep affection for a person, place, or activity; also used to express a strong liking for something.
What Does Love Mean?
Love is one of the most frequently used words in English and one of the oldest. It covers a wide range of deep positive feelings: the romantic love between partners, the unconditional love between family members, the deep bond of friendship, and even a strong enthusiasm for a hobby or pursuit ("She has a real love of music").
As a verb, love describes the act of feeling this deep affection: "I love my family", "He loves playing chess". It is a stative verb, meaning it describes a state rather than an action, so it is not normally used in continuous tenses in standard formal writing. However, in informal British English "I'm loving this!" is widely accepted to express temporary enjoyment.
As a noun, love can be countable or uncountable depending on context. "Love is patient" (uncountable, abstract) versus "Their love was a complicated one" (countable, a particular instance). In informal British English, love is also a common term of address — a shopkeeper might say "That'll be two pounds, love."
Example Sentences (A2 – C1)
| Sentence | Level & note |
|---|---|
| She loves learning new languages. | A2 — verb + gerund, simple present |
| My grandparents have been in love for over fifty years. | B1 — collocation: in love, present perfect |
| He fell in love with the city the moment he arrived. | B1 — collocation: fall in love with, past simple |
| Her love of literature was evident in every essay she wrote. | B2 — noun + prepositional phrase: love of |
| The novel explores the tension between romantic love and professional ambition, suggesting that the two are rarely reconcilable. | C1 — academic/literary register, noun as abstract concept |
Common Collocations
| Collocation | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| fall in love (with) | verb phrase | She fell in love with him after just one conversation. |
| be in love (with) | verb phrase | Are you sure you're in love, or just infatuated? |
| love dearly / deeply | verb + adverb | He loved his children deeply and showed it every day. |
| true love | adjective + noun | Many fairy tales end with the hero finding true love. |
| love affair | noun compound | Their love affair began during a summer in Florence. |
| unrequited love | adjective + noun | Unrequited love is a theme found throughout English poetry. |
| love of (something) | noun + preposition | Her love of travel took her to thirty countries. |
| send (someone) your love | fixed expression | Please send my love to your parents when you see them. |
Usage Notes
Stative verb caution: Love is a stative verb in most contexts, so avoid continuous forms in formal writing. Write "I love this" rather than "I am loving this" unless you want to emphasise a temporary, in-the-moment feeling (informal only).
Love vs. like: Like is weaker than love. In formal or professional writing, prefer appreciate or value over love when describing things rather than people ("We appreciate your feedback" rather than "We love your feedback").
Prepositions: Use love for to express feeling towards a person ("his love for his children") and love of to express enthusiasm for an activity or subject ("a love of jazz"). Both are correct; love of is slightly more formal.
British informal address: In parts of Britain (particularly the North of England and Wales), love is used as a friendly, non-romantic term of address to strangers. This is perfectly normal and not considered inappropriate.
Common Errors to Avoid
I am loving you so much. (romantic context — avoid continuous)
I love you so much. (stative verb; use simple present)
She has a love for travelling since childhood.
She has loved travelling since childhood. / She has had a love of travelling since childhood.