Level B1 and above
In the wake of St. Valentine’s Day, I feel like talking about love.
Do you remember the last time you fell in love?
Did you fancy him from the first moment? Were you infatuated with her? Was it love at first sight on both sides? Or was it unrequited?
Written and compiled by Benedicte Gravrand, English trainer at The Language House
Was he a heartthrob? Did you idealise her? Were you enchanted? Did you long to hold her in your arms?
Was there a spark between the two of you, or did the feeling grow with time?
Was there a long courting period? Was it full of yearning?
And once you became lovebirds, did you spend a lot of time in your love nest with your sweetheart?
Was it true love? Are you still crazy about your love, or are you in a more quietly loving relationship?
At Last (my love has come along)- Etta James
Love vocabulary
- fancy – a strong liking or love for someone or an attraction to them
- infatuation – intense feelings of love
- love at first sight – the experience of falling in love with someone as soon as you see them for the first time.
- unrequited love – a love that is one-sided and not returned.
- heartthrob – term for the one who makes your heart beat faster
- idolise – to totally love someone to the point where you don’t not see their faults
- enchant – casting a spell of love over someone
- longing – to really want someone; to pine for them
- spark – chemistry; strong attraction between two people
- courting – wooing; another word for dating
- yearning – a very strong urge to be with the one you love
- lovebirds – partners in a romantic relationship who love each other very much
- love nest – place where lovers spend time together
- sweetheart – endearing name for your partner
- true love – your lover or soul mate
- crazy about – madly in live with someone, head over heels, infatuated
More from grammar.yourdictionary.com
See Garry’s related blog about describing your love: Let’s talk about love.
I Feel Love – Donna Summer
Enough with the questioning. Here is a true love story for you.
A monument to love
Remember the Taj Mahal? It is a palace built in the 17th century by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth. The white palace in located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, in the North of India. It has attracted millions of visitors since. And the story behind it, that it is a monument of love, if true, seems very romantic.
The BBC reported a few years ago that a Mr. Faizul Hasan Qadri, 77, a retired postmaster, was building his own monument of love for his wife in a small village also located in Uttar Pradesh. In fact, it was a replica, albeit of a much humbler scale, of the Taj Mahal.
He started the building works after his wife, Tajammuli Begun, died of cancer in 2011.
They got married when they were teenagers in 1953. “We were together for more than 58 years, and love grows with time,” Mr Qadri said. “Now that she is gone, she is always there in my thoughts.”
“You see, my wife and I were childless, so she always used to say, ‘after we are dead, there will be nobody to remember us, we will be forgotten’. So I promised her that if she were to die before me, I would build such a beautiful mausoleum for her that people would remember her for ages,” he said.
He had to sell most of his belongings to fund the building works, and even though he ran out of money before completion, he was determined to finish his project on his own, no matter what.
The one-room palace is his wife’s tomb, he says. He has left space for his own grave next to his wife’s and prays that “we should be together in the afterlife as well”.
The mini palace became famous in the region and attracted many visitors.
Upon hearing about it, the then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav offered Mr. Qadri funds to complete the structure and get the marble work done, reported News India Express. Mr. Qadri politely declined the offer and asked the minister to establish an inter-college for girls in his village instead. He wanted this to be done in memory of his wife, who could not read. The request was accepted and the college is now reportedly up and running.
Mr. Qadri died in a road accident in 2018, aged 83. The monument had not been finished then, but his family said they would do it for him.
Just as the Taj Mahal helps maintain the memory of the emperor’s love, Mr Quadri’s mini replica – and the new school – helps maintain the memory of his own.
Watch the video here:
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And here is another story, with more love-related terms and phrases:
John: Hi Sophia, how are you today?
Sophia: Oh John, I am head over heels in love.
J: Enough with the small talk, then. You’re talking about Oliver, right? You two have been inseparable.
S: No, no, that’s the problem. I have met someone else… and he worships me.
J: Oh, really? How did you meet him?
S: Online dating.
J: But… I though you and Oliver were joined at the hip. I thought he was your main squeeze. Why would you do online dating?
S: My old online dating account is still live. Jeremy contacted me, he sounded nice, we met, and it was love at first sight. I adore him.
J: Could it be puppy love?
S: I’m too old for that.
J: And what about Oliver?
S: Oh, I cherish him. But I feel passion for Jeremy. Jeremy said I stole his heart, and that we are a perfect match.
J: Oh, dear. This is a tricky situation. Trust the internet to confuse us completely.
- head over heels – to be totally infatuated with someone
- inseparable – lovers who will stick together no matter what
- worship – to adore intensely
- online dating – looking for a partner via a website
- joined at the hip – term for a couple that is almost always together
- main squeeze – your partner in an exclusive relationship
- adore – loving someone very much
- puppy love – feelings of love between very young people
- cherish – have great affection and caring for someone; holding a person dear
More from grammar.yourdictionary.com
Love is the Drug – Roxy Music
LOVE quotes: Who said that?
Can you match these quotes about love with their author?
- Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.
- ’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
- Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
- The more one judges, the less one loves.
- Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get — only with what you are expecting to give — which is everything.
- Love, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage.
- What is love but acceptance of the other, whatever he is.
a. Honoré de Balzac, French writer
b. Katherine Hepburn, American actress
c. Anaïs Nin, French-Cuban American writer
d. Ambrose Bierce, author of The Devil’s Dictionary
e. Lao Tzu, ancient Chinese philosopher
f. Alfred Lord Tennyson, British poet
g. Khalil Gibran, Lebanese-American writer
Answers:
1:g – 2:f – 3:e – 4:a – 5:b – 6:d – 7: c
Do you Love me? Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds