Being in love with someone is wonderful! But being separated from your beloved for a couple of days or even weeks can make you feel lonely and miserable. So, today we will learn how to tell your partner I miss you in German.
Now, here’s the thing: It is important to tell your partner about your feelings, even when they are negative! We often shy away from telling our partners about our negative emotions. Either because we are ashamed of ourselves or because we don’t want to hurt our partner or make them feel responsible. But if they don’t know what’s going on inside us, they have no chance to support us or at least understand why we might not be the happy person they are used to. Besides, telling someone you miss them is a compliment after all. If you didn’t miss them, you wouldn’t really care about them, right?
Phrases for I miss you in German
There are several expressions for “missing you” in German you can use.
- Ich vermisse dich. — I miss you.
- Du fehlst mir. — I miss you. (literally: I lack you.)
- Ich habe Sehnsucht nach dir. — I am longing for you. (Literally: I have a longing for you.)
- Ich wünschte, du wärst hier. — I wish you were here.
- Ich wünschte, du wärst bei mir. — I wish you were with me.
What is I miss you too in German?
Now, let’s say your partner is a native German speaker and told you, he or she is missing you. What are the proper replies in the German language?
- Ich vermisse dich auch. — I miss you also.
- Du fehlst mir auch. — I miss you too.
- Ich habe auch Sehnsucht nach dir. — I am also longing for you.
- Ich wünschte auch, dass ich bei dir sein könnte. — I also wish I could be with you.
- Ich vermisse euch. — I miss you guys.
- Ihr fehlt mir. — I miss you.
- Ich wünschte, ich wäre bei euch. — I wish I was there with you.
I will miss you in German
When our beloved ones are not gone yet, we can tell them how much we will miss them. For example at the train station or airport.
- Ich werde dich vermissen. — I will miss you.
- Du wirst mir fehlen. — I’ll miss you.
I miss you in German addressing a Group
Sometimes you are saying “I miss you” to a group of people, for instance to some friends or your family.
- Ich vermisse euch. — I miss you guys.
- Ihr fehlt mir. — I miss you.
- Ich wünschte, ich wäre bei euch. — I wish I was there with you.
Telling someone else about your feelings
When you want to tell another person how you feel, you would say:
- Ich vermisse sie. — I miss her.
- Ich vermisse ihn. — I miss him.
- Sie fehlt mir. — I miss her.
- Er fehlt mir. — I miss him.
- Ich habe Sehnsucht nach ihr. — I have a longing for her.
- Ich habe Sehnsucht nach ihm. — I have a longing for him.
Formal ways to say I miss you in German
Now, in most circumstances the person or persons you miss will be very close to you, e.g. your boyfriend / girlfriend, your spouse, your kid or a close friend. In all those cases you address the person with the informal phrases above. But there are also formal ways to address someone in the German language. Maybe a colleague of yours had an accident and spends some time in hospital. Or a neighbor spends some time abroad and you send them a letter.
In these circumstances you swap the informal personal pronouns “dich”, “euch” for their formal equivalent “Sie”. So you would say:
- Ich vermisse Sie. — I miss you. (formal)
- Sie fehlen mir. — I miss you.
- Ich wünschte, Sie wären hier. — I wish you were here.
- Wir vermissen Sie. — We miss you.
- Sie fehlen uns. — We miss you.
- Wir hoffen, es geht Ihnen gut. — We hope you are well.
What do Germans call their darling?
Now, when you tell your beloved you miss them, you might want to include some form of pet name. So here are a couple to choose from. They work for both genders, but if you want something more “girly” or “manly”, you can take a look at our post on love words in German.
- Liebling — Translation: darling
- mein Schatz — Literal translation: my treasure
- mein Herz — Translation: my heart
Conclusion
The best way to tell your lover “I miss you” in German is to say “Ich vermisse dich.”
And while that can be hard to bear, you can also consider yourself lucky to have such strong emotions about someone. To love and be loved is a gift we should celebrate, even if it brings a tear to our eyes occasionally.
