Why do English speakers say they “love” everything?
Animals React To Bubbles At The Zoo
A1 English listening practice · Southern American English · Picked for people who know a little
English speakers use love much more loosely than many other languages. I love this song. I love pizza. I love your dress. They love the bubbles. In Spanish, that level of casual enthusiasm goes through me encanta (literally it enchants me); German uses mögen or lieben; French keeps adorer or aimer. Romantic I love you is a separate, weightier matter for English speakers, and the same word does both jobs. Learners often hesitate to use love for snacks or movies, but native English speakers reach for it constantly, especially in casual American and British speech.
In this clip, a zookeeper tests which animals enjoy soap bubbles, and at every stop the line is the same: “Oh, they love them.”
How common are the words?
How common are the words in this A1 English listening practice video?
How common in written English
How common in spoken English
Harder words in this video
These words are harder than A1. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-US 2012 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In American and British food and travel YouTube channels (Mark Wiens, Best Ever Food Review Show)
- ▸In English-language reality TV reactions (The Great British Bake Off, MasterChef)
- ▸In English-speaking influencer captions and TikTok voiceovers
- ▸In American sitcoms and rom-coms (Friends, Sex and the City, Notting Hill)
- ▸In English children’s TV where kids “love” their toys (Peppa Pig, Bluey, Sesame Street)