Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine is celebrated on 14th February each year.
On this day people celebrate by sending messages of love and affection to their partners (husbands and wives) and to family and friends.
The true origin of the day is unclear – one possibility is that it was it was established as a day to honour one or two Christian martyrs called Valentine
What is clear is that Valentine’s Day customs such as sending greetings cards known as “valentines”, gifting confectionery like sweets and chocolates and giving flowers developed in England in the 18th century and spread through the English-speaking world in the 19th century and then eventually to almost every country in the world.
Before we tell you the best Valentine’s Day phrases in English, let’s check your knowledge about love and Valentine…
- Which is the language of love?
English possibly? Well, French is considered to be the most romantic language followed by Spanish and Italian -the so-called ‘Romance’ languages
But as more non-native speakers use English to communicate with each other than any other language and that will include messages of love, you could say that English is the language of love!
- Which city is best to celebrate Valentine’s day?
Paris of course. Known as “the city of love’ the city becomes the world capital of Valentine’s Day as lovers travel from all over the globe to spend the special day there.
- How much do people spend on Valentine’s Day?
A lot. According to our global media partner Reuters, Americans will spend $26 billion on Valentine’s Day gifts in 2023 – with young adults spending an average of $336 each!
- What are the most popular gifts?
That hasn’t changed over the years. In America for example, most people (57%) buy candy (sweets and chocolates) followed by greeting cards (40%) and flowers (37%) but also popular are dates (32%) -a nice romantic dinner for two for example- and jewellery (21%): a nice diamond ring if you’re extremely lucky!
- So is Valentine’s Day most popular in the UK & US?
You would think so, wouldn’t you? But actually, according to Google Trends data, Valentine’s Day is most popular not in America or the Western world but in the Arab countries, Asia and Latin America. And in fact, Chinese and South Koreans spend the most money on Valentine’s gifts.
If you are romantic and would like to send a Valentine’s Day message in English or express your love in English, here are a few popular examples
