Chinese Conversation · Level 60
90 words
Chinese word
告白
Pronunciation
Pinyingào bái
Meaning
- verbconfess one's love
Example
他向我告白了。tā xiàng wǒ gào bái le
He confessed his love to me.
More examples
我鼓起勇气向她告白了。wǒ gú qí yǒng qì xiàng tā gào bái le
I gathered my courage and confessed my love to her.
Core concept
A private feeling becomes clear and openly spoken to the person it concerns, especially when the feeling is love.
Common phrases
向喜欢的人告白xiàng xǐ huān de rén gào bái
confess one's love to the person one likes
向她告白xiàng tā gào bái
confess one's love to her
向朋友告白xiàng péng yǒu gào bái
confess one's love to a friend
Similar words
表白biǎo bái: To frankly reveal one's feelings to someone one likes.
示爱shì ài: To express love through words or actions.
追求zhuī qiú: To actively pursue someone one likes and try to build a closer relationship.
Definition in Chinese
把自己的心里话或爱情感情向对方坦率说出，常用于表达爱意的场合。bǎ zì jǐ de xīn lǐ huà huò ài qíng gǎn qíng xiàng duì fāng tǎn shuài shuō chū cháng yòng yú biǎo dá ài yì de chǎng hé
Word origin
告白 (gàobái, "openly declare feelings") combines 告 (gào, "tell") with 白 (bái, "clear"), giving the sense of making one's inner truth plain.
Usage tips
- For English speakers, confess often suggests admitting wrongdoing, but this Chinese verb commonly appears in romantic situations, so the context changes the likely meaning.