How to say “I love you” in Southern Sotho

"I love you" in Southern Sotho is "Ke a o rata". This is the most common everyday rendering; depending on context, formal/informal or dialectal variants may apply.

"Ke a o rata" is the standard written form in Southern Sotho, rendered left-to-right.

Tap the speaker icon on this page to hear "Ke a o rata" pronounced by a native-style synthetic voice. For practice, repeat the phrase out loud immediately after listening — the rhythm and stress are usually what trips learners up, not the individual sounds.

"Ke a o rata" is the Southern Sotho way of saying "I love you" in English. It's used in everyday conversation in roughly the same situations as the English original.

Many languages — including Southern Sotho — distinguish formal and informal registers, and may also vary by speaker gender, plurality, or regional dialect. "Ke a o rata" is the most broadly understood form; for register-specific variants, use the full translator above with your exact sentence.

Southern Sotho is spoken by an estimated 4 million people worldwide. Use the language page to translate full text and explore where the language is used.

Yes — Polytranslator provides a free Southern Sotho dictionary with word-by-word translations and example usage. Click the dictionary link on this page to look up individual words from "Ke a o rata" or any other Southern Sotho text.