Je suis amoureux de cette ville.

I am in love with this city.

Breakdown of Je suis amoureux de cette ville.

• je: I
• la ville: the city
• cette: this
• être amoureux de: to be in love with

Questions & Answers about Je suis amoureux de cette ville.

What exactly is amoureux here? Is it a noun like amour, or an adjective?

In this sentence, amoureux is an adjective meaning in love.

• amour = love (a noun)
• amoureux / amoureuse = in love (an adjective)

So Je suis amoureux de cette ville literally means I am in-love of this city, which corresponds to I am in love with this city in English.

You can use amoureux / amoureuse after être (to be), just like other adjectives:

• Je suis fatigué. – I am tired.
• Je suis amoureux. – I am in love.

Why is it de cette ville and not avec or en? In English we say “in love with this city”.

French uses de after être amoureux:

• être amoureux de quelqu’un / de quelque chose
  = to be in love with someone / something

So the normal patterns are:

• Je suis amoureux de toi. – I’m in love with you.
• Elle est amoureuse de Paris. – She’s in love with Paris.
• Nous sommes amoureux de cette ville. – We are in love with this city.

Using avec (être amoureux avec…) sounds wrong in standard French (though you may see en amour avec in Quebec French, but that’s regional and not standard in France).

What is the difference between Je suis amoureux de cette ville and J’aime cette ville?

Both are positive, but they’re not the same strength:

• J’aime cette ville.
  = I like / I love this city.
  This can be quite neutral: you enjoy it, you appreciate it.

• Je suis amoureux de cette ville.
  = I’m in love with this city.
  This is much stronger and more emotional. It suggests a deep, almost romantic attachment, not just simple liking.

So:

• If you just want to say you like it: J’aime cette ville.
• If you want to emphasize a strong personal, emotional bond: Je suis amoureux de cette ville.

When do I use amoureux and when amoureuse?

It depends on the gender and number of the person (or people) who are “in love,” not on the thing they love.

Singular:

• Je suis amoureux de cette ville. – said by a man or boy.
• Je suis amoureuse de cette ville. – said by a woman or girl.

Plural:

• Nous sommes amoureux de cette ville. – a group of men or a mixed group.
• Nous sommes amoureuses de cette ville. – a group of women only.

The noun ville (city) is feminine, but that does not affect amoureux / amoureuse here. The adjective agrees with je / nous / ils / elles, not with cette ville.

If the speaker is a woman, does the whole sentence change?

Only amoureux changes; the rest stays the same.

• Male speaker: Je suis amoureux de cette ville.
• Female speaker: Je suis amoureuse de cette ville.

de cette ville is identical in both cases. The preposition and the noun phrase do not change with the speaker’s gender.

Why is it cette ville and not ce ville?

Because ville is a feminine noun, and the demonstrative (this / that) must agree in gender and number.

Demonstratives in the singular:

• ce
  • masculine noun starting with a consonant: ce livre (this book)
• cet
  • masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h: cet homme (this man)
• cette
  • feminine noun: cette ville (this city), cette maison (this house)

Since ville is feminine, you must say cette ville, never ce ville or cet ville.

Can I say Je suis amoureux à cette ville or Je suis amoureux avec cette ville?

No, those are incorrect in standard French.

The correct preposition after être amoureux (to be in love) is de:

• ✅ Je suis amoureux de cette ville.
• ❌ Je suis amoureux à cette ville.
• ❌ Je suis amoureux avec cette ville.

Remember the pattern: être amoureux / amoureuse de + personne / chose.

Is Je suis amoureux de cette ville very strong? When would I actually use it?

Yes, it’s quite strong and expressive. It implies a real emotional attachment, not just mild liking.

You might use it:

• when talking about a city you feel deeply connected to (where you grew up, or a place you fell in love with while traveling),
• in a poetic, romantic, or enthusiastic context,
• in conversation to emphasize how special the city is to you.

If you just want to sound neutral or casual, J’aime cette ville is safer and more common. Je suis amoureux de cette ville sounds more personal and intense.

Can I rearrange the words, like Je suis cette ville amoureux?

No. In this structure, the word order is fixed:

• Subject + être
  • adjective + de
    • complement

So you say:

• ✅ Je suis amoureux de cette ville.

You cannot move amoureux or de cette ville around freely:

• ❌ Je suis cette ville amoureux.
• ❌ Je suis de cette ville amoureux.

Here amoureux is a predicative adjective (linked to the subject by être), and de cette ville depends directly on amoureux, so those two must stay together: amoureux de cette ville.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence naturally?

Approximate phonetic guide (French-style):

• Je → /ʒə/ (like “zhuh”)
• suis → /sɥi/ (like “swee” with very rounded lips)
• amoureux → /amurø/ (ah-moo-REU; final x is silent)
• de → /də/ (like a very short “duh”)
• cette → /sɛt/ (like “set”)
• ville → /vil/ (like “veel”)

Spoken smoothly: > /ʒə sɥi amurø də sɛt vil/

There is no liaison between suis and amoureux here: you say suis amoureux as /sɥi amurø/, not /sɥiz amurø/.

Can I just say Je suis amoureux without saying de cette ville?

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• Je suis amoureux.
  Usually understood as I’m in love (with someone), with the person left unspoken or already known from context.
• Je suis amoureux de cette ville.
  Explicitly says you’re in love with this city.

If you just say Je suis amoureux out of the blue, people will normally assume you mean a person, not a city, unless context clearly indicates you’re talking about a place.

What’s the difference between Je suis amoureux de cette ville, Je suis tombé amoureux de cette ville, and J’étais amoureux de cette ville?

They differ in time and focus:

• Je suis amoureux de cette ville.
  Present state: Right now, you are in love with the city.

• Je suis tombé amoureux de cette ville.
  Focus on the moment you fell in love (past event) and often implies you still are:

  • Literally: I fell in love with this city.

• J’étais amoureux de cette ville.
  Past state: you used to be in love with it, but it doesn’t necessarily say whether that feeling continues now:

  • Often understood as: I was (back then) in love with this city.

So:

• to talk about your current feeling: Je suis amoureux de cette ville.
• to tell the story of how it started: Je suis tombé amoureux de cette ville.
• to describe a past period: J’étais amoureux de cette ville.