I've been listening to a lot of music, and I've always seen Ai 愛 Koi 恋 and
ren'ai 恋愛 used the same. Any help? Thanks! :)
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2018-05-04T17:59:45.210
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question
word-choice words wago-and-kango
What is the difference between koi, ai, and renai? 恋、愛、恋愛
恋【こい】 and 恋愛【れんあい】 are basically the same. They both mean romantic love or
romance, that feeling based on sexual attraction. 恋 is a [native-Japanese
word](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamato_kotoba) ( _wago_ or _yamato-kotoba_
) whereas 恋愛 is a [Sino-Japanese word](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-
Japanese_vocabulary) ( _kango_ ). Generally speaking, Sino-Japanese words tend
to sound more technical or formal, as discussed in
[this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/33685/5010),
[this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/36422/5010) and
[this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/17935/5010). 恋愛 is the preferred
word in news articles, verdicts and such. Well, in this specific case, 恋愛 is
commonly used in casual situations, too. Still, 恋愛 tends to sound somewhat
objective, whereas 恋 sounds more...romantic.

愛 is more generic familial love, human love, God's love, etc. The difference
from 恋 is already covered in existing questions. See: [Love in the air: 愛ｘ恋
{あい vs こい}](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/2246/5010) and [Translating a
sentence with 恋 and 愛](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/56984/5010)
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answer