- "je voudrais" (I would like to) rather than "je veux" (I want to) would work, too (and might actually even be better). In French, "je veux te dire que je t'aime" can indeed in itself be a declaration of love and amount simply to "I love you". - Note: I wasn't sure if the English version meant "to tell [you]" when it said "say". If the person speaking is not addressing the loved one directly, then the translation "Je veux dire 'je t'aime', mais j'ai peur" would work (notice the quotation marks to make it clearer).