Commonality of specific romantic phrases in Italian?

Question

I was talking to my Italian professoressa and we were basically discussing how couples in Italy interact. Raised in Italy, she insisted that the phrase `Ti amo` is actually very uncommon in Italy and that people do not really say that specific phrase out loud.When I questioned an Italian friend for an alternative, he emphasized upon the commonality of the phrase `Ti voglio bene` while another friend said he has heard the phrase `Il mio amore per te è forte.`With Italy being a very romantic country, along with Italian being a Romance language, I know there must be plenty of ways to express love. Thus, what I want to figure out is, *what is the most universally accepted way to infer the phrase **I love you** in Italian?*

Answer 1

I LOVE YOU=TI AMO 100%

what perhaps your prof was trying to explain is that the expression TI AMO was used only for intimate relations, boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife and never among friends or mother vs son/daughter or father vs son/daughter. But within the last 40-50 years TI AMO is being used more more just like in english where we can love anything, I love my dog, I love my car, etc.

To conclude, my generation would never say to a son or daughter I love you! But TI VOGLIO BENE