Wondering whether you lot're really, truly falling in love with someone? Chances are, y'all've probably already asked a close friend or family member for the telltale signs. And if they're like most people, they probably responded with "yous just know," "it'due south hard to describe," or something equally vague—all of which, needless to say, are pretty unhelpful.

But merely as there is no hard-and-fast rule for how long it takes to fall in love, there'south no set checklist for how to know if what you're feeling is the real deal. Some people know after a single moment; others develop the feelings after months or even years of small gestures.

That said, though, there are some mutual (and scientifically-backed) signals that yous're probable falling in love. For example, you experience the need to share even the smallest moments of your 24-hour interval with your person, and maybe yous discover that their interests are suddenly becoming your interests, as well. Or, possibly you seamlessly start rearranging your schedule to make more fourth dimension for your guy or gal. And, of course, you lot might start wondering—perhaps even daydreaming—about the moment when your special someone will acknowledge they love you lot, too.

Ahead, we ask therapists, researchers, and other human relationship experts to share the classic indications that you are, indeed, falling in love. So now, all you take to do is prepare to say those three big words.

You want to share your globe with them.

Dawoon Kang, co-founder and co-CEO of online dating platform Coffee Meets Bagel, tells Oprah Daily, "Falling in honey is different for everyone," calculation she believes in Dr. Robert J. Sternberg'due south Triangular Theory of Love, which identifies three main aspects: intimacy (the desire to feel closely connected), passion (concrete and emotional stimulation), and decision/commitment (the resolve to stick together).

"You lot don't need all three components to know that you're falling in love, merely they are potent indicators that y'all're on the way," she explains. "But don't conclude that someone isn't falling in love with you considering they aren't showing the same exact signals as yous do."

That said, the well-nigh telling sign, according to Kang, is if you observe yourself wanting to divulge every bit much as you can with your dear interest, from a small win at work to your relationship history.

"I knew I was falling in love with my now-husband Jack when I found myself calling him every night, wanting to share every little detail about my day and wanting to know virtually his," she said.

They're always in your thoughts.

Sure, it might be trite—but information technology's truthful. You lot know yous're falling in love when your someone begins to take up major real manor in your thoughts. You lot might find yourself rehashing your conversations in the middle of piece of work, thinking almost your next date days in advance, or even envisioning your future together. For Kang, she remembers re-reading her husband'southward text messages and viewing his photos over and once more when they beginning began dating considering she thought virtually him then oft.

And you're dying to know if they love you, also.

If you find yourself considering whether this person feels similarly and you await for for signs that they're missing you lot, too, that's another signifier, Dr. Jacqueline Olds, an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, tells Oprah Daily.

"Your tummy and middle may take a leap every time they contact y'all or propose spending fourth dimension together," adds Olds, who has completed all-encompassing enquiry on long-term marriage, aslope her husband of 41 years Dr. Richard Schwartz. (The couples therapists co-wrote Marriage in Move: The Natural Ebb and Flow of Lasting Relationships.)

Along this same vein, if you lot're falling in love, you tend to experience a warm feeling when you retrieve about your significant other, according to Kang. That may mean you can't stop smiling or you might notice that yous more often than not feel more positive and hopeful.

They go a priority.

"We make time for what–or who–we love," says Rachel DeAlto, the primary dating expert for Lucifer (formerly known as Match.com). "If you're rearranging, reprioritizing, and reimagining your life, you may exist falling in love," she explains.

Equally of import: It doesn't feel like a cede when you have to brand changes to your ain agenda (say, brunch with your girlfriends) in order to ensure you lot're bachelor to attend something of import to them (like a family party or dinner with a sibling who's visiting from out of town.)

You require them.

Yes, you read that right. Similar to how you can require a favorite food or even a seasonal cocktail (hello, frosé), you can crave a person besides.

Match'south principal scientific advisor, Dr. Helen Fisher, has studied these feelings and establish that an surface area of our encephalon associated with focus and craving called the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) causes increased levels of dopamine to exist released when you're falling in love.

As DeAlto notes, this yearning is usually coupled with feeling a rush when yous think of them.

You even detect their quirks attractive.

Perpetual apologizer? Neat freak? All (innocuous) traits of your beloved are fair game and welcomed when you're falling in love. "Yous start to notice everything about them irresistible," explains DeAlto. "That even includes their trivial quirks, their odd sense of style, and their particular way of doing things, which all become endearing."

There is 1 thing, though, that's more important than how they act or what they practice: You lot're mindful of the emotional climate inside the other person, including what troubles them, what brings them joy, or what triggers anxiety. "You care about their happiness, as much as your ain," says DeAlto. "Empathy and pity for your partner rises as y'all fall in dearest."

They make you lot feel better virtually yourself.

People in the throes of falling in love often report feeling like they know more, or tin do more, co-ordinate to Dr. Theresa East. DiDonato, an acquaintance professor of psychology at Loyola Academy Maryland. She describes how an experience of "self-expansion" often occurs as people autumn in love, meaning their own sense of self grows through their relationship with this new person. For example, someone whose partner loves hiking might start to see themselves as a hiker too.

You're ignoring other attractive people.

Gone are the days of swiping right on dating apps or DM'ing other potential partners. If you realize you're non as inclined to investigate those other fish in the ocean, that can be telling, DiDonato tells Oprah Daily.

"Falling in love may correspond with changes in attention–specifically people in loving, committed relationships prove less attention to other viable partners," she says.

You're kind of freaking out.

Replaying interactions in your mind. Analyzing text messages. Mulling over what to wear. Haven't nosotros all been in that location? "Changes in stress or feet may represent with the early stages of falling in love," explains DiDonato. While exhilarating, the newness of a relationship, the uncertainty, and the intense experience of new romantic love can predict stress, as indicated by cortisol levels or self-reported anxiety, she says.

Their traits become your traits.

Whoever commencement coined the term "2 become one" wasn't kidding. As a romantic couple gets to know each other, their own perceptions of self begin to merge, says DiDonato. "Considering of this self-other overlap, individuals experience real pride for their partner'south achievements, come across themselves more like their partner, and can mistake their partner'due south characteristics for their own," she says. On top of that, you may even start to dress or talk like your significant other.

You desire to say those big three words.

Y'all know it'southward love and non just lust or a physical attraction because you're curious and interested in what makes them tick, says Olds. "You want to hear their words and their thoughts, not only feel their trunk," adds Schwartz.

But, every bit yous expected, you detect yourself wanting to take the mettlesome leap of saying "I honey you," according to Kang. (And, for the record, in that location are no rules surrounding the "correct" time to tell someone that.)

Friends are noticing.

Are you ever talking virtually your partner or asking if you can bring a plus-one along? Yeah, your friends see that. And they also might notice that you've been spending less time with them equally you're devoting your attending to your romantic relationship. While your BFFs are likely to understand (hey, they probably did the same thing), don't forget to try to strike a balance, DiDonato urges.

You see a future with them in it.

You might notice that information technology doesn't experience weird to book your flights for that destination wedding 6 months from now or even to start talking about where you'll spend the holidays—because you know they'll be effectually to go with you.

This is a potent sign and reveals commitment blossoming, according to Kang."You might also observe yourself planning and taking more weekend getaways with them," she says. Or perhaps what you envision goes even further...like thinking virtually your date or playing around with the idea of relocating to another city together.

In addition to envisioning a futurity with him or her, you might likewise showtime to talk nigh what that would really wait like—from what y'all'd need to feel happy in your spousal relationship to whether or non you desire kids to how y'all'd handle whatsoever religious or political differences.

And the virtually prominent sign you're falling in love? It feels right.

"I actually think for a majority of people information technology's not a hard question and the answer is perfectly obvious to them," says Schwartz. "And role of that is considering one of the characteristics of being in honey is this feeling of rightness and certainty and absence of doubt," he adds. You might start to notice that you no longer worry whether yous'll get ghosted or you don't fifty-fifty consider the possibility that they could be scared off by your collection of blimp animals.

That's considering, according to Schwartz, the parts of the brain responsible for social sentence and critical thinking become into a slower functioning when we're falling in love and there isn't the kind of scrutinizing, questioning and assessing we may undergo in alternative circumstances. "Love is something nosotros experience and, when we do, we say 'this is it.'"

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