We have all been in those relationships where you aren’t too sure if your significant other truly loves you, or just really reallyyyy likes you. Of course each relationship is different, but check out some signs after the jump that let you know their love is real, and not just for play.

@iBLONDEgenius

[AM] – It’s been referred to as the dreaded four-letter word: the “L” word. There are so many things to think about when this word comes into play. When do you say it? How do you say it? Who do you say it to? Will it scare the other person off? Should you be the first one to say it or should you wait for the other person to make that first move? How can so many questions be associated with such a small word?

Although it is a small word, it carries strong emotions. You can repeatedly talk about how much you love your car, but when it comes to other people, it’s a whole different ballgame.

stop in the name of love

Men aren’t the only ones who tend to clam up at the sound of “love”; women also seek shelter under the veil of the other 4-letter word — like — and reassure their boyfriends that they “really do like them.” They like them a lot.

What exactly does your girlfriend mean by like ? She can really like her black sweater as well, but that doesn’t ensure that she won’t trade it in for that great red sweater that just went on sale. Does she truly have feelings for you or does she feel better by telling you that she “likes you”, until she finds another soul to be attached to?

Luckily for you, I will help you discover whether she’s in love with you or not. If she does love you and isn’t saying it, you’ll finally understand why she reduces her feelings for you to “like”.

You knew you were capable of feeling love when you first laid eyes on Pamela Anderson on the cover of Play boy , and you have no problem with the word. But your girlfriend — well, she loves her Kate Spade purse but beyond that, it’s a mystery.

Although men can have just as much difficulty admitting their love to their girlfriend, here are some explanations as to why women may have trouble confessing to love.

hide your love away

1. Emotions
It’s no surprise that women tend to be more emotional than men. Admitting to love means that they are admitting to having strong emotions, which in turn means that they are putting themselves more on the line, thus making themselves more vulnerable.

Verbalizing love means that the woman is surrendering to it, and giving in to her emotions. She is now in the line of fire and is rendered more vulnerable if she gets hurt.

No one wants to be vulnerable; and by not actually verbalizing “love”, she is convincing herself that she doesn’t love the person and therefore won’t get hurt in case of a breakup.

This is neither a mature nor a confident way to handle things, but this is how some of our warped minds work — all in order to protect our highest priority — ourselves.

Why else would women avoid using the word love? Maybe for the perfect prince charming…

2. Fantasy
Women have an idealistic approach to love; the same way we have conjured up a picture-perfect vision of our wedding day. We’ve witnessed such romances as Casablanca , Romeo and Juliet and even Pretty Woman , and we can’t help but have this perfect image of true love and marrying our soul mate.

And if you think we have this image for our wedding, imagine what we envision when it comes to the man we are going to marry.

Anyone less than a dashing prince charming can’t fill the shoes of the man who will whisk us away into the sunset.

Saying we’re in love with a man attests to the fact that this man may fit the “prince charming” label — tough shoes to fill. It’s hard for a woman to give a man the honor of “love”, for fear of settling for less than our fantasy.

false security

While some women may be afraid to use the word love, others use it freely, applying the word love to less-than worthy men. Rather than avoiding “love”, they seek false security in the word.

“Love” is more than a mere word — it provides both men and women with protection; the feeling that they are loved and that someone out there cares a great deal about them.

Love can get mixed up with a bunch of other emotions and feelings, when in reality, the person may not really love the other at all.

So how can you tell whether or not your girlfriend likes you, or is falling in love with you?

signs of love