19 undeniable signs to tell when dating becomes a relationship

How long you should date someone before it becomes a relationship?

How many dates do you need to go before he’ll commit?

Is she just not getting that you want to get serious with her?

All these questions are obviously important to you and your potential partner.

Dating is a complicated territory and there are no perfect guidelines. If you have been dating someone for a while, there are a few signs that may help you decide if it’s time to take the next step.

Here they are:

1) You share personal information with each other or on social media.

Relationships are a complicated concept because there’s no one universal “sign” that indicates the two people involved have transitioned from dating to being in a relationship.

But when you share personal information about yourself with someone you’re dating, that’s a pretty good indicator that you’re in a relationship.

In other words, if you’re sharing personal information with her or him on social media or posting photos with them online without the fear that someone else you’re interested in will see, that could be a sign that you’re ready to tell the world that you’re in a relationship.

2) Things get awkward at parties.

Parties are fun and exciting events that can serve as any kind of introduction that helps spark the beginnings of relationships.

But when they become awkward and frustrating, it’s probably time to reconsider whether this relationship is heading where you thought it was going to go in the first place.

You’ll have a hard time introducing each other…

• As friends?
• Seeing each other?
• Dating?
• Boyfriend-girlfriend?

And awkward silence comes right after, with awkward glances from the two of you.

Because deep down inside you, you want to introduce them as someone you’re seriously seeing, but trust me, when you do and you see that gentle smile on their face, you are definitely on the same page.

3) You two make jokes about the future together.

If you’re on a date and suddenly the conversation leads to the potential of the two of you being together in the future, that’s a pretty great sign.

You can talk about what would happen if one of you got a job offer in another city, or if both of you are planning on going back to school next year. These are fun and playful conversations that indicate you may be more than just friends.

This just shows that you definitely want this person to be a part of your future, and they feel the same way towards you.

When this happens, the next thing you know these won’t feel like a joke anymore as the two of you are serious about it.

4) You two spend a lot of time together without arguing.

Talking about your dreams and future plans with someone can be great, but it can also lead to arguments.

When you two begin to spend hours together, talking about dreams and goals….without saying the word “have” or “should” or “I’m right”…. it’s a great sign.

Arguing is an important part of a good relationship, but it’s different than saying things like “You should change your way on…” or “See? I’m right, you should’ve…”

Those types of statements are a great cause of arguments.

Look, if you’re both enjoying your time together without fighting, you’re probably not just friends.

5) You make plans together.

When you spend time making plans and talking about your future together it’s a sign that you’re progressing into a relationship, even if the plans are for next week or the week after that.

Making real plans to do something together – going out on a date, hanging out with your friends, and even making dinner plans at home – are signs of intimacy and commitment.

You see, if you are still in the dating stage, there will be no plans to start with. You will just message each other up and see if you both are available for the night, or more often than not, the answer is going to be no.

If you’ve reached the “relationship stage” however, you can actually plan things out in advance and be completely sure that your plans will happen.

6) You are fighting about something serious.

For argument’s sake, let’s say you and your partner are arguing about something really important – money, or sex, or his past behavior towards others – it’s probably time to talk about how serious this relationship is.

The dating stage’s fights are about sexual history, or what was on TV – not important stuff that can change the course of your life.

You’re probably going to be in conflict with each other at some point over something fairly trivial, right?

For most relationships, those arguments will come and go. But if the arguments start coming up within the first few days of dating or after there has been no time together – then that’s a big sign to ask yourself how serious this is really becoming.

7) They make you feel special.

Loving someone and feeling special about that person… is a clear indication of the beginning stages of a romantic relationship between two people.

Your partner might start to do little to huge things that make you feel extra special.

Let’s say your partner helps you a lot. Maybe they do this when they know it’s not what they’re supposed to be doing, but they still do it anyways.

Or let’s say they are always trying to be the best person for you – even if it means sacrificing their own needs and desires.

You can even think of different examples of how this special feeling is manifesting between the two of you.

The point is – love is about more than one-sided feelings… and feeling special about someone shows that your partner cares enough about you as a person to go out of their way for you when necessary.

8) They make your life great even when they are not around.

As the old adage says, “Absence makes the heart go ponder.”

No matter what stage of a relationship you’re in if you’ve never had someone that is so important to your everyday life that you’d feel a void without them after only a couple of hours away from them – your feelings for this person aren’t deep enough.

When the two of you are together, you feel great…but when one of you is away from the other, you think about them. They occupy your thoughts.

That really shows that something is going on here… you’re not just friends, you’re starting to fall in love with each other.

The crazy thing is – if they are not doing anything big and outstanding for you to make your life better if it’s just little things here and there that make your life more colorful, expect that they probably like you more than a friend.

9) You see a really healthy future for the two of you.

A relationship is only going to last if you both want it to last.

The two of you are going to have a healthy and happy relationship if you can see yourselves together in the future, not just a few weeks or months from now.

How do you know you will have a healthy future together?

Ask yourself:

• Are you willing to sacrifice for them?
• Do you want to stay in this relationship for a very long time?
• Do you want to be with them for the rest of your life?
• Would you want them with you until the end of your days?

There are many different ways to show your willingness and commitment to a relationship – but none of those things guarantee that everything will work out in the end.

But if you genuinely want this person in your life, willing and ready to go through whatever it takes… then yeah, it’s going to work out.

It’s all about seeing the big picture together when you’re falling for each other – seeing that there is something worth building together in the future and feeling confident that you’re on the right path with each other.

10) You’re always there for each other.

It becomes natural for you to support your partner because you’re in a loving relationship.

The same thing is true for them too.

You’ll both become a source of comfort and support for each other, and that’s one of the signs that you are falling for each other and building the foundations of a healthy romantic relationship.

If the two of you don’t have times when you’ve supported them, either emotionally or physically, in big ways – too bad but this probably isn’t going to be a good relationship.

Do you have moments where you feel the need to talk to someone else about the way you are feeling? You start to feel like this is something you should talk to your close friends about or maybe even your family but instead, you immediately turn to your partner?

Admit it, it’s getting serious.

11) The two of you are in sync with each other.

It’s awesome when two people are able to “get” where each other is coming from and how they’re feeling without having to say it out loud.

That’s when you know the two of you are in sync with each other.

When you get the same type of humor from each other and can talk about deep issues without any hesitation and feel comfortable being vulnerable around the person, it’s easy to see how your partner is affecting your life in a positive way.

Here’s the best part:

Being in sync is being compatible with each other – it means you understand each other’s needs and are able to support each other as a team.

If the two of you aren’t in sync, most probably this is only going to be a temporary thing until something gets worked out. Maybe there are some communication problems, maybe your partner is actually very different from you and that starts to wear on your relationship.

This is how relationships work – they start out synched… then wind up breaking down because they’re in different places mentally as well as physically.

Maybe it’s just little things at first but once you start to understand them more, and they also understand you on a much deeper level, that’s when you begin to feel like they are already part of your life – not just part of your day.

12) You get jealous even over something that’s completely silly.

You’re not seeing each other every day, and your relationship is still in the potential stage, but you can’t stop thinking about the person they’re talking to on Facebook or who are they texting with.

This means one thing: you like them a lot!

It’s no secret that jealousy gets in our way often when we want to start a new relationship. But hey, if you’re jealous about that person, then it’s time to start using jealousy for the good – because your relationship is gonna go somewhere.

You might get jealous from time to time, but that’s perfectly normal! It all depends on how you react to it.

13) They always listen and do what you recommend as it comes from a place of love and concern.

There’s a difference between someone who is just listening to “what you’re saying” and someone who really hears what you’re saying.

If your partner is just listening to what you’re saying instead of hearing what you’re saying, most likely that it’s impossible for them to really care enough about you as a person and go out of their way for you.

On the other hand, if your partner really does care about you as a person, they’ll take the time to try things that could make your life better.

They might not listen or do everything you recommend, but at least when you’re falling for each other, there’s always a sense that they’re really trying hard and are making an effort to be there for you in big and small ways.

But let me be honest with you: you don’t have to have the same views on everything, and you’re not always going to agree with each other on everything.

If you can just agree on one thing – that you both want to be there for each other in big and small ways – the two of you are highly going to end up with a really healthy romantic relationship.

14) You want to turn things into long-term things.

When two people are falling for each other, they find themselves wanting their real-life together right now!

They don’t want things to slow down or go back to normal, and they can’t wait until the two of them can be together forever.

If this is the case in your relationship, surprise surprise! You’ve probably fallen for each other.

You both agree, even without talking, that you want the same thing – right now. And that’s a sure sign that you’ve both fallen for each other and have found someone who is going to be a big part of your life.

Turning the relationship into a long-term thing is a huge step – and if the two of you can both be on the same page about this, this whole “in a relationship” thing will be successful.

15) They make you excited about life again.

When you’re falling for someone, it’s all about noticing the little things and being proud of the person you are with.

And not only that.

If they are proud of something that you did, or they think you look great, you’ll feel like everything is going to be okay and your life is heading in the right direction.

You might have lost some hope and were just going through the motions every day before this relationship got started. Once this person enters your life, it changes everything.

You begin to really live again. And that’s what love is supposed to feel like – living and being happy!

This isn’t about having the perfect relationship, but about it being a roll in the hay.

With this person, you’ve not only come out of your shell, but you’ve got the spark back inside and you’re all excited about life again.

That’s what love is supposed to feel like!

16) You feel bad if you do not get to see each other as much as you would like.

Only a small percentage of relationships make it through the dating stage.

In fact, statistics show that 70% of relationships end during this stage of the discovery phase and dating.

Now, if you find that when the two of you are not spending time together, you feel sad and dissatisfied, there is a good chance that you’re falling for each other.

This also shows that this person makes you happy.

You want to spend as much time together as possible since you are missing the most of the time that you are not together.

And when you are together, you both make the most of it!

17) The “L” word is bringing up

Ahhh… The beautiful yet can be scary “L” word…

If the two of you are already in touch and in the talks of feeling love, this is definitely a good thing – but that doesn’t mean that you should slip into the “L” word before the other person does.

If you find yourself saying, “I love you,” first, it just shows that your heart is getting involved with this person.

There you go, taking a great leap for the relationship.

If this happens, it’s time to learn about the emotions of falling in love – because it’s true what they say about falling – you’ll hit the ground hard.

You won’t be able to help yourself, you’ve been pushed over a cliff by someone. But, this same someone is waiting for you, in the end, to catch you in their arms!

You’re going to have to decide if these feelings are good or bad and make a full commitment before your heart gets too involved because once these feelings begin, they are not easy to break.

18) You have met each others’ friends and even families.

If you’ve already met this person’s friends and family, the two of you must be really serious with each other.

This shows that they are totally comfortable with you and they don’t hide anything from you.

Listen to this: they really want you to be a part of their life, and to seal the deal, they let you meet their friends and families!

When they introduced you to the people in their lives, they were expecting you to be part of that circle. They wanted to introduce you because they wanted you to know them and know how much they care about you.

This is definitely a good sign!

You haven’t strictly fallen in love yet… but it’s pretty close. And it shows that they are open and honest people who are proud of the person that you are and who want to share you with the world (and by now, hopefully, with each other).

If you’ve already met their friends, this just means that they feel more secure in your relationship. This is a big step as it shows that you two trust each other enough to introduce each other to the people close in your lives.

19) You’ve moved in together.

When two people fall for each other, you can be sure that they want to spend more time together and be with each other all the time.

If you’ve already moved in together, this is obviously because the two of you are really serious with each other.

It’s not a surprise that this is something so big, but ideally, it should happen once the two of you have decided that your relationship is something that both of you are going to take seriously.

But maybe, you haven’t really moved in together, but you’ve got each other’s stuff in each other’s places. Or, you are in the talks of moving in together.

You’re moving into the next phase of falling for each other and can be sure that you’ve both realized that you both have feelings for each other.

At this point, you are definitely in a relationship already.

Final thoughts

To start a relationship with your someone special is a roller-coaster ride… are you in for this kind of adventure?

There are many wonderful love stories with colorful beginnings, now that you’ve been introduced to a few of them, you should be able to see where the two of you fall.

But the good news is that there are many more wonderful love stories waiting for you to read about and learn from.

Now that you have someone you hold so dearly in your life, why not write for your own now and make it happen?