Just like everyone speaks a language to communicate with others, everyone has a love language. Love languages are how someone shows their love and how they feel loved by others.
The Five Love Languages are quality time, acts of service, physical touch, words of affirmation and receiving gifts. To find out the ranking of someone’s love languages, take the quiz here.
Knowing someone’s love language can help people in a relationship feel loved and heard in the way that means the most to them.
Quality Time
Quality time is the most popular love language. Quality time is when someone feels the most loved through bonding activities, being mentally present and spending uninterrupted time with the ones they love.
Dates encouraging quality time allow the two people to connect. Activities like going to a drive-in movie, having a picnic, cooking dinner together or hiking require one’s undivided attention and can spark good conversation.
Junior T.K. Allen-Randolph talks about her ideal date for her love language.
“My ideal date would be going on a day trip to Savannah or Tybee Island and spending the day or a weekend there, looking at all the cool historic[al] stuff and going to shops around [the area],” Allen-Randolph said.
Acts of Service
If someone’s love language is acts of service, they feel most loved when someone goes out of their way to help them out.
For a partner whose love language is acts of service, a nice gesture would be making their favorite meal, planning out a date somewhere they love or making a playlist for them.
Junior Rachel Terrell spoke about one of her favorite memories of her boyfriend fulfilling her love language.
“My boyfriend surprised me after I had a super stressful bad day with flowers and a home-cooked meal,” Terrell said. “It was special because he struggles a lot with cooking, and it made me feel appreciated. The best part was that he cleaned it all up afterward.”
Physical Touch
A person whose love language is physical touch feels the most loved by giving and receiving physical affection.
When on a date with someone whose love language is physical touch, hold their hand, kiss them on the cheek or put your arm around them to show affection.
Sophomore Gabrielle Ingmire spoke about how her love language works within her relationship.
“I’ve been with my boyfriend for three years, and in the beginning, it took some time to understand each other’s love language,” Ingmire said. “Now that we have been together for some time, we understand what the other needs to feel loved.”
Receiving Gifts
A person whose love language is receiving gifts feels most loved through the effort and thought behind gifts. They would enjoy their favorite flowers and a meaningful gift on Valentine’s Day.
Junior Mary Catherine Jones felt cared for when her date scored a reservation at a fancy restaurant.
“One time, this guy took me to The Garden Room when I [had] slightly mentioned it in conversation and surprised me with a reservation, which is hard to get,” Jones said.
Words of Affirmation
If someone’s love language is words of affirmation, they feel most loved through spoken or written words that help them feel supported and assured.
While on a date with a partner whose love language is words of affirmation, present them with love letters, tell them how enjoyable the date is and how much you appreciate them. Freshman Riley Davis recalls a gesture from her partner that meant a lot to her.
“I went on a date with someone [who] made a video [of] pictures of us with music, and it ended with them telling me how they felt about me,” Davis said. “It was really special because they were shy and nervous about telling me how they felt in person but still found a way to tell me how much they cared.”
Learning a partner’s love language can help deepen the relationship by strengthening the emotional connection, and it allows partners to feel cared for and appreciated. Walk into this Valentine’s Day knowing how to make a partner feel loved.
