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Is there a difference between loving someone and being in love with them? I sort of think that being in love with someone might imply that there are reciprocal feelings, but I'm not sure. If someone loved someone from afar without them knowing, would this still count as being in love with them? |
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There is often a distinction made in prose between "loving" and "in love with". It doesn't always imply reciprocity, but it almost always implies a difference between platonic and romantic love. A person can "love" their sibling, parent, or platonic friend, simply by being closely emotionally attached. The same is true for those with whom you have a romantic relationship. Being "in love with" a person is to be in a state of romantic infatuation with and connection to that person, which would be inappropriate for said siblings, parents, and platonic friends, but just fine for a significant other or spouse. When differentiating, such as "I love you, but I'm not in love with you", the speaker is stating that he/she is emotionally attached to the other person, but feels no romantic desire. So, the rule of thumb is: you can love your neighbor and you can love your spouse, but you should be in love with your spouse and not your neighbor. |
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There is definitely a difference. I love my children, but I'm not "in love" with them. Being "in love" with someone implies an infatuation usually including strong sexual and/or romantic underpinnings. Loving someone can be entirely Platonic, i.e. not involving any kind of romantic or sexual interest or desire. |
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To be "in love" is stating that you are romantically loving that person. To be "loving someone", this is not so, because a Mother could be loving her child, or good friends could love one another, but not in a romantic way, but a "brotherly" way. So, next time, if you saw two lovebirds, they would be "in love", but if you saw a mum kissing her baby, she would be "loving her baby". |
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In love denotes romatic feelings and a mental attachment. Where loving denotes care but not necessarily romance. While making love does not require either of the above states. |
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It's a hugely complicated issue, not easily settled. For instance "I love chocolate" or "I love Ferraris" has a totally different meaning to "I love my mistress" or "I love my wife" or "I love my children". It's true that being "in love" tends to mean basically the romantic variety. But then again - it's actually very common to say "I'm in love with my car"* or "I'm in love with my job" or "I'm in love with France" or "I'm in love with cooking." Different languages have different and completely confusing/different words for different types of "love" -- and the confusion is just as great in English. *as in the famous song. |
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