As it says in the title, how long do you think it should take to know you want to be with someone for always, and how soon is too soon to say "I love you" and mean it?

I'd say that both things depend on the person really, but personally for me, it'd take at least a year to know I'd want to be with them forever, and there's no real "too soon" for saying I love you, unless you do do the same day you start dating, or within the first week. I hate those type of couples.

You say "I love you" when you mean it, as long as you mean it, it isn't too soon.

As for the first part... one to two years. By that point you know their habits, what annoys you, what you love, etc.

I think the answer to both questions is, you know when you know.

My wife and I met and got married within a year and we've been married for almost 8 years. I know other people who dated for 2-3 years and then got married and are now divorced. There is no perfect method for knowing if someone is "right for you". The real key is knowing it's going to require some hard work and sacrifice and knowing what you will and won't put up with in the relationship.

It really does depend on the people. As far as saying 'I love you', as long as you mean it, who cares how long it is? For the second one, there is a too soon in my opinion. It isn't a time frame. I think you have to really think about the good and bad that could come out of living with this person forever. If you gave it some serious thought about if you think you can really live with this person and nobody else for the rest of your life, go ahead. I actually didn't propose until we were together for 4 years. We had lived together for 2 of those years. It has been 2 years after I proposed and we are just now getting married in a little less than 2 weeks from now. It took me a while. Not saying everyone should, but I am pretty sure that if we still want to get married after being together for 6 years and living together for 4 of those years, we should be pretty solid

I think geeo put it best.

Love isn't something you can time, nor something you can really predict.

You finally will know, when it becomes time for you to know. For couples, it depends on who they are.

There's no formula to it and there's no specified time. I know when you were a kid and your parents told you "You'll just know." you probably thought "They're crazy.", but it's true. You really do just know.

It's the same thing with saying "I love you."

I love this question. Because most men (Don't try and deny it) often think "Omg i'm in love i'm gonna marry that and build a family" when your really think "Wow shes hot i wanna piece of that" Well get to know the person first. My first gf lasted about 2 weeks and i honestly thought we would get married i thought i was in love. I really wasn't. You can say i love you all you want unless you seriously care about a person and you've spent enough time with them. it will come.

"You'll know when the time comes" you just will.

There is no time to love, people can fall in love in minutes or sometimes it takes months. love is just not something you can predict to happen. you could know you want to be with someone forever in just seconds or it could take longer.hell sometimes you'll fall in love with somebody and you don't even want to love them, but no matter how much they crush you..you just can't stop thinking about how it would have been if they stayed.. and then when they get a new girlfriend and the jealousy kicks in.. and I need to shut up before this rant goes to far xD but I think you get my point..hehe

I don't know to be honest, but most giys probably would do it after maybe a year or so? Marriage is definetly the end of the thought that you might be with someone else. Once you're married, you can't really just dump your girl.

It's really depends on the person and how much are you feeling that other person. I guess the best answer for this question is when the time is right.

ToastWinchester : It can be really complicated… Speaking from personal experience as someone who’s jumped into relationships too quickly without thinking things out it can be complicated and there is no real solid answer for this one.

I guess the best thing to say here is it all depends on the two people in the relationship and whether or not there is real trust and real genuine feelings between two people that will determine the answers to those questions. As I said I have jumped into relationships too quickly sometimes and as a result things didn’t really turn out well and as a result I’ve pretty much been single for several years. I have also seen relationships progress from friendship, to close friendship, to romantic relationship. In one case I was friends with a woman who I more or less grew up with from an early age and over the years the relationship between us progressed and through ups and downs for the both of us we could always go to each other. Well, when we became adults we more or less admitted to each other that we had feelings for each other and we talked about taking the next step in the relationship. Unfortunately for me for whatever reason she didn’t feel comfortable with letting people know about us and even though we didn’t live too far from each other; we only saw each other a handful of times over the course of a couple of years. Despite my efforts to do everything I could to adjust my schedule so I could spend time with her and even to go as far as to do my work at a later hour on delay so I could go out with her it didn’t really work out. Despite talking almost every day things never went beyond going out occasionally.

Eventually I was shutout completely and the end result was the relationship was pretty much ruined but I’ll be honest when I say I wish I knew why. It’s been almost five years since I’ve had any contact with her. I got to a point where I said to myself well if she’s not willing to sit and really talk with me then it isn’t worth me spinning my wheels over etc. It’s not always fun being single but it’s best to choose someone who will actually want to be with you and will put as much effort into the relationship as you will, assuming of course that you’re willing to commit to the relationship.

Even if you’re feelings and intentions with a relationship are genuine and are 100% on the level it can be tricky especially if the other person says one thing but does nothing whatsoever to give an effort for the relationship. This is a problem that I keep running into. I do however feel convinced that in order for a relationship to last it has to have a solid foundation of trust, honesty and genuine feelings between the people involved. It really boils down to communication, without it there really is no way people can honestly expect to be happy and for a relationship to last.

It can be really complicated…

I must say that this period (of getting to know the other person) varies from people to people. Some of my friends really took more than a year just to really see the real side of their "potential partners" while the others move into a relationship after just 2-3 months. Believe me, either ways they lasted quite long. Of course there is no such thing as they will 100% last forever but they are doing fine
So my point is that there isn't any fixed or standard amount of time to your question just let things take it's natural course

I think by the time you get in your 30's you should think about spending time with that one and special person for the rest of your lifes.

It depends on ages and maturity levels.  When I was 17, I started dating the girl who is now my wife.  She was much different all those years ago and I'm changed as well.  Because we grew with each other, we ended up in the same location when we developed our personalities.

If you're kids or teens, give it lots of time.  Years.  You haven't figured out who you are and what you want so you can't pick someone to be with the rest of your life.

If you're 20s or 30s, you can make a decision sooner.  When you're 40 and up, you can be pretty snap once you get to know the other person and decide it's what you want out of life.

Elara :

I agree. I know a girl with a son, and got a new boyfriend. Within 2 weeks of them being together, he posted on FaceBook something along the lines of "taking *MY* little boy out". They could have been in love, by all means, but you can't call a child you've known for 2 weeks your own. You'll know if you want to be with the person for the rest of your life.

To me it should take about 1year and 3 months for you to find out if she want to be with you or you want to be with her for me its going to take a little longer than that.