Saying ILY for the first time is perhaps one of the biggest moments in a relationship. It marks the transition from a relationship that might just be for fun to one that actually means something. And because these words carry so much meaning, it can be extremely difficult to muster up the courage to say them out loud!
Sometimes, we show people we love them before we tell them we do. It certainly takes a lot less confidence to show someone we love them through our actions rather than to actually say those words! But also, sometimes our feelings are so strong that we just can’t help doing little things that reveal how we feel about them.
When it comes to the signs of the zodiac, each sign tends to have his own special way of showing his beloved how he feels, whether he’s ready to say those words out loud or not.
The fire signs tend to be obvious in their actions, and are into grand gestures. The earth signs are subtle by comparison, while the air signs show love by letting their partners into their worlds for the first time. And the water signs tend to let their guards down only when they know they’ve been bitten by the love bug.
Check out these ways he’ll say ILY without saying it, based on his zodiac sign.
20The Fire Signs Can’t Hide Feelings Of Love For Long
When the fire signs are in love, they have a lot of trouble hiding it. These signs are among the most emotional in the zodiac and find a way to be passionate about everything. Love is important to them, even if they’re too proud to admit it, and so, of course, feelings of love are often accompanied by feelings of excitement for them.
While Aries tends to turn to grand gestures to show his beloved how he’s feeling, Leo shows his love by showing tolerance and patience for his loved one. Sagittarius becomes overprotective and much more caring than he usually is when he falls for someone important.
19Aries: Public Displays Of Affection
Aries never does things in halves and is passionate about even the most mundane things in life. So you can imagine excited he gets when he’s in love! To be honest, Aries is the type of person to just blurt out how he’s feeling because he’s more interested in following his heart than he is in avoiding looking silly.
But if he doesn’t air out his feelings, he’ll probably make a grand gesture to show them. Aries is no stranger to public displays of affection, but he’ll probably kick these up a notch when he’s truly and totally in love.
18Leo: Forgiving Mistakes Instead Of Staying Mad
Another fire sign, Leo can sometimes take a while to get over things that make him mad. He’s full of fire and passion, and every now and then he gets a little worked up. You’ll know that he really loves someone when his feelings for them overpower the other emotions stirring inside him.
He’ll be more inclined to forgive someone he’s in love with, even if they do something that really makes him mad. Leo is good at forgiving after a certain period of time anyway, but the difference is he won’t even be able to stay mad at someone he loves.
17Sagittarius: Getting Worried About Them
Sagittarius is a carefree soul. The majority of the time, he takes life as it comes and leaves it up the universe to sort things out for him. He doesn’t worry, he doesn’t obsess, and he doesn’t plan.
But we can all be a little different from our usual selves when we’re in love, and when Sagittarius gets bitten by the love bug, he suddenly starts worrying about his loved one. He becomes less easygoing and more overprotective of them. It’s usually a far cry from the easygoing person he usually is. But of course, love will do that to you!
16Likelihood Of Fire Signs Saying ILY: Pretty Likely
The fire signs have ways of showing that they love someone else, but they’re the type of people to just say how they’re feeling anyway. They’re not good at hiding any emotions they have, whether they’re positive or negative, and love is no different.
Sometimes, these signs even get consumed by all the emotion inside them and they tell someone they love them before they’re really ready to. They certainly can come on a little strong every now and then! It’s pretty likely that he’ll be the first one in the relationship to say those three words, which is good news for his shy other half.
15The Earth Signs Are Always Subtle
The earth signs—Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn—like to be subtle and understated at all times. Even when they do fall in love, they don’t like to make a scene or be the center of attention. They do care how they appear to other people and don’t like to get carried away by their emotions to the point where they look silly. They tend to express their love in little but meaningful ways.
Taurus likes to express his feelings by buying special gifts for his loved one, Virgo allows himself to stop being so perfect as he gets more comfortable around his partner, and Capricorn shows more consideration for his partner than he ever did before.
14Taurus: Buying Mountains Of Gifts
In true earth sign style, Taurus is the king of subtle and understated. He also has a flair for the material side of things and loves the idea of spoiling himself and spoiling his loved ones. When he falls in love, he might not be in a rush to admit it, but he will find ways to show it.
Showing off the extent of his generosity, Taurus likes to shower his beloved in gifts. Sometimes, he’ll spend quite a bit of money on them too. He’d like to receive gifts like these himself, and so naturally, he wants to give the same to the person he loves.
13Virgo: Dropping The Perfection Facade
Virgo can also be extremely subtle when he wants to be. This sign is the perfectionist of the zodiac and works hard to make sure his game is as high as it can be every single day. Especially in the early days of a relationship, he goes out of his way to be the ideal partner. When he falls in love, though, he starts feeling comfortable enough to drop the façade.
He gets consumed with feelings that he doesn’t normally experience, and they suddenly become more important to him than showing the world he’s perfect. When you’re starry-eyed, you no longer care that one of your hairs is out of place!
12Capricorn: The Little Things That Make A Difference
Capricorn is perhaps the subtlest of the earth signs, and that’s saying a lot. He’s very careful and calculating in everything he does, and he never rushes anything. The likelihood of him blurting out his feelings early on in the relationship isn’t high, but you can work out how he’s feeling by looking for the clues that he sometimes displays.
Capricorn is normally a workaholic, but when he’s in love, he suddenly becomes much more emotionally invested in the relationship. You’ll notice it in little things, like cute texts he sends you during the day, or opening the door for you, or picking you up a gift because he was thinking of you.
11Likelihood Of Earth Signs Saying ILY: Only When They’re Ready
The earth signs are the most careful in the zodiac. They’re also the most patient and the biggest over-thinkers. So naturally, it can be difficult for them to tell someone else that they love them, even if they know in their heart that they do.
Normally, they have to work themselves up to say those words, and sometimes it can take them a few tries to actually get up the courage to say it. They really don’t like looking like fools, so they really have to step out of their comfort zones. Sometimes, it’s better to tell an earth sign that you love them first!
10The Air Signs Go To Great Effort To Show Their Love
Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius, otherwise known as the air signs, can sometimes be taken by emotion. Sometimes it carries them away, just like a strong current floating in the air. For this reason, these signs can sometimes go to great lengths to show their love, even if they’re not ready to say those three words yet.
Gemini likes to make room for his loved one in his life (which is a big deal for this sign!), while Libra shows his love by being the best partner he can be and always supporting his beloved. Aquarius likes to spoil his partner with meaningful gifts that show off his unique personality.
9Gemini: Incorporating Them Into His Schedule
Gemini has a busy schedule and always has something going on in his life. There are always places to go, things to do, and people to see for this energetic and social sign. He’s not the sentimental type, nor is he the type to lock himself in when he’s in love and forget about the world outside him and his partner.
Even when he falls deeply in love, the other areas of his life don’t stop being important to him. So he works hard to incorporate his partner into his schedule. This sign normally likes to maintain a degree of independence, so it’s a big deal when you score an invite to something that he normally does by himself, like a class or a social club meeting.
8Libra: Supporting Them Through Anything
Like his fellow air signs, Libra is prepared to go to great effort to show his love for someone else. This loyal and trustworthy sign acts as a backbone in a relationship—he always supports the person that he loves through absolutely anything that comes up. He will put himself out there and be there for his beloved through thick and thin.
This sign is also a natural at old-school romance and charm, so he’ll probably support his partner in the most romantic way possible. No matter what they’re facing, he’ll be there to catch his partner if they happen to fall.
7Aquarius: Meaningful Gifts That Show Off His Quirky Side
Like Taurus, Aquarius likes to buy his loved ones gifts to express his feelings. This sign definitely isn’t one to give a long spiel about how much he loves his partner—he’d rather let his actions do the talking.
The difference between the kinds of gifts that Aquarius buys and the kinds of gifts that Taurus buys is quite simple: while Taurus tends to be about lavish gifts with an impressive price tag, Aquarius prefers to buy or make gifts that are meaningful, even if they cost him one dollar. In his eyes, it’s the thought that shows off his true personality that really counts.
6Likelihood Of Air Signs Saying ILY: Perhaps
The air signs are prone to strong feelings, but that doesn’t guarantee that they’ll tell their beloved that they do love them, even if they feel it on the inside. These signs still care what people think of them and don’t want to risk being rejected or looking stupid.
But if they feel comfortable enough, and the feelings are strong enough, they do tend to express their true feelings. The circumstances have to be right and the timing has to be perfect, but it can happen. And when these signs finally do say those words, they will feel totally free!
5The Water Signs Let Their Loved Ones Into Their Worlds
The water signs are deeply emotional, but they can take a while to really let their guards down. Although they’d like nothing more than to live happily ever after with their loved ones, they usually try to protect their hearts from being hurt and so keep a wall between them and their partners until they’re sure that they’ve fallen in love.
When they do fall in love, they let those people into their worlds and show them their true selves. Cancer introduces his loved one to his friends and family, while Scorpio finally lets down his guard and shows that he’s not invincible, and Pisces lets his partner know about his hidden dreams and goals.
4Cancer: Introducing Them To Friends And Family
Cancer might be a bit more guarded than other signs in that he prefers his privacy. So while his love will no doubt be interested in meeting his friends and family earlier on (especially if she’s fallen first), he’ll be a bit guarded until he’s truly in love with a partner.
Introducing his love to his family and friends is Cancer’s way of showing her how he really feels without having to utter a single word, other than “meet my mom.” So be patient, because once you get to this point with Cancer, he’s totally smitten, even if he’s not apt to verbalize it that way.
3Scorpio: Showing Off His Vulnerable Side
Scorpio doesn’t like to let himself seem vulnerable. This intelligent sign is known for putting up walls to give the impression that he’s tougher than he is and he won’t be caught looking weak. Most people don’t know that he’s actually got a huge heart because he portrays himself as someone who’s quite hard and strong.
When he falls in love, as he loves to do, he’s more inclined to let down his guard and show off his vulnerable side. He will have long conversations with his beloved where he will let the real and best version of him shine.
2Pisces: Opening Up About His Dreams
Pisces is well known as the dreamer of the zodiac. This sign loves to get lost in fantasy and spends a lot of time imagining the kind of life he wants. Though he’s not overly concerned with how other people perceive him, he doesn’t normally share the deepest desires of his heart with everybody.
But when he’s in love, he just can’t help it. These dreams are important to him, and so, of course, he wants to share them with the person who matters to him more than anyone else. When he starts opening up about his fantasies, you know he’s fallen.
1Likelihood Of Water Signs Saying ILY: Bound To Happen
Because the water signs are so emotional and love being in love, they are bound to say those words eventually. They might start off showing their feelings rather than saying them out loud, through actions like introducing their partners to their families and letting their guard down and talking about their dreams.
But sooner or later, they end up saying those magic words. It can take a while because they need to feel safe and they need to feel like they’re not going to be rejected when they do say it. But when enough time has passed, they’ll find the words and blurt them out.
