There are a lot of different kinds of love—romantic, parental, platonic. Mostly, love is feeling emotionally attached to another person and having that feeling returned. You want to be close to that person. You want to share things with them, understand them and have them understand you. You want to care for them and have them care for you. Romantic love usually comes with a strong physical or sexual attraction. You want to hold, touch and sometimes become sexual with that person.

Lust tends to be physical attraction that may or may not be shared by the other person. Lust can sometimes turn into love. Often, when two people are first getting together, they have a really strong physical connection. When two people fall in love, a deeper, more intimate emotional connection forms.

When you’re falling in love, it’s often tough to tell the difference between the two, especially if it’s the first time you’ve experienced such intense emotions.

This is where it can be helpful to talk to a trusted adult about these kinds of feelings. Ask them what they think the difference is or how they knew the difference when they felt each one. You don’t necessarily have to talk about your own feelings to learn about other people’s life experiences.