Need one more reason to over-analyze every single text message from the person you’re dating? You got it.

Researchers at The Unversity of Austin at Texas say that if you want to know if he (or she) loves you so, it’s in his (or her) “function words.”

Functions words are those little words that convey the grammatical relationship between words, as opposed to the content of the sentence — like ifs, ands, buts, thens, etc. According to psychology professor, James Pennebaker, when your crush’s choice in function words starts to mimic yours, that’s how you know they’re really into you. And vice versa.

“The way two people use function words with each other is a reflection of the patterns going on their mind,” explained Pennebaker, in a recent interview with Yahoo Shine. “It’s a subconscious way of seeing if two people are on the same page.”

Ready to become totally obsessed with function words and their meaning for your love life. Learn more here.

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