Can You Tell Identical Twins Apart?

I can't really tell identical twins apart right away unless I'm around them a lot. It's hard when two people look exactly the same.

My next door neighbor has a twin brother, but I didn't know this at first. I'd sometimes yell out a "Bonjour!" to who I thought was my neighbor (we live in France) and he'd say it back, then I'd say, "Ca va?" (Everything fine?) and he'd say yes, but with a strange look on his face, as if wanting to avoid further conversation. When I finally learned they were twins I figured it out, but now I give my neighbor a longer look before engaging in conversation, especially on weekends when his brother is likely to be visiting, and if I say "bonjour!" and I get a panicked "bonjour" in return, I know to stop the conversation. We have other friends who have twin sons and we always just call them "the twins" as if they're one person. I wonder if twins develop a different sense of identity from always being referred to as "they" or "them" rather than "he" or "him" (or she/her).

I have only known a few sets of identical twins and I've been able to tell them apart. I worked with a set of boys once. They were in high school and almost everyone was not able to tell them apart. I thought it was easy! Dan looked a year or so younger, and was a bit leaner. Dave looked (and acted) much more mature. My husband's cousins are twins also. They are the same size and shape, and have their hair styled the same way. I can tell them apart too, even though it's not from their looks. They carry themselves different. I don't know if I'd be able to tell them apart in a picture, I might have to try that.

Hahaha that is really funny. They should play a joke on her... switch places and see how long until she realizes she's on a date with the wrong one! I can usually tell identical twins apart, but I have to get to know them pretty well first. At one point I could tell Mary-Kate and Ashley apart but I probably couldn't today... lol

I have an acquaintance of mine which I worked wih who is an identical twin as well. I think as some of the other responses have pointed out although they look identical, most twins develop different personalities, likes and dislikes and mannerisms. In my situation, because I have a relationship with one twin and not her sister, (although I certainly have met her and spent time with her) I can easily tell the two of them apart. They talk differently, and their body language and mannerisms are different as well. I have a history with one and not the other, because of that history, I can tell who's who instantly because there's definitely the bond there. With that being said, I do find the situation which you described to be amusing because if I was the partner to a twin, I would definitely be able to tell them apart. Anyway, thanks for my laugh of the day and happy Mylotting!

I have a friend who has a identical nieces. At first I thought they were both alike that I couldn't tell one from the other. I also have a friend who's also one of the identical twins. She said that they looked really identical when they were little girls but lost the look when they got older. I did feel the same way before with some identical twins. I guess you have to get to know the twins first too know their difference and you'll find yourself stupid for not recognizing one from the other. happy posting

There usually is one distinct trait that sets them apart. We have a set of twin boys in my oldest son's class and earlier in life I had a hard time telling them apart but as they got older they tend to become individuals a little more. One is also a tad bit taller than the other and looks more mature in the face. But there have been times when I have had a hard time telling twins apart.

Unless you personally know both of the identical twins it if generally very hard to tell them apart simply because they are identical. One or both of them might decide to “adopt“ a different posture or gestures to be a bit different than their twin but that is also not the case. Alternately, one of both might decide that they will wear different type of colours of clothes for exactly the very same reason. The only identical twins I ever knew were female twins that I grew up with and they were identical. From a very young age I am sure that they made a decision to fool everyone and some of the pranks they pulled were very funny, at least I thought so as a child. Their parents bought them bracelets when they were very young and always made them wear those bracelets so that people could tell them apart. Now those bracelets were the same except for the colour of the charm but all those girls did was change the bracelets. Sometimes they did not change the bracelets but said they had and that certainly did confuse the teachers but gave the rest of the class a good laugh. Many times they got all of the class detention for laughing at the teacher. Those girls did everything together, no matter how hard their parents tried to make them individuals. At one stage some teacher claimed the girls were cheating in exams so after that the school principal decided that in future the girls would have to be in different rooms when they took their exams. They got exactly the same marks and exactly the same ones were wrong. Personally I didn’t try to tell them apart most of the time and as children do, we made up a name for them which was a combination of both their names. That way whichever one we spoke to, we got the name right! That appealed to their sense of humour. They were attractive girls too and many of the boys, including me, fancied them but when I heard from one of my school mates that the twins had changed places on him for a date, I never tried my hand to get one to go out with me. lol No idea where they are now or what they are doing either because they left the district where we grew up a long time ago. Many years ago I heard they had married brothers and had children but that is all and it might or might not be true as nobody seemed to know.

My ex was a twin and I could tell him and his brother apart. they looked alike but they held their selves different and if you watched them you could easily tell them apart.

After you know them for awhile, you can tell by their body language/mannerisms UNLESS they are purposely trying to fool you. If you're talking about telling identicals apart immediately, that's a little harder. If I'm first meeting somebody, obviously I would hope they are dressed differently lol.

Sometime it becomes a real difficult to identify them. Twins took admission to my college. For first time I always did mistakes. Later they said one of them had a scar on eyebrow. They really made the job easier. Still now without that mark can create a confusion.

oh never i always wondered how a mother did. anyway, i had a friend once that had gotten her 10yrs old identical twins a dot tattooed on their hands when they were just 2yrs old one on the right hand and one on the left hand. she said she was tired of the family confusing them. i often wondered if it was for her but she said no, she always knew which was which i'll bet!

It's hard for me to tell identical twins apart unless I stayed with them for quite sometime and maybe I had observed their gestures or mannerisms. I love to see identical twins growing up together. We don't have twins in the family.

a wounderful world of twin just difficult to identify them u call their name and both looks at U them u r in fix really. they should help us.

At the childdaycentre where I work their are about 3 identical twins. Some of the twins are easier to tell apart than others, for example two brothers and one has a bit of a more round face than the other one which is basicly how I tell them apart. We also have two girls which I can't tell apart by my colleague can, thank God! It can be hard at times, but if you know them long enough you can. I had friends in kindergarten who were identical twins, when I look back at photo's there is no way to identify them but when I was still going to school with them I allways could tell them apart. Funny....

Well, Of course every leaf on a tree is identical, yet everyone is different. So called "Identical twins" are not really identical, they just look that way to the casual observer. I knew a set of twin girls who got the biggest kick out of confusing their boyfriends. This was fine until one got engaged ( and the fun stopped!!) Yup twins are fun, but did you know that they both developed from a single egg, and they have the same Higher Self (Oversoul?)

Hi Singlemommy, One of my friends had identical twins and we could always tell them apart but outsiders never could and they used to really play games, they would swop clothes so the one you would think was one was in fact the other, although identical they did have there own personalties and theyused to fight like any other sibling but the best line I ever heard one of them say in an arguement was 'shut up, what do you know?, you are just the runt of the litter', what I say goes' because she was the first born, how cruel was that, but we had to laugh at the time as they were only little. Huggles. Ellie :D

I work with twins and they dont look anything alike to me however when I was in school it was another story. I went to school with several groups of twins. I was best friends with 2 of them and could tell them apart with very little trouble. They both had things that would make it easy to tell the difference. Then there were the boys I could only tell them apart if they wore different clothes. Funny how as you get older you can more differences in them. I see them now and can tell right away what one is what.

That's a funny story. I wonder if Donnie would've been offended if she went to his brother thinking it was him. Ha ha ha. I actually know a couple of identical twins and a set of identical triplets. When I first met them, I couldn't tell the difference, but as I got to know them better, it was easier to tell them apart. I started to notice things like a beauty spot or the way they smiled. Just little things.

For the first time, its quite difficult for me to identify who is who. But once I meet them a couple of times, I am sure that I will be able to locate who is who. I dont know how i do that, but it has come to me naturatlly. There was a situation when I used to teach 9 grade students. I used to teach twins and they used to wonder how I was so successful in locating them which others were never used to do.