There's the childhood pal you've known since you could walk. The party animal who's made you stay out til 6am more times than you'd like to remember. And of course, the wise owl you go to for advice about anything and everything.

As we grow older, we solidify older friendships and form new ones too. No matter how unique your pals are, we bet they all fall into one of the key friend categories! 

Here are just a few of them… 

1. The Loyal BFF
She'll be there for you, no questions asked, when you call in tears at 2am. Of course she would – you'd do the exact same for her. No friendship collection is complete without at least one solid best friend!

2. The Mad Scone
A night out with this pal never ends when the pub closes. If there's an after party, she'll seek it out. If you don't see her for a few weeks you can guarantee she'll have a novel's worth of crazy stories to fill you in on.

3. The Socialite
You can't walk down the street without this friend stopping to talk to at least three people. She's a good one to know – and she gets you into all the good clubs/bars/house parties too.

4. The No-Holds-Barred Confidant
You'd tell her absolutely anything (and we mean anything) and you just know she won't flinch. This friend is a great one to approach for advice too – you know she'll be brutally honest.

5. The Mother Figure
She always worries that you're not eating enough or that you're getting too stressed at work. This pal is the one you go to when you just want a relaxed evening cuddled up by the TV. She'll mind you!

6. The Total Opposite
You're quiet, she's loud and proud. Or vice versa. We all need someone completely different to us in our lives – it takes us out of our comfort zone!

7. The Flake
When she finally does commit to a plan, she's the best craic ever, but by God is it hard to tie her down. You're so convinced she's going to cancel that you practically want to run and hug her when she does show up.

8. The Perfect One
Okay, you can't know every detail of someone's life, but this girl just seems to have it all. Great job, great man, great hair (the worst!) – but you can't be jealous because she also happens to be the kindest person ever. You probably have a secret love/hate relationship with this pal!

9. The Gossip
She'll always have the inside scoop on so-and-so's break-up/pregnancy/cheating scandal, but you can't help but worry what she might be saying behind your back too.

10. The Acquaintance
This "pal" is great fun and you have loads of friends in common, but you just never see each other. Any time you do make contact it always ends with  "let's totally grab a coffee soon" which you both know means "let's not make contact again for ages!"