好き・嫌い

Like/Dislike

Level 1Sounds Like suki・kirai

In Japanese, 'like' and 'dislike' are not verbs, but na-adjectives. You describe the object you like or dislike using the subject marker が.

How It Works

To express preferences in Japanese, we use two primary words:

  • 好き（すき）: To like / be fond of
  • 嫌い（きらい）: To dislike / hate

These words are grammatically な-adjectives. This means they behave like adjectives, not verbs, taking だ in casual speech (e.g., 好きだ) and です in polite speech. Note: Even though 嫌い ends in い, it is a な-adjective. Do not conjugate it like an い-adjective (it is 嫌いじゃない, never 嫌いくない). Because of this, the thing you like is typically marked with the particle が rather than the object marker を in basic sentences (though を can be used in certain contexts, such as with verbs like なる, e.g., 彼を好きになる). The person who likes or dislikes something (the experiencer) is marked with the topic particle は.

Describing Nouns (Favorite):
To describe a noun as your 'favorite' or something you like, use the な form: 好きな＋Noun (e.g., 好きな食べ物 for 'favorite food').

Negative Forms:
To say you don't like something, use the negative forms for な-adjectives. In polite speech, this is 好きではありません or 好きじゃないです (plain form: 好きじゃない). For the past negative, use 好きではありませんでした or 好きじゃなかったです (plain form: 好きじゃなかった).

Past Tense:
To express that you liked or disliked something in the past, use the past tense forms for な-adjectives, such as 好きでした (plain: 好きだった) or 嫌いでした (plain: 嫌いだった).

Liking People & Romance:
When expressing feelings toward a person, it is very common to add 〜のこと after their name (e.g., 田中さんのことが好きです). This makes the sentiment feel more holistic. Note that 「好きです」 is also the standard way to confess romantic love in Japanese.

Nuance & Contrast:
The word 嫌い is very strong. To be more polite, speakers often use 好きじゃない (don't like) or 苦手（にがて） (not good at/aversion to). Additionally, if you are contrasting two things (e.g., 'I like X but dislike Y'), the particle が usually changes to the contrastive は.

Intensifiers & Compounds:
You can add the prefix 大（だい） to make them stronger: 大好き (love) and 大嫌い (loathe). Furthermore, combining the two words creates the noun 好き嫌い（すききらい）, which means 'likes and dislikes' or 'pickiness'. A highly common phrase is 好き嫌いが多い（すききらいがおおい）, meaning 'to have a lot of likes and dislikes' or 'to be a picky eater'.

Liking Actions:
To say you like 'doing' something, you must nominalize the dictionary form of the verb using either の or こと (e.g., 泳ぐのが好きです or 泳ぐことが好きです).

Examples (6)

  1. 私は猫が好きです。

    I like cats.

    Word by Word: I (topic) cats (subject) like is.

    A standard polite sentence expressing a preference for cats.

  2. 田中さんは野菜が嫌いです。

    Mr. Tanaka dislikes vegetables.

    Word by Word: Tanaka-san (topic) vegetables (subject) dislike is.

    Using 嫌い indicates a strong dislike or hatred for vegetables.

  3. 日本語を勉強するのが大好きです。

    I love studying Japanese.

    Word by Word: Japanese (object) study (nominalizer) (subject) big-like is.

    Here, the action 'studying' is nominalized with の so it can be used with 大好き（だいすき）.

  4. これは私の好きな本です。

    This is my favorite book.

    Word by Word: This (topic) my (possessive) like-modifier book is.

    When used before a noun, 好き becomes 好きな to mean 'favorite' or 'liked'.

  5. 肉は好きですが、魚は嫌いです。

    I like meat, but I dislike fish.

    Word by Word: Meat (contrast) like is but, fish (contrast) dislike is.

    When contrasting two things, the particle が often changes to the contrastive は.

  6. 田中さんのことが好きです。

    I like/love Mr. Tanaka.

    Word by Word: Tanaka-san's (thing) (subject) like is.

    Using 〜のことが好き is the standard way to express romantic feelings toward someone.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the particle を instead of が.

    私は寿司を好きです。
    私は寿司が好きです。

    Because 好き（すき） is an adjective in Japanese, the object of your affection is treated as the subject of that 'liking' state, requiring the particle が.

  • Conjugating 好き like a verb.

    寿司を好きます。
    寿司が好きです。

    Learners often try to add 〜ます directly to the word because they think it is a verb like 'to like.' Since it is an adjective, it must be used with the copula です or だ.

  • Using 嫌い in polite social situations.

    納豆は嫌いです。
    納豆はちょっと苦手です。

    嫌い（きらい） can sound childish or overly aggressive. Using 苦手（にがて） is a much more natural and polite way to decline food or activities you don't like.

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好き・嫌いLevel 1Like/Dislike

Learn This First

To express likes and dislikes in Japanese, you need to understand that these words function as adjectives rather than verbs. You must know how to use the particle が to mark the thing you like or dislike, and how to use the copula です to finish the sentence politely.

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