LEARN + JAPANESE / Note 79 JLPT N5
Like, Dislike (好きだ・嫌いだ)
好き (like) and 嫌い (dislike) are な-adjectives, not verbs, even though English “like” and “dislike” feel like actions. Whatever’s liked or disliked takes が, the same pattern ほしい and 分かる both run on.
I like movies. But I dislike TV dramas.
When I was a kid, I liked juice. But I disliked milk.
In Real Life
好き conjugates exactly like any other な-adjective: 好きです, 好きでした, 好きじゃないです, 好きじゃなかったです. There’s no separate verb form hiding underneath it, and が never becomes を no matter how action-like “like” feels in English.
What kind of music do you like?
What food does Tanaka dislike?
In Real Life
Modifying a noun directly needs 好きな or 嫌いな, the な that gives な-adjectives their name: 嫌いな食べ物 (disliked food), not 嫌い食べ物. 大好き and 大嫌い push the same words to an extreme, “love” and “really can’t stand,” just by adding 大 (big) on the front.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| laundry | |
| milk | |
| comic, manga | |
| classical music | |
| soccer | |
| love, really like | |
| hate, really dislike | |
| bad at, not fond of | |
| good at, fond of | |
| to be interested | |
| obsessed, absorbed | |
| to get tired of | |
| to get into, be hooked on | |
| food one's bad at handling | |
| hobby | |
| personality | |
| appearance, looks | |
| taste, flavor | |
| smell | |
| to take a liking to |