Likes — 好き

You've spent the last few episodes describing the world around you — what exists, what things are like, how they change. Today, Japanese gets personal. You tell me what you actually like.

What You'll Learn#

New vocabulary: 好き (likable, to like), 春 (spring), 野菜 (vegetables), 肉 (meat), 魚 (fish), どちら (which of two), あまり (not very, not much)

Lesson Transcript#

The Twist: が, Not を#

In English, like is a verb. I like sushi — sushi is the object. But in Japanese, 好き isn't a verb at all. It's a な-adjective. It doesn't describe an action you do — it describes how something feels to you. The thing itself is likable. That means you use the particle が, not を.

Break it down. 私 is I. は is the topic marker — we're talking about me. 春 is spring. が marks what I like. And 好きです means is liked, is likable.

Asking About Preferences#

To ask someone if they like something, just add か to the end — same as every other question you've learned.

Choosing Between Two Things#

Japanese has a clean way to ask someone to choose between two options. The word for which (between two things) is どちら. The shape is — A と B と どちら が 好きですか.

Piece by piece. 肉 is meat. と pairs it with the next choice. 魚 is fish. Another と closes the pair. どちら means which of the two. が marks that as the thing in question. Then 好きですか closes it.

Negative and Soft Negative#

Since 好き is a な-adjective, the negative follows the rules from episode 23.

The 好き Pattern#