好き / 嫌い — Like and Dislike
好き (like) and 嫌い (dislike/hate) are grammatically na-adjectives describing a state of feeling, NOT verbs of action. The thing liked/disliked is marked with が.
Structure
[Thing/Person] が 好き／嫌い です
Examples
猫が好きです。
Neko ga suki desu.
I like cats.
猫 (cats) + が + 好き (liked) + です
嘘つきが嫌いだ。
Usotsuki ga kirai da.
I hate liars.
嘘つき (liar) + が + 嫌い (disliked) + だ (plain copula)
私は夏が好きですが、冬は嫌いです。
Watashi wa natsu ga suki desu ga, fuyu wa kirai desu.
I like summer, but I hate winter.
夏が好き / 冬は嫌い — the liked thing takes が; は replaces it here for contrast
• The を trap: Because English says 'I LIKE pizza,' beginners reach for を. That is wrong — 好き/嫌い are stative, so the liked thing takes が (ピザが好きです). • Love confession: 大好き literally means 'big like.' あなたが好きです is the standard, natural confession at the N5 level; 愛してる is used far more rarely. • Na-adjective use: before a noun they take な — 好きな映画 (a movie I like), 嫌いな人 (a person I dislike).
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones 好き is tested against.
vs 嫌い vs 苦手
嫌い is a direct 'dislike/hate.' 苦手 is softer — 'not good with / not my strong point,' often used to decline food or activities politely without sounding harsh.
vs 〜が好き vs 〜たい
好き describes liking a thing/activity in general (映画が好き). 〜たい expresses wanting to do a specific action right now (映画が見たい = I want to watch a movie).
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