好き
suki
The English phrase "like you" can be expressed in Japanese using 好き (suki).
The word 好き is used to express romantic or personal affection for another person. While it can be used to describe liking an object or a hobby, when directed toward a person in a personal context, it is a common way to confess romantic feelings.
Which one should you use?
To express a much stronger level of affection or preference, you can add the character for "big" to the front to form 大好き, which means "love" or "really like".
How does it change in a sentence?
Adding です to 好き makes the expression polite and suitable for speaking to someone you are not close with.
How do you pronounce it?
suki
Did you know?
- In Japanese culture, a romantic confession using 好き is often called a kokuhaku. This is a formal ritual where one person explicitly declares their feelings to initiate a relationship, rather than just dating casually.
- The word 好き is technically an adjective in modern grammar, meaning 'likable', rather than a verb like the English word 'like'.
- While 好き can mean 'love', the word 愛している (aishiteru) is rarely used in daily life because it is considered overwhelmingly intense and poetic.
Examples in context
- 君が好きだ。I like you.Tatoeba #179014 by wat, translation #410751 by CK
- みんな好きよ。I like you all.Tatoeba #10764031 by small_snow, translation #10822668 by ddnktr
- もう好きじゃない。I don't like you anymore.Tatoeba #4852 by bunbuku, translation #1435 by CK
- 50 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Yui confesses her feelings to Kenta in the park.
- 結衣 Yui健太のこと、好き。Kenta no koto, suki.I like you, Kenta.
- 健太 Kentaえっ、本当に？E, hontō ni?What, really?
- 結衣 Yuiうん、ずっと好きだったよ。Un, zutto suki datta yo.Yes, I've liked you for a long time.
- 健太 Kenta僕も好きだよ。Boku mo suki da yo.I like you too.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
