大好き
daisuki[da̠isɨ̥kʲi]
To say "love it" in Japanese, you use 大好き (daisuki).
大好き is an expression used to say that you like something very much. Unlike in English, you can use 大好き as a standalone exclamation to express strong liking without needing to include a subject or an object in your sentence.
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of dai (big/great) and suki (like), literally meaning "big like".
Which one should you use?
While suki means "like", daisuki is the standard way to express "love" or "really like" when discussing objects and hobbies.
Is it said differently in some regions?
The informal phrase めっちゃ好き is common in certain regions of Japan, particularly Kansai.
How does it change in a sentence?
You can adjust the form of 大好き to change the tone: adding です to make it 大好きです makes the expression polite and suitable for speaking to strangers or superiors, while adding だ to create 大好きだ makes it a plain, assertive form often used by males in casual speech.
How do you pronounce it?
daisuki
Did you know?
- The word suki is actually the stem of a verb that used to mean 'to be used' or 'to be appropriate'.
- Though 大好き means 'love it', it is grammatically a 'na-adjective', meaning you are technically describing the object as being 'lovable' rather than performing the action of loving.
- The informal version めっちゃ好き uses the word めっちゃ, which is a shortened version of めちゃくちゃ meaning 'messy' or 'extreme'.
Examples in context
- 私、それめちゃめちゃ大好きなのよ。I really do love it.This sentence is useful for emphasizing how much you love something with the use of 大好き.Tatoeba #8871869 by bunbuku, translation #4887791 by CK
- 「辛いものって、好き？」「大好き」"Do you like spicy food?" "I love it."This example shows how to use 大好き as a short response to a question.Tatoeba #11727272 by small_snow, translation #2961500 by meerkat
- 「またチョコ食べてる。よっぽど好きなんだね」「うん、大好き」「じゃあチョコとうちではどっちが好き？」「そんなのチョコに決まってんじゃん」"You're eating chocolate again. You really like that stuff, don't you?" "Yep, I love it!" "OK, well, which do you like better? Chocolate, or me?" "You know the answer to that. Chocolate, of course."This dialogue illustrates using 大好き to express a strong preference for something.Tatoeba #3320855 by tommy_san, translation #10765280 by end
- この庭園、大変気に入りましたI really like this garden.
- その料理、大好きI love that dish.
- そのバンド、超好きI love that band so much!
- この風景、めっちゃ好きI love this scenery so much!
Example conversation
Two friends are eating at a new cafe.
- 美咲 Misakiこのケーキ、本当に大好き！Kono keeki, hontou ni daisuki!I really love this cake!
- 大翔 Hirotoよかった。僕もこれ大好きだよ。Yokatta. Boku mo kore daisuki da yo.I'm glad. I love this too.
- 美咲 Misakiまた来ようね。Mata koyou ne.Let's come back again.
- 大翔 Hirotoうん、ぜひ！Un, zehi!Yeah, definitely!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 大好き, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 大好き, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
