I like — 好きです takes が

Two cups. The liked one still takes が.

In this lesson you will

• Say 〜が好きです for food, places, and small likes
• Ask 何が好きですか and どの〜が好きですか
• Keep を on 食べます and が on 好きです in the same conversation

Today’s scene

How it works

好きです is a な-adjective predicate, not a ます-verb. The thing that is liked is marked with が. コーヒーが好きです。この町が好きです。冬が好きです。 Adding 私は is optional when it is obvious: 私はコーヒーが好きです。

好きな + noun uses な because a noun follows. 好きな食べ物, 好きな場所, 好きな時間. Then you can say 好きな食べ物は何ですか。 The inner が of 好きです and the な of 好きな are two positions of the same word, not two words.

嫌いです uses the same が. 朝が嫌いです。にぎやかな店が嫌いです。 大好きです is a stronger 好き. Still が. 大阪が大好きです。

Right next to it, verbs still want を. パンを食べます. コーヒーを飲みます. 写真を撮ります. You may like bread and also eat bread: パンが好きです。朝、パンを食べます。 Two markers, two jobs, one breakfast.

This lesson is not new vocabulary. It is a particle that students keep replacing with the particle from their first language. 好きです takes が. Write it on the inside of a notebook cover. Say it while you wash a cup. The grammar is small. The leak is large.

Why が? Because 好き is a な-adjective describing a state: liked. The thing in that state is the thing が marks. A rough gloss: “coffee is liked.” English hates that gloss and rewrites it as a verb “like” with an object. Your job is to stop rewriting. Produce コーヒーが好きです until the English rewrite happens after you speak, not before.

私は is the topic of the liker. 私は猫が好きです. Two markers, peaceful. は does not replace が here. If you say 猫は好きです, you can still be understood — は can mark a contrastive liked thing (“cats, I like; dogs, maybe not”). That is a later knife. Default classroom production: liked item が. Liker は only when you need to name the person.

Questions: 何が好きですか. どのケーキが好きですか. 猫は好きですか is a topic question: as for cats, do you like them? Answers: はい、好きです。 or はい、猫が好きです。 A short 好きです works when the thing is already on the table.

大好き is 好き with more heat. It is still not a ます-verb. が大好きです. Do not say を大好きです. 嫌い is the no of 好き. が嫌いです. You can be polite and still dislike a noisy street.

好きな + noun is the attributive. 好きな飲み物, 好きな時間, 好きな人. 好きな人 is socially heavier than beginners think — it can mean a person you like romantically. In a guesthouse kitchen, 好きな食べ物 is safer small talk than 好きな人 unless you mean it.

The pair drill is the medicine: パンが好きです。パンを食べます。 茶が好きです。茶を飲みます。 写真が好きです。写真を撮ります。 Same noun, two particles, two predicates. If you only chant が好きです in isolation, を will sneak back the moment a verb appears.

Korean 을/를 좋아하다 is the main poison for Korean speakers. Your mouth wants 를. Japanese が is the correction, every time, out loud. Chinese 喜欢 can take 把 or a bare object; still put が in Japanese. English “like” + object: ignore the object-ness. Spanish me gusta is the useful cousin: the liked thing is not a normal accusative. Use that, then say が.

Casual 好きだ, 好きなの, 超好き are hearable. Not your desk voice. です.

Do not confuse たい and 好き. ラーメンが食べたいです (or を) is a want to eat. ラーメンが好きです is a standing like. You can like ramen and not want it at 7 a.m. Separate sentences.

In the dialogue, Mina does the pair on purpose: パンが好きです。朝、パンを食べます。 Sato asks 猫は好きですか with は because cats are a new topic. Mina answers 猫が大好きです — が returns on the liked animal. この町も好きです uses も, which you already own: this town also. も often replaces は/が on the thing you add. この町も好きです is natural. この町がも好きです is not.

静かで、便利です in the last line uses で to connect a な-adjective to another description. 静かで is the て-like connector of な-adjectives (stem + で). You can receive it. Producing 静かで is allowed if you already like the town for two reasons. Do not build a long chain. Two is plenty.

Practice: three likes with が. One dislike with が. One pair with 食べます or 飲みます. Record. If を appears on 好き, do the three likes again. No new words until を is gone.

Past of 好き is 好きでした — next lesson’s family. Today stays present. Like the tea that is actually in the cup.

Make a three-line chant and do not get creative until it is ugly-simple. 茶が好きです。茶を飲みます。 パンが好きです。パンを食べます。 この町が好きです。この町に行きます。 Notice the third pair: place like takes が, movement takes に, not を. を is not the only contrast. が versus everything else is the real fight.

何が好きですか is wide. どんな食べ物が好きですか is a little narrower — どんな “what kind”. どの店が好きですか points at a known set. Start wide. Answer with a noun + が好きです. Do not answer 好きです alone unless the noun was just named.

も: コーヒーも好きです. も replaces が/は on the item you add. コーヒーがも好きです is a beginner stitch. も好きです after a named topic is fine: 茶は？ も好きです。

Negation: 好きじゃないです or 好きではありません. あまり好きじゃないです is a polite cooler. 嫌いです is stronger. In small talk with staff, あまり… is often enough. You do not have to perform dislike of a town that is feeding you.

大好きです is fine for places, food, animals. 大好きです toward a person you just met is a different movie. Keep 大好き for Osaka, tea, cats, and bread until your social map is real.

Translators, song lyrics, and variety shows will show を好きになる, 好きでいる, 好きだよ. Those are other constructions or casual copulas. Your production frame remains Xが好きです. When you can hold that frame in a kitchen at night, you can later add the movie lines on purpose instead of by leak.

Hindi pasand, Arabic bhibb, Korean 좋아하다, Chinese 喜欢, English like, Spanish gustar: pick the one that already treats the liked thing as the center (gustar, pasand hai) and lean on it. If your language treats like as a transitive hammer, put the hammer down before が.

Practice with a fake quiz from Sato: drinks, food, animals, season, town. Five が好きです. One が嫌いです. One pair with を食べます. One 好きな noun sentence. That is eight, like the example set. Stop there. More likes without が is not more Japanese.

Write が好きです on a card and put it where you charge your phone. This mistake is not intellectual. It is muscle. Muscle needs a place it will see every morning.

Past 好きでした waits one lesson. Do not mix it in while が is still at risk. Present likes, present が. The tea is still hot. Talk about that.

If a classmate laughs that this whole hour is one particle, they are right, and they will still say を tomorrow. Laugh, then drill. The store, the kitchen, and the train do not grade originality. They grade whether coffee is が or を before 好きです. Choose が. Keep choosing it.

Liker は, liked が

（私は）X が 好きです。
猫が好きです。 I like cats.
この店が好きです。 I like this shop.
何が好きですか。 What do you like?

好きな + noun

好きな食べ物は何ですか。 What food do you like?
好きな場所は公園です。 The place I like is the park.
大阪が大好きです。 I love Osaka. (still が)

Sentences you can use

Close, but not this

OK コーヒーが好きです。
NG コーヒーを好きです。

を likes verbs. 好きです is not 飲みます. The liked thing is が.

OK 何が好きですか。
NG 何を好きですか。

The question copies the statement. が stays. 何を belongs with 食べます / 飲みます / します.

Say it out loud

Next, adjectives grow a past: おいしかったです, 静かでした. You will need it the moment lunch is over and someone asks how it was. Keep が好きです in the present until that past is clean.

Write one sentence today