Grammar › N5 › 〜が好すき

JLPT N5 · likes & preferences

〜が好すき～ga suki

"like (something)" — saying what you're into.

What it means

Use 好すき to say you like a thing: [noun] が 好き(です). The key surprise for English speakers — 好き is a な-adjective, not a verb ("to be likeable/pleasing"), so the thing you like is marked with が, not を. To like doing something, turn the verb into a noun with の: 読よむのが好き (like reading).

How to make it

noun + が + 好き
映画えいがが好き (I like movies)
読よむ→読むのが好き (I like reading)

like

don't like

liked

love (it)

Examples — real lines from the library

Every one of these is a real line from a real episode in our podcast transcripts — pulled by the finder and verified against the live library. Tap the line to open the app at that exact second.

I like the cinema. (affirmative)
▶ Nihongo con Teppei (beginners) · #1542「映画について！」 · 7:15 — hear it →
Do you like wallets? (question)
▶ Japanese with Shun · Ep271「Wallet」 · 0:42 — hear it →
I like reading books. (verb + のが好き)
▶ Nihongo Storytime for Beginners · #187「Norikoの誕生日」 · 2:50 — hear it →
I loved photography. (casual · 大好き, drops です)
▶ Nihongo con Teppei (beginners) · #1541「写真について！」 · 0:47 — hear it →

Watch out

を or が? — always が. The thing you like takes が: 映画えいがが好き, never を. Japanese treats 好き as "pleasing," so the thing is the subject. (Same で pattern as 上手じょうず "good at" and 〜が欲ほしい "want".)
好き is a な-adjective, not a verb. Negative is 好きじゃない, past is 好きだった — you conjugate だ, you never add ます/ません. Before a noun it takes な: 好すきな食たべ物もの (a food I like).
Like doing → verb + のが好き. Nominalise the verb with の: 歌うたうのが好き (I like singing). Dial it up with 大好き (love), or soften with あまり好すきじゃない (don't really like).
🗣 How it actually sounds. In casual speech the particle and です both drop — 映画えいが、好き！ ("love movies!"). You'll hear 好きだよ, 好きじゃん ("you like it, right?") and 大好き constantly; plain 好き on its own is the everyday form, not the textbook 〜が好きです.

Study 〜が好き in real Japanese

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Related N5 grammar: 〜が欲しい · 〜たい · 〜てもいい

Free on Wakatta — learn Japanese by listening. Every example above is a real line from a Japanese podcast, with a timestamp so you can hear it.