The word suki may come up early in your Japanese studies, and the reason is simple. Suki means “like,” and knowing how to specify what you like is a great conversation starter when you start to learn Japanese.
This guide will take you through the most common ways to use suki in Japanese, and when to be careful about how you phrase “like” in regard to people.
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What does suki mean in Japanese?
The most common meaning for suki (好き) in Japanese is “like.” Like what? Anything! The same word is applicable to people, animals, objects, and anything else you can think of. The Japanese pronunciation puts the emphasis on the second syllable, meaning it’s pronounced “soo-KEE” (not “SOO-kee”).
The easiest way to say you like something is to follow this formula:
- …ga suki desu.（～が好きです。）= I like… (polite)
- …ga suki da.（～が好きだ。）= I like… (casual)
- …ga suki.（～が好き。）= I like… (very casual)
Then, you can fill in the blanks with whatever Japanese nouns you like.
If you want to put even more emphasis on what (or who) it is that you like, you can replace suki with daisuki (大好き), which literally means “big like.” In other words, daisuki means “love!”
Suki meaning: Japanese for ‘I like you’
The two most important things to remember when using suki to say “I like you” in Japanese are:
- Be aware of the context (i.e., read the room)
- Add no koto (のこと) after the person’s name if you want to specify that you like them romantically
Think of how “like” is used for affection in English. If you say, “I like you,” there may be a question of whether it’s just “like” or “like like” (“Do you like him or do you like like him?”) depending on the situation. Use the same social cues to determine whether or not your proclamation of suki desu could be misconstrued.
If you want to be very clear that you do have romantic intentions, add no koto after the person’s name. This is sometimes translated as “love” instead of “like” for clarity.
- Yuki no koto ga suki da yo.（ゆきのことが好きだよ。）= I like/love you, Yuki.
Suki meaning: Japanese for ‘I like this’
Saying you like something (rather than someone) in Japanese is much more straightforward. You won’t need no koto here. Instead, the basic ga suki is all you need.
- Neko ga suki da.（猫が好きだ。）= I like cats.
- Supōtsu ga suki.（スポーツが好き。）= I like sports.
- Kore ga suki desu ka.（これが好きですか。）= Do you like this?
This is a great opportunity for you to expand the nouns that you know. For instance, you can add some Japanese food words to your vocabulary to talk about what foods you like to eat, or you can learn Japanese words for animals as you explore local zoos.
How to use suki to mean ‘favorite’
While “like” is a verb in English, suki is an adjective in Japanese that translates as “favorite.” Suki is a na-adjective (one of the two types of Japanese adjectives), or “adjectival noun.” That means you add the character na (な) between suki and whatever it’s describing.
- Suki na hon（好きな本）= Favorite book(s)
- Suki na eiga（好きな映画）= Favorite movie(s)
- Suki na tabemono（好きな食べ物）= Favorite food(s)
From there, you can insert it into a sentence the same way you would insert any other adjective and noun pair.
- Suki na tabemono wa nan desu ka.（好きな食べ物は何ですか。）= What’s your favorite food?
Key takeaways about suki in Japanese
Suki is an essential part of your conversational Japanese toolkit. After all, finding common hobbies, interests, and things to eat is a great place to start when making friends or spending time with them. Remember these key takeaways about using suki in Japanese to wield it effectively:
- Suki (Japanese adjective) is most often translated as “like” (English verb).
- Use [noun] ga suki desu or [noun] ga suki da to say “I like [noun]” in Japanese.
- Use suki na before a noun to say something is your favorite (e.g., suki na hon = favorite book).
- You can express a stronger fondness for something by using daisuki instead of suki.
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