好き (suki) means liking or being fond of someone or something. It functions as a な-adjective: 猫が好きです means “I like cats,” and 好きな人 means “a person I like.” It can express romantic affection, but context decides how strong that reading is.
forms suki na / suki ni naru / 好きになる / 大好き
liked · to one's taste · fond of
Sentences
〜が好き · the core pattern
polite。
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猫
ねこ ［1］
cat; cats
noun · no plural marking, so this is cats in general
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が
が
marks the subject
particle · what the sentence is about — with 好き, 分かる and potentials, the object
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好き
すき ［2］
liked; pleasing
な-adjective · the cat is its subject, which is why が is here
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です
です
is — polite
copula · な-adjectives take です directly, with no な
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I like cats.
好きな ＋ 名詞 · favourite
polite。
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好きな
すきな ［2］
favourite; liked
attributive form · な-adjectives take な in front of a noun
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食べ物
たべもの ［3,2］
food
noun · 食べ + 物, literally eating-thing
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は
は
as for — the topic
particle · written は, read わ
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何
なん ［1］
what
interrogative · なん because です follows
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です
です
is — polite
copula · closes a polite question with か
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か
か
question marker
particle · makes it a question rather than a statement
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What is your favourite food?
好きになる · the moment it started
plain past、。
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高校
こうこう ［0］
high school
noun · short for 高等学校
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一年
いちねん ［2］
the first year
counter phrase · 一 ＋ 年, the school year rather than twelve months
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の
の
links noun to noun
particle · A の B = B belonging to A
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時
とき ［2］
when; at the time
noun · 〜の時 frames when something happened
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好きになった
すきになった
came to like; fell for
好き ＋ になる, past · the change of state, not the standing fact
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I fell for her in the first year of high school.
好きじゃない · the negative
plain。
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あまり
あまり ［0］
not particularly
adverb · pairs with a negative to soften it to 'not very'
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好き
すき ［2］
liked
な-adjective · the negative attaches to the copula, not to 好き
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じゃない
じゃない
isn't — plain negative
contracted ではない · the copula carrying the negation
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I don't really like it.
好きにする · do as you like
plain。
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好きに
すきに ［2］
as you like; freely
adverbial form · な-adjectives take に where English takes -ly
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して
して
do — て-form
て-form of する · joins to いい to give permission
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いい
いい ［1］
is fine; is allowed
い-adjective · 〜ていい is the standard permission frame
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よ
よ
telling you something you didn't know
particle · softens it from a ruling into an offer
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You can do as you like.
好きです to a person · the confession
polite。
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君
きみ ［0］
you
pronoun · warm and a little literary; not for a superior
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の
の
links noun to noun
particle · A の B = B belonging to A
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こと
こと
the act of; the fact of
noun · turns the verb in front into a noun
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が
が
marks the subject
particle · what the sentence is about — with 好き, 分かる and potentials, the object
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好き
すき ［2］
liked
な-adjective · pointed at a person, this sentence is a confession
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です
です
is — polite
copula · です here is sincerity, not distance
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I like you.
Forms
Noun ＋ が＋好き
The core pattern. The thing you like is marked が, because it is the subject of the adjective — 好きです, past 好きでした, negative 好きじゃない.
好きな＋Noun
In front of a noun, 好き takes な: 好きな音楽, 好きな人. English usually translates this one as favourite rather than liked.
好き＋になる
Came to like. Adjective ＋ になる is the standard change-of-state frame, and for 好き it is how you say you fell for someone.
好き＋にする
Do as you like. 好きにしていい is genuine permission; a flat 好きにして in the middle of a disagreement is the opposite of warm.
Meaning
The particle is the lesson. 好き is a な-adjective, so the thing being liked is its subject and takes が. 猫を好き is wrong for the same reason cats are tall them is wrong in English — the slot simply is not there. The person doing the liking, when named at all, takes は: 私は猫が好きです.
愛してる is not the next step up. It takes を, because 愛する really is a verb, and it is far heavier and far rarer than English love. Japanese confessions overwhelmingly use 好きです or 大好き. Reaching for 愛してる because you mean it strongly is the classic over-translation.
気に入る is about a thing, not a person. It means something took your fancy — a jacket, a café, a flat. It also inflects like the verb it is (気に入った, 気に入っている), and it does not carry the romantic reading that 好き does about a person.
好きです pointed at a person is a confession. There is no neutral register where it just means I like you as a colleague — for that, Japanese says something about the person rather than about liking them. If you mean it platonically, いい人ですね is the sentence you were reaching for.
Inside the word
The character is 女 woman beside 子 child, and the traditional reading of it is a mother with her child — a picture of fondness rather than a spelling of it. The same character carries the sense good in 好調 and 友好.
Japanese has the verb 好む, and it exists — but it is bookish and describes settled taste, not feeling. Everyday liking went to the adjective, and adjectives describe their subject. That is the whole reason が is there, and why を cannot be.
Low on す, high on き, and the fall lands on whatever follows — so 好きです drops on で. 大好き shifts to ［1］, with the height on だい. In casual speech the す is often devoiced almost to a whisper.
Watch out
The most common single error on this word. 好き is an adjective, so what you like is its subject and takes が. を marks the object of a verb, and there is no verb here. The same applies to 分かる, できる and 上手.
Said to a person, 好きです is read as a confession almost every time — there is no safe platonic register for it. If you mean you get on well, say something about them instead: いい人ですね, or 話しやすいですね.
Out of an argument it means do whatever you want in the English sense — cold, and closing the conversation. 好きにしていいよ with the いい and the よ is the warm version; the bare imperative usually is not.
Also asked
Liked, or pleasing. It describes the thing being liked rather than the person doing the liking, which is why 猫が好きです puts が on the cat. English has no adjective that works this way, so every textbook translates it as the verb like and the particle stops making sense.
Because 好き is an adjective, not a verb. を marks the object of an action, and liking here is not an action — the thing liked is the subject of the adjective, so it takes が. 分かる and できる behave the same way.
好き is like, 大好き is really like or love, and 愛してる is a different register altogether — heavy, rare, and takes を rather than が. A Japanese confession is far more likely to be 好きです than anything stronger.
好きです, or 君のことが好きです — the こと widens it from you-the-person to everything about you, and it is what people actually say. Understand that pointed at a person it will be heard as a confession, not as friendliness.
To come to like, or to fall for. 好きです reports a standing fact; 好きになった reports the change — the point at which it began. It is the natural way to answer a question about when or why you started liking something.
すき, accent ［2］ — the fall comes after き, so 好きです drops on で. 大好き moves the accent to ［1］. The す is often devoiced in ordinary speech, which is why it can sound like a single syllable.
References
Digital Daijisen, 好き — Defines 好き as a nominal/adjectival word for fondness and preference.
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