What's the difference?

Japanese
#1

I find it hard to see the difference between のが好き and 好き

image

Wouldn’t this sentence mean the exact same even if it didn’t have a のが in it?

#2

I am not a native but if you would say 読む好き then this is just wrong from a grammar point of view.

If you want to use “like” regarding a verb you use verb+のがすき

読むのが好きです

If you have a noun you don’t need の

ケーキがすきです

If you say 読む好き I guess everyone will understand what you want to say but it is just wrong grammar

Hope this helps

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#3

So it’s just a necessity for verbs in this case?

#4

yes, のが puts no difference in the meaning. It is just a grammatical function

#5

You can compare it to english and possibly your native language, if that makes it easier for you.

You can’t say
I like read
but if you nominalize it by adding ing it becomes a correct sentence
I like reading

It is pretty much the same here, notice how both like and ing are highlighted in blue.

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#6

To add to what others have said, の is acting as a sentence nominalizer. That means it is converting everything preceding the verb 読む into a noun. That way you can simply attach が好き to the entire sentence since 私は本を読む has now been converted into a noun by the particle の.

BTW, you can do the same with こと(事), but there are rules as to when to use it (as opposed to の). However, they are both doing exactly the same thing, converting a whole verb phrase into a noun.

Google or YouTube “Japanese verb nominalization” if you want to learn more about it.

HTH

2 Likes
#7

Ah, I see. Someone said something similar in a previous post I made about のが. I think I’m starting to get it.

3 Likes