[x]のことが好き vs [x]が好き?

Japanese
#1

I noticed this construct in a few of the beginning vocab example sentences where the subject of 好き is a person and I’m curious.

What does のこと do here? I know that it’s literally “[I] like x’s attributes” vs “[I] like x”. Is it a difference between platonic and romantic liking? Specific to the subject being a person? Differing levels of formality?

Am I just overthinking this?

(Also, hi! This is my first post here, I hope I’m doing it right. I’ve just finished up the N5 grammar lessons here and started the vocab ones.)

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#2

Hi, from what I understand, が好き must be preceded by a noun. Therefore, のことが好き would be used after a verb to make it a noun.

Ex. 私は犬が好き （I like dogs）
Ex. 私は犬を触るのことが好き （I like the action of touching a dog）

Please let me know if this makes sense!

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#3

You’re not wrong about the verb thing except you wouldn’t make it verbのこと, but either verbのが好き or verbことが好き not both. Both の and こと can be used to interchangeably to make verbs noun in most cases

but I think they meant more of when you see “僕のことが好き？”. I’m curious to see the answer to this too. I’ve seen it added after a person like this combined with 好き and wondered what the difference would be without it

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#4

Hey @tenthrose !

The meaning between のことが好き and が好き are basically the same! The main difference is the slight difference in nuance.

For example 君が好き is more direct than 君のことが好き.

This こと is part of the second definition. こと refers to the subject that feelings or actions is directed at.

This means that with 君のことが好き, the speaker is emphasizing that their feelings are directed towards them. Natives may prefer to use のことが好き instead of が好き when talking about a person since it sounds less direct.

Hope this clears it up! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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#5

Thank you!

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#6

The Genki textbook said you’d only use のこと for people. No one is saying パンのことが好き
Genki then used the example メリーはとけしのことが好きです which isn’t platonic. The name of the chapter is ‘First Date’

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#7

My Japanese teacher had taught me, just like Fuga-San said, that if you tell someone you like them, it’s better to say 君のことが好き、because 君が好き is way too direct for Japanese culture. Although, if you were to get a girlfriend like mine being direct is really not a big deal. It’s different out here in Kansai. LOL

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#8

Kinda off topic, but I saw a sign at Nagoya station today that said
“In Kanto you walk on the left side, in Kansai you walk on the right. Don’t know what side you walk on in Chubu.”

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#9

In Kyoto people walk wherever because they never look at where they’re going. Lol

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#10

I came across this a couple of months ago and my understanding is as follows:

Personal Pronoun +のこと( = no koto)
You often use のこと( = no koto) with a person.
A: なおこが好きです。 Direct
B: なおこのことが好きです。 Indirect but also all things about the person
They both mean “I love/like Naoko
なおこのこと( = Naoko no koto) also means “things about Naoko”/“who Naoko is” such as her personality, things she does, her appearance etc

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