좋다 vs 좋아하다
In today’s lesson, we’re going to learn the difference between “좋다” and “좋아하다”.
The main differences that you need to know:
좋다 is an adjective that means “to be good”. But in some cases, it also means “to like.”
좋아하다 is a verb that means “to like”.
- The meaning of “좋다”
a) When “좋다” means “to be good”
We’ve learned that adjectives have the same conjugation rule as verbs.
Let’s look at how you can use “좋다” in a sentence.
Present Tense > 좋아(요)
날씨가 좋아요. – The weather is good.
경치가 좋아요. – The view is good.
성격이 좋아요. – The personality is good. > 제프는 성격이 좋아요. – Jeff’s personality is good.
한국어 실력이 좋아요. – My Korean (ability) is good. > 리사는 한국어 실력이 좋아요. – Lisa’s Korean (ability) is good.
Past Tense > 좋았어(요)
발리 너무 좋았어요. – Bali was very good.
이 책 정말 좋았어요. – This book was really good.
Future Tense > 좋을 거예요
As we learned, adjectives have two usages:
- Complementary (Descriptive Verb) > 날씨가 좋아요. – The weather is good.
- Adjective modifies the Noun > Adjective + 은/ㄴ + Noun > 좋은 날씨. – A good weather.
For example:
큰 집. – A big house.
좋은 사람. – A good person.
좋은 성적. – A good grade.
b) When “좋다” means “to like”
Let’s look at these examples:
저는 학교가 좋아요. – I like school.
저는 학교를 좋아해요. – I like school.
좋다, even if it has a meaning of “to like,” is still an adjective in its grammatical form, so it cannot have an object; hence it should follow 이/가 particle, not 을/를.
Noun + 이/가 + 좋다
Noun + 을/를 + 좋아하다
2. The meaning of “좋아하다”
“좋아하다” is a verb which means “to like.”
Noun + 을/를 + 좋아하다 (좋아하다 is a transitive verb that can have an object, so it can follow 을/를.)
Let’s look at some examples:
저는 사람을 좋아해요. – I like people.
저는 커피를 좋아해요. – I like coffee.
저는 제프 씨를 좋아해요. – I like Jeff.
제프 씨는 저를 안 좋아해요. – Jeff doesn’t like me.
저는 보라색을 좋아해요. – I like the purple color.
저는 슬픈 영화를 안 좋아해요. – I don’t like sad movies.
- The difference between “좋다” and “좋아하다” when they mean “to like”
Usually when we use “좋아하다”, you say that you like something relatively more seriously. But when you use “좋다,” you express positive feelings about something in general.
Let’s look at the difference in usage:
저 방탄소년단 좋아해요. – I like BTS. (here, you’re saying that you like/love BTS)
저 방탄소년단 좋아요. – I like BTS. (In this sentence, you’re saying that you have positive feelings for BTS in general).
저 한국 좋아해요. – I like Korea. (you like the country).
저 한국 좋아요. – I like Korea. (you think positively about the country).
This difference is very subtle and they are interchangeable in many cases.
- Extra meanings of “좋다”
좋아요 > can mean “like” in social media.
좋아요 눌러 주세요. – Please, press “like”
좋아요 부탁 드려요. – I ask for your “like”.
좋아 / 좋아요 > can be used as an agreement to something ( = okay).
A: 우리 저녁 먹으러 가요! – Let’s go and have dinner!
B: 그래요 / 좋아요. – Okay.
[Quick Summary]:
“좋다” as an Adjective > to be good
Complementary (Descriptive Verb) : Noun 이/가 좋다
Modifier: 좋은 + Noun
“좋다” as a verb means “to like” and used like this:
Noun 이/가 + 좋다
“좋아하다” = to like
*을/를 is used with “좋아하다” verb