How to Express Likes and Dislikes in English

Have you ever struggled to express your likes and dislikes in English? We’ll look at some common verbs and adjectives for expressing likes and dislikes. You might already know some of these, such as “like” and “dislike,” but there are many other ways to convey your feelings about something. We’ll also cover some useful phrases for talking about things you enjoy or don’t enjoy doing, as well as ways to express stronger emotions like love or hate. With these tools, you’ll be able to confidently share your preferences in any conversation.

Table of Contents

How to Express Likes and Dislikes

Common Phrases to Express “Likes”

I like…
I love…
I enjoy…
I adore…
I ‘m crazy about…
I’m mad about…
I enjoy…
I’m keen on…
I’m really into…
I live for…
… is my thing
I’m fond of…

Common Phrases to Express “Dislikes”

I don’t like…
I dislike…
I hate…
I abhor…
I can’t bear…
I can’t stand…
I detest…
I loathe…
I can’t stand
I don’t really care for…
I’m not into…
I’m not a huge fan of…

Grammar Structures for Expressing Preferences

1. When these expressions are followed by a verb, the latter is put in the -ing form.

Examples:

“I like listening to music.”
“I hate wearing sunglasses.”

I like/ I detest/ I don’t mind + Verb_ing

2. Note that” very much” & ” a lot” always come after the things you like.

Examples:

“I like basketball very much/a lot. NOT” I like very much/a lot basketball.”

3. Be careful when you use “I don’t mind…”

Examples:

“Do you mind playing football?”
“No, I don’t mind.”(Although it’s in a negative form, it means that it’s ok for me. I neither love it nor hate it.)

Example Conversations Using “Likes” and “Dislikes”

Steve is at home. His girlfriend comes in…Notice how they express their likes and dislikes

Steve: Hello, darling. Do you fancy watching a film tonight?
Girlfriend: Oh, no thanks, I don’t really feel like watching a film tonight. How about going out instead.
Steve: OK. Do you feel like going to the theater?
Girlfriend: Oh, no. I hate it. Do you like eating at the new Chinese restaurant?
Steve: I don’t mind. The Chinese cuisine is alright.
Girlfriend: Well I really love it. Let’s go.

Basic Vocabulary for Likes and Dislikes

Expressing likes and dislikes is an essential part of communication. In this section, we will cover some basic vocabulary for expressing likes and dislikes.

Common Verbs

Here are some common verbs that we use to express likes and dislikes:

Verb	Meaning
like	to enjoy or find something pleasant
love	to have a great affection for something
enjoy	to take pleasure in something
prefer	to like one thing more than another
dislike	to have a negative feeling towards something
hate	to have a strong feeling of dislike

Adjectives for Preferences

We can also use adjectives to express our preferences. Here are some adjectives that we can use:

Adjective	Meaning
delicious	very tasty
enjoyable	providing pleasure or enjoyment
interesting	arousing curiosity or interest
boring	not interesting or exciting
disgusting	causing a strong feeling of dislike or disgust
awful	extremely bad or unpleasant

Alternative phrases for “I like” and “I dislike” include “I’m fond of”, “I’m keen on”, “I’m crazy about”, “I’m not a fan of”, “I can’t stand”, and “I detest”.

Advanced Vocabulary for Likes and Dislikes

As we become more proficient in English, we can expand our vocabulary to include idiomatic expressions and colloquial terms to express our likes and dislikes more accurately and with more nuance. In this section, we’ll cover some advanced vocabulary for likes and dislikes.

Idiomatic Expressions

Idiomatic expressions are phrases that have a figurative meaning that is different from the literal meaning of the words. Here are some idiomatic expressions you can use to express your likes and dislikes:

Idiomatic Expression	Meaning
To be nuts about	To really like something
To be over the moon	To be extremely happy about something
To be sick of	To dislike something intensely
To be fed up with	To be tired of something

For example, instead of saying “I like pizza,” you could say “I’m nuts about pizza.” Or instead of saying “I dislike broccoli,” you could say “I’m sick of broccoli.”

Colloquial Terms

Colloquial terms are informal words and phrases that are commonly used in everyday speech. Here are some colloquial terms you can use to express your likes and dislikes:

Dig: To like something a lot
Can’t stand: To strongly dislike something
Groove on: To enjoy something
Not my cup of tea: To not like something

For example, instead of saying “I like jazz music,” you could say “I dig jazz music.” Or instead of saying “I don’t like spicy food,” you could say “Spicy food isn’t my cup of tea.”