Expressing likes and dislikes in English

Expressing What You Like

When you want to say that you enjoy something, you use the verb like. Notice how the sentences are structured:

• Sentence Structure:
  I + like + verb-ing + (object)

Examples:

• I like cooking.
  (Subject: I; Verb: like; Activity: cooking)
• I like studying.
• I like playing football.
• I like reading books.

These sentences are positive because they tell us what the person enjoys doing.

Expressing What You Don’t Like

To say that you do not enjoy something, we make the sentence negative by adding the word don’t (short for “do not”). The structure changes slightly:

• Sentence Structure:
  I + don’t + like + verb-ing + (object)

Examples:

• I don’t like cooking.
• I don’t like studying.
• I don’t like playing football.
• I don’t like reading books.

The word don’t tells us that the speaker does not have a liking for these activities.

Comparing Positive and Negative Sentences

See the positive and negative forms side-by-side:

• Positive: I like cooking.
  Negative: I don’t like cooking.
• Positive: I like studying.
  Negative: I don’t like studying.
• Positive: I like playing football.
  Negative: I don’t like playing football.
• Positive: I like reading books.
  Negative: I don’t like reading books.

This comparison makes it clear how adding don’t changes the meaning from positive to negative.

Expressing Strong Likes and Dislikes

Look at this diagram to see the different ways of expressing likes and dislikes:

Sometimes, you want to show that you really enjoy or really dislike something. For this, you can use the words love and hate:

• Strong Like:
  • I love playing football.
    (This means you enjoy playing football very much.)
• Strong Dislike:
  • I hate reading books.
    (This means you really do not enjoy reading books.)

These words give extra emphasis and show a stronger feeling than simply saying “like” or “don’t like.”

Practice Activity

Now it’s your turn! Think of things you enjoy and things you do not enjoy. Write three sentences using like and don’t like. For example:

1. I like watching movies.
2. I don’t like waking up early.
3. I like traveling to new places.

Try posting your sentences in the comments to share with others!

Exercise: Test your understanding of this English lesson

You can test your understanding of Expressing likes and dislikes in English by answering these 20 questions. You will get the answers and your score at the end of the quiz.

Choose the correct option:

Now you can clearly express your likes and dislikes. This will make your everyday conversations in English more natural and fluent.