“Daisuki” is a Japanese word and expression that means to like or love something a great amount. It’s often used to say you love someone, and is used much the same way we say “I love you” in English. But it can also be used to express that you like or love some thing, such as food, music artists, anime. etc.
Let’s take a closer look at the meaning and usage of the expression “Daisuki.”
How do you write “daisuki in Japanese?
“Daisuki” is compound word written in Japanese by combining the following two Japanese elements:
- 大 (DAI), a character which means big or great
- 好き (SUKI) which means to like or love
大好き
It’s interesting to note that Daisuki is a rare Japanese word that combines the onyomi reading DAI for the character 大 with a kunyomi reading suki for the character 好.
Daisuki” can also be written in hiragana, like this:
だいすき
How to pronounce “Daisuki” in Japanese?
Daisuki is pronounced in Japanese as follows:
What does “daisuki desu” mean?
The phrase “Daisuki desu” is simply the formal full-sentence version of the word “Daisuki.” Depending on the context, “Daisuki desu” meaning can be:
- “I love you.”
- “I like you a lot.”
- “I love it/I like it a lot” (food, animals, clothing, travel destinations, etc.).
What does “Daisuki da yo” mean?
The Japanese language has various distinct levels of formality and politeness. Consider the following two sentences:
“Daisuki da” 大好きだ。
“Daisuki desu” 大好きです。
Both “da” and “desu” have the same meaning: the English equivalent of “is or to be.” (There are additional usages, but for the purpose of this discussion this basic explanation will suffice.)
But in terms of formality, “da” is more casual, while “desu” is more distal or formal/polite.
So while the two expressions above mean exactly the same thing (assuming the same context), “daisuki da” is used in less formal and more familiar situations compared to “daisuki desu.”
But what about “yo“?
“Yo” is a sentence-ending particle that adds increased emphasis and strength of feeling to the phrase that precedes it.
So where as “Daisuki da” is simply someone saying he likes or loves someone or something, the addition of “yo“, as in “daisuki da yo” conveys an additional strength of conviction and feeling.
“Daisuki da yo!” is a common expression in Japanese anime when one character, usually a male, confesses/expresses his or her feeling of love to a familiar counterpart. And of course, this expression is commonly used not just in anime but in rea life as well.
What does “Ichiban Daisuki” mean?
“Ichiban” (一番) is a word that even most non-Japanese are familiar with, meaning “the best” or “most of all.”
So the expression “ichiban daisuki” simply means:
“I love you (or something) best/most of all.”
Example:
“Anata ga sekai de ichiban daisuki!” あなたが世界で一番大好き！ (I love you more than anyone in the world!)
However, this expression is mostly used by children or in anime, and some Japanese would argue that the “Dai” in this expression is superfluous, as simply saying “ichiban suki” without the “Dai” conveys the exact same meaning. As an adult, it’s best to avoid using this expression unless you’re in a situation (such as a gathering of anime fans) where it wouldn’t seem odd.
How to say I love you in Japanese
“Daisuki” is one way to tell someone you love them in Japanese, but there is another common way to say I love you in Japanese:
“Ai shite iru” or “aishiteiru.”
How to write aishiteiru in Japanese
“Aishiteiru” is written in Japanese as follows:
愛している
This expression is a compound that combines the word/character “Ai” 愛 meaning “love” with the verb “SURU” する meaning to do. “Suru” then becomes “SHITEIRU” している based on the TE-IRU form of the root verb indicating that the action is in a state of continuation.
How to pronounce “Aishiteiru” in Japanese
“Aishiteiru” is pronounced in Japanese like this:
Difference between Daisuki vs Aishiteru
So what is the difference between “Daisuki” and “Aishiteiru“?
Whereas both “daisuki” and “aishiteiru” can be used to express a love (or like) of both people and things, “aishiteiru” is used the way we would say “I love you” in English to express love or affection toward another person, but it is not as commonly used like “daisuki” to casually say you like or love various things.
To the extent that “aishiteiru” is used to express love toward a thing or idea rather than a person, this expression has a greater depth of feeling and connection and is a bit less colloquial than “daisuki.”
So while we might often hear someone say “Ramen ga daisuki!” (I love ramen!), it would be less common for someone to say “Ramen wo aishiteiru!” unless they really had an odd sentimental connection to that bowl of ramen.
But a person who is passionate about Haiku Japanese poetry might say something like like:
“Haiku wo ai shite iru.”
“I have a deep love of haiku poetry.”
Proper grammar for daisuki and aishiteiru
In addition to the above usage differences, the expressions “daisuki and aishiteiru” also differ grammatically.
When saying “daisuki,” we typically use the particle “ga” after the thing we are talking about, which denotes exactly who or what we like or love.
For the expression “aishiteiru,” on the other hand, since the expression is a compound verb comprised as described above, such compound verbs are preceded by the particle “wo” which marks the action of the verb, the thing the action is being done to.
Examples:
“Kitty-chan ga daisuki!” キティちゃんが大好き！
“I love Kitty-chan!”
Here, the particle “ga” is used to specify the thing (or person) that is loved.
“Hana-chan wo aishiteiru.“ はなちゃんを愛している。
“I love you, Hana-chan.” (Or, depending on the context, “I love Hana-chan.”)
In this expression, we use the particle “wo” to mark the person we are loving.
Difference between “daisuki” “aishiteru” and “koishiteru“
Yet another related phrase is “Koishiteru.”
How to write “Koishiteru” in Japanese
“Koishiteru” is written in Japanese as follows:
恋している
“Koishiteru” follows the same compound-verb construction as “Aishiteiru,” but with the kanji character 恋 (KOI) in place of 愛.
How to pronounce “Koishiteru” in Japanese
” Koishiteru ” is pronounced in Japanese like this:
In contrast to the other two phrases, which are often used to directly convey a feeling of love toward another person (or thing), “koishiteiru” has the nuance of “being in love with someone.”
Therefore, though we might use “koishiteiru” to inform the object of our affection that we are in love with them, such as:
“Keiko-chan ni koishiteiru.”
“I’m in love with you, Keiko-chan.” (Or, telling someone else how you feel about Keiko-chan, “I’m in love with Keiko-chan.”)
We cannot use “koishiteiru” to convey the English expression “I love you.”
In other words, “koishiteiru” (I’m in love with you) =/= “aishiteiru” (I love you).
In general, Japanese people will feel that of the three expressions, “aishiteiru” is the deepest and most heartfelt; “daisuki” is often used either to convey less depth of feeling, or as a substitute, often by men, when the speaker is too shy to use the more heartfelt expression but wants to convey the same feeling; and “koishiteiru” is just used to tell the other person they are in love with that person, usually before a deeper relationship has been established.
Hopefully you now have a clear understanding of the expression “daisuki” and how it differs from the related expressions “aishiteiru” and “koishiteiru.”
がんばってね！
Shane Jones is a Japanese teacher, translator, and linguist with over two decades experience learning and teaching the Japanese language. He is also the author of How to Master Japanese: Confessions of a Japanese Linguist.
