喜欢 / 爱 / 讨厌 (Like / Love / Hate) + Verb | Chinese (Mandarin) Grammar

English makes you choose between "I like swimming" and "I like to swim" — a gerund-vs-infinitive contrast that carries no real meaning but that you're forced to make. Chinese sweeps the whole problem away: preference verbs like 喜欢 (xǐhuan) like, 爱 (ài) love, and 讨厌 (tǎoyàn) dislike/hate take the following verb bare. 我喜欢游泳 covers both English versions at once. These verbs also describe states of feeling, which is why they behave like adjectives — gradable with 很 and 非常, and negated with 不, never 没.

One verb, no "to" and no "-ing"

The core pattern is simply [feeling verb] + object, where the object can be a noun or a whole verb phrase. Nothing goes between them.

Verb	noun	verb phrase
喜欢 (xǐhuan) like	喜欢音乐 (like music)	喜欢听音乐 (like listening to music)
爱 (ài) love	爱你 (love you)	爱开玩笑 (love joking)
讨厌 (tǎoyàn) dislike	讨厌他 (dislike him)	讨厌等人 (hate waiting)
害怕 (hàipà) fear	害怕狗 (afraid of dogs)	害怕打针 (afraid of injections)

我喜欢听音乐。

wǒ xǐhuan tīng yīnyuè

I like listening to music. (informal) — 喜欢 + the bare verb 听, no 'to' or '-ing'.

他爱开玩笑，你别太当真。

tā ài kāi wánxiào, nǐ bié tài dàngzhēn

He loves cracking jokes, don't take it too seriously. (informal) — 爱 + verb phrase 开玩笑.

我讨厌等人，尤其是在大太阳底下。

wǒ tǎoyàn děng rén, yóuqí shì zài dà tàiyáng dǐxià

I hate waiting for people, especially out in the blazing sun. (informal) — 讨厌 + verb 等.

Grading feelings: 很, 非常, 特别

Because these verbs name states, they take degree adverbs just like adjectives do. A bare, unmodified 喜欢 in a positive statement can actually sound incomplete to a native ear — as if a "but…" is coming — so everyday affirmatives usually carry a 很 (hěn), 非常 (fēicháng, "very"), or 特别 (tèbié, "especially").

我很喜欢中国菜。

wǒ hěn xǐhuan Zhōngguó cài

I really like Chinese food. (informal) — 很 grades the feeling; a bare 喜欢 would sound unfinished.

我非常喜欢这部电影。

wǒ fēicháng xǐhuan zhè bù diànyǐng

I really love this film. (neutral) — 非常 turns the liking up.

你喜欢不喜欢跳舞？

nǐ xǐhuan bu xǐhuan tiàowǔ?

Do you like dancing? (informal) — the 喜欢不喜欢 form asks a yes/no question.

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The 很 in 很喜欢 is often just glue, not a strong "very." In positive statements Chinese likes a degree word in front of a feeling verb the way it does in front of a plain adjective (她很高 "she's tall"). Leaving 喜欢 bare tends to signal a contrast is coming.

Love and its cousins: 爱, and 爱 = "tends to"

爱 is the strong end of liking — genuine love or deep fondness — and, of course, romantic and familial love.

妈妈，我爱你。

māma, wǒ ài nǐ

Mom, I love you. (informal) — 爱 for familial/romantic love.

But 爱 has a second, very colloquial life meaning "tends to / is prone to" — a habitual tendency, often a mildly annoying one:

他爱迟到，你早点儿提醒他。

tā ài chídào, nǐ zǎo diǎnr tíxǐng tā

He tends to run late, remind him early. (informal) — 爱 = 'is apt to', a habit, not affection.

Because 爱 is so strong, don't spend it on mild liking. English "I love pizza" is casual hyperbole; the Chinese 我爱比萨 sounds childlike or over-the-top. The neutral default for "really like" is 很喜欢.

Saying no: 不喜欢, 讨厌, 害怕, 希望

The negative of a feeling verb uses 不, not 没 — you're denying a state, not a completed event. 讨厌 is the built-in "dislike," and 害怕 "be afraid" rounds out the negative-emotion set.

我不喜欢吃辣的。

wǒ bù xǐhuan chī là de

I don't like eating spicy food. (informal) — 不喜欢, negated with 不.

弟弟很害怕打针，一进医院就哭。

dìdi hěn hàipà dǎzhēn, yí jìn yīyuàn jiù kū

My little brother is really scared of injections — he cries the moment he enters the hospital. (informal) — 害怕 + verb 打针.

One near neighbour behaves a little differently: 希望 (xīwàng, "hope") usually takes a whole clause, because you hope about a situation, not just an action.

我希望你能来。

wǒ xīwàng nǐ néng lái

I hope you can come. (informal) — 希望 embeds the clause 你能来, subject and all.

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讨厌 leads a double life: as a verb it's "dislike/hate" (我讨厌他), but as an adjective it's "annoying / a pain" — 这个人真讨厌 "this guy is so annoying," or a playful, flirty 讨厌！("oh, stop it!"). Same word, and tone of voice tells you which one you're hearing.

Common Mistakes

1. Over-using 爱 for mild liking. 爱 is strong; for "really like" native speakers say 很喜欢.

❌ 我爱这个牌子的咖啡。

Over-strong for a mild preference — sounds childlike / gushing.

✅ 我很喜欢这个牌子的咖啡。

wǒ hěn xǐhuan zhège páizi de kāfēi

I really like this brand of coffee. (informal) — 很喜欢 for ordinary liking.

2. Negating with 没 instead of 不. Feeling verbs describe states, so they take 不, even about the past.

❌ 我没喜欢那个电影。

Incorrect — a feeling is negated with 不, not 没.

✅ 我不喜欢那个电影。

wǒ bù xǐhuan nàge diànyǐng

I didn't like that movie. (informal) — 不喜欢 for a disliked state, past or present.

3. Marking the embedded verb as "-ing" with 在 / 正在. English "I like reading" tempts learners to make the inner verb progressive; after a feeling verb it stays bare.

❌ 我喜欢在看书。

Calques 'I like reading' with a progressive 在 — the embedded verb takes no aspect marker here.

✅ 我喜欢看书。

wǒ xǐhuan kàn shū

I like reading. (informal) — 喜欢 + bare verb 看书, no '-ing'.

4. Leaving 喜欢 bare in a plain positive statement. Without a degree word it sounds unfinished or contrastive.

❌ 我喜欢这里。

Sounds like it's setting up a 'but…' — as a full, warm statement it feels clipped.

✅ 我很喜欢这里。

wǒ hěn xǐhuan zhèlǐ

I really like it here. (informal) — 很 completes an affirmative feeling verb.

Key Takeaways

喜欢 / 爱 / 讨厌 / 害怕 take a noun or a bare verb — 喜欢吃, 爱你, 讨厌等人 — with no "to" and no "-ing."
They name states, so they're graded with 很 / 非常 / 特别 and negated with 不, never 没.
A bare positive 喜欢 sounds incomplete; everyday affirmatives take 很喜欢.
爱 = strong love, but colloquially also "tends to" (他爱迟到); don't overuse it for mild liking — that's 很喜欢.
希望 is the odd one out: it embeds a full clause (希望你来).

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