Breakdown of watasi ha e wo kaku no ga suki desu ga, tomodati ha miru hou ga suki desu.
はha
topic particle
ですdesu
to be
私watasi
I
をwo
direct object particle
友達tomodati
friend
がga
subject particle
好きsuki
like
がga
but
ほうhou
side
〜の〜no
verb nominalizer
絵e
picture
描くkaku
to draw
見るmiru
to see
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have hundreds of Japanese lessons and thousands of exercises.
Questions & Answers about watasi ha e wo kaku no ga suki desu ga, tomodati ha miru hou ga suki desu.
What role does は play in 私 は?
は marks the topic of the sentence. In 私 は, it means “as for me,” indicating that what follows applies to “me.”
Why is を used after 絵 in 絵 を 描く?
を is the direct-object marker. It tells us that 絵 (picture) is what you’re drawing.
What does の do in 描く の が 好き?
の nominalizes the verb 描く (“to draw”), turning it into the noun “drawing.” This lets 好き treat it as something you can “like.”
Why is が used after の in 描くの が 好き?
This が marks 描くの as the subject of the adjective 好き. In Japanese, things you “like” are marked with が before 好き.
Why is が used again at the end of 好きです が?
Here, が is a conjunction meaning “but” or “however,” connecting the first clause (“I like drawing”) to the second (“my friend prefers looking”).
In 友達 は, why do we use は again instead of が?
は here introduces a new topic—“as for my friend”—and sets up a contrast with 私は in the first clause.
What is the function of ほう in 見る ほう が 好き?
ほう means “side” or “option.” The pattern A ほう が 好き expresses a preference for A over something else. So 見るほうが好き means “(my friend) prefers the looking side,” i.e. “prefers looking.”
Why is 絵 を omitted in the second clause: 友達 は 見る ほう が 好き?
Japanese often omits repeated information. Since 絵を was already mentioned in the first clause, it’s understood and dropped in the second for brevity.
Why do we say 好きです instead of using the verb 好む?
好き is a na-adjective meaning “pleasant.” To express “to like,” you say X が 好きです. The verb 好む exists but is more formal or literary and less common in daily conversation.