Learn Hardcore Japanese: watasi ha sinsetuna sensei ga suki desu.

は (wa) marks the topic of the sentence – what we’re talking about.
- 私は = “as for me / speaking about me”.
が (ga) here is tied to 好き and marks the thing that is liked.
- Pattern: X は Y が好きです。
  Literally: “As for X, Y is liked.”
  Natural English: “X likes Y.”

So in 私は親切な先生が好きです。:

私は = as for me (topic)
親切な先生が = the kind teacher(s) are the thing that is liked
好きです = is liked / I like

You could loosely map it as:

I (topic) – kind teacher(s) (liked-thing) – like

Why is it 先生が好き and not 先生を好き if it means “I like the teacher”?

Because 好き (suki) is not a verb like “to like” – it’s an adjective meaning “liked / likable / favorite”.

In English: “I like teachers.”
In Japanese: more literally “Teachers are likable (to me).”

Adjectives in Japanese don’t take を (o) like verbs do.
Instead, the thing that has the property is marked by が:

先生が好きです。
“Teacher(s) are liked (by me).” → “I like teacher(s).”
Compare with a clear adjective:
- 日本語が難しいです。 – “Japanese is difficult.”
- 犬が怖いです。 – “Dogs are scary.”
- 先生が好きです。 – “Teacher(s) are liked / I like teacher(s).”

So in the pattern X は Y が好きです, Y always takes が, not を.

So is 好き (suki) a verb or an adjective?

好き is a na-adjective (形容動詞), not a verb.

Dictionary form: 好き（な）
As a predicate, it needs だ / です:
- 先生が好きだ。 – casual
- 先生が好きです。 – polite

You can also put it before a noun, like other adjectives:

好きな先生 – “(my) favorite teacher / a teacher (I) like”
好きな食べ物 – “favorite food”
好きな映画 – “favorite movie”

So think:

English: “to like” (verb)
Japanese: “liked / favorite” (adjective) → 好き

and wrap it in the pattern X は Y が好きです to say “X likes Y.”

What does the な in 親切な先生 do? Why is it there?

親切 (shinsetsu) is a na-adjective, so when it directly modifies a noun, you add な between them:

親切な先生 – “kind teacher”
Structure: [na-adjective] + な + noun

Compare:

きれいな花 – “pretty flower”
有名な人 – “famous person”
静かな町 – “quiet town”

With i-adjectives, you don’t add な:

大きい家 – big house
新しい本 – new book

So:

Predicate: 先生は親切です。 – “The teacher is kind.”
Before noun: 親切な先生 – “a kind teacher”

Does this sentence mean “I like a kind teacher”, “I like the kind teacher”, or “I like kind teachers (in general)”?

Japanese doesn’t mark a / the / plural the way English does, so all of these are possible depending on context.

私は親切な先生が好きです。 most naturally means:

“I like kind teachers.” (kind teachers in general)

But in a real conversation:

If you’re already talking about one specific teacher, it can mean:
- “I like the teacher because they’re kind.” / “I like my kind teacher.”
If you’re answering a general preference question (“What kind of teachers do you like?”), it’s understood as:
- “I like kind teachers.”

So:

There’s no article (“a / the”) in the Japanese itself.
There’s no plural -s either.
English translators choose a / the / plural based on context.

Can I drop 私は and just say 親切な先生が好きです?

Yes. In most natural situations, you would.

Japanese often omits the topic/subject if it’s obvious from context. If you are talking about your likes, it’s almost always understood to be “I” even if you don’t say 私.

(私は) 親切な先生が好きです。
→ “I like kind teachers.”

You’d keep 私は if:

You’re contrasting with someone else:
- 私は親切な先生が好きですが、弟は厳しい先生が好きです。
  “I like kind teachers, but my younger brother likes strict ones.”
You want to explicitly state that it’s you (e.g., in writing, or when first introducing your likes).

In everyday speech, 親切な先生が好きです。 by itself is very natural.

The word order is different from English. How strict is the word order here?

Japanese word order is more flexible than English, but not completely free. In this sentence:

Normal, natural order:
- 私は親切な先生が好きです。

Key points:

は (wa) topic usually comes early, often first.
が (ga)-marked phrase that goes with 好き usually stays before 好きです.
The main predicate (好きです) comes at the end of the sentence.

You cannot shuffle everything freely. For example:

✕ 好きです私は親切な先生が。 – sounds wrong/unnatural.

You can often move phrases around a bit, but the safe pattern for “X likes Y” is:

X は Y が好きです。

Stick to that basic order for now; it will sound natural.

Could I say 親切な先生は好きです instead? How would that differ?

Yes, you can say 親切な先生は好きです, but the nuance changes.

親切な先生が好きです。
Topic: (implicitly) me → “I like kind teachers.”
親切な先生は好きです。
Topic: kind teachers → “As for kind teachers, (I) like them.”

は here tends to sound contrastive:

親切な先生は好きですが、厳しい先生はちょっと…
“I like kind teachers, but strict teachers are a bit…”

So:

先生が好き → focusing on what you like.
先生は好き → setting up “teachers” (or “kind teachers”) as a topic, often implying contrast with something else.

Your original sentence with 私は … が is the standard, neutral way to say “I like kind teachers.”

What is the role of です here? Could I say 好きだ or just 好き?

です is the polite copula, making the sentence polite/formal.

好きです。 – polite
好きだ。 – casual / plain
好き。 – very casual (often used by children, between close friends, or in manga/anime speech)

So:

私は親切な先生が好きです。 – polite, safe in most situations.
俺、親切な先生が好きだ。 – casual, usually to friends.
親切な先生が好き。 – very casual, often by women/children or in intimate contexts.

Meaning is basically the same; the difference is level of politeness and formality.

How would I say “I like my teacher because (they are) kind” using this pattern?

You can build on the same pieces:

Say “My teacher is kind.”
- 先生は親切です。
Add “because” (から or ので):
- 先生は親切だから、 / 親切なので、
Then say “I like (them).”
- 好きです。

Putting it together:

先生は親切だから、好きです。
“I like my teacher because (they’re) kind.”

If you want to keep 私は explicitly:

私は、先生は親切だから好きです。
“As for me, I like my teacher because (they are) kind.”

Natural and simple version:

先生は親切なので、好きです。
(slightly softer/more formal than から)

This uses the same 先生 / 親切 / 好きです building blocks, just with だから / なので added to show the reason.