TALKING ABOUT LIKES AND
DISLIKES IN ENGLISH
SOURCE: https://www.english-at-home.com/speaking/talking-about-likes-and-dislikes-in-english/
There’s a whole
range of English expressions you can use to talk about how much you like or
dislike something.
IF YOU LOVE SOMETHING
“I love
eating ice-cream.”
“I adore
sun-bathing.”
“She’s
mad about that new boy band.”
“He’s
crazy about that girl.”
If you like something a
lot
“She’s fond of chocolate.”
“I like swimming very much.”
“He really likes
that new golf course.” (Remember to stress “really” in this sentence.)
If you like something
“He
quite likes going to the cinema.”
“I like
cooking.”
If you
neither like nor dislike something
“I don’t
mind doing the housework.”
In reply
to a question if you like something or not, you can say:
“I don’t
really care either way.”
“It’s
all the same to me.”
If you
don’t like something
“She doesn’t like cooking very much.”
“He’s not very fond of doing the gardening.”
“He’s
not a great fan of football.” (not to be a great fan of…something)-
“Horse-riding
isn’t really his thing.”(something isn’t really his/her thing)
Mary isn’t
on time for her classes. Studying isn’t really his thing.
“I dislike wasting time.”
If you really dislike
something
“I don’t like sport at all.”
“He can’t stand his boss.”
“She can’t bear cooking in a dirty kitchen.”
“I hate crowded
supermarkets.”
“He detests
being late.”
“She loathes
celery.”
THINGS TO REMEMBER
Dislike
is quite formal.
Fond of is normally
used to talk about
food or people.
The ‘oa’
in loathe rhymes with the ‘oa’ in boat.
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Grammar Note
To talk
about your general likes or dislikes, follow this pattern:
like something or like doing
something.
Remember
that “I’d like…” is for specific
present or future wishes.
“I like
swimming” = I like swimming generally.
“I’d
like to go swimming this afternoon” = I want to go swimming at a specific time
in the future.
Common mistake
Be
careful where you put very much or a lot. These words should go after the thing
that you like.
For
example, “I like reading very much.” NOT “I like very much reading.”
Extra
activity: https://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=3674
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Like
doing vs like to do
We use like + gerund
(ing form) to talk about general likes:
I like fishing.
We use like +
infinitive to talk about more specific likes:
I like to go fishing at
the weekend.
