# あなたが好き and あなたのことが好き



## guachimingo

What is the difference between あなたが好き and あなたのことが好き?


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## DaylightDelight

I think あなたのことが好き puts slightly more emphasis on "you" than the other.
Others may think differently, though.


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## frequency

guachimingo said:


> あなたが好き and あなたのことが好き?


Compare:
私はあなたが好き。

あなたが好きなのは、紅茶ではなくてコーヒーですよね。
In this case, が signals that the person who likes coffee is "あなた".
が is such two-way.

So the use of ことが can avoid confusion. But あなたが好き is fully okay when it's clearly understandable.


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## Ocham

あなたが好き is more direct than あなたのことが好き.
This is more evident when asking someone "Do you like me?."
We rarely say 私を好き？, but usually 私のこと好き？
のこと in this case works as a filter-tipped cigarette:


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## 810senior

(の)こと seems to mean all about the fore-mentioned thing, so the emphasis would be put on あなたのことが好き and it probably makes that sound more serious and romantic.


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## Schokolade

810senior said:


> it probably makes that sound more serious and romantic.



Agreed. So it's awkward to say *お寿司*のこと*が好きです, *ドラゴンボール*のこと*が好きです, *ピカチュウ*のこと*が好きです, *ピンク色*のこと*が好きです, etc.


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## DaylightDelight

Schokolade said:


> ピカチュウ*のこと*が好きです


My kid's friends might say this.


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## nagoyano

These two make no significant difference, at least in their meanings.
Adding "---no koto" makes the statement slightly indirect and hence mild.
"Suki" is a very emotional word.
When we express our emotions, we tend to make things mild and easy to accept.


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## frequency

nagoyano said:


> These two make no significant difference, at least in their meanings.


Yes, no differences.

あなた is considered a human being based on our common sense, so it can be the person who likes something or the person who is liked by someone.
（あなた）のこと can indicate that this あなた is someone's favourite one, not the person who does so.

Try, お寿司はショコのことが好きです。
This is possible if a piece of raw fish on shari is a brain that sends signals to order sushi to act like that. We don't need to distinguish such in the statement お寿司が好きです。, so お寿司のことが好きです。is awkward.


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## Quiquezo

I have checked Japanese sentence pattern  books:   In some cases, ～のこと　implies the evaluation of subject, and matters or things related to the suject.

e.g.: あの会社のことはよく知っている。　I know well that company (including workers, CEO, financial status etc)
田中先生のことはよく覚えている。　I remember Mr. Tanaka very well (not only his appearance but also his attitude, various episodes about him)

Considering the above cases,あなたのことが好き　implies "I love all that you are" 
That's why it sounds very romantic, I suppose.
Mmm... Girls often asks わたしのことが好き？　not わたしが好き？

わたしが好き？　the answer is supposed to be YES or NO. just black and white, too general, maybe you don't have to carefully answer.
however, if you're asked わたしのことが好き？　you will automatically remind her temper or character, and what she've done. 

As ピカチュウ　or sushi don't have complex and changeable character, it might be odd to say ピカチュウのことが好き。


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## frequency

Quiquezo said:


> As ピカチュウor sushi don't have complex and changeable character, it might be odd to say ピカチュウのことが好き。


No, the point isn't this.
When あなたが好き is understood as _I like you_, it is equal to あなたのことが好き. They have the same meaning. ②―ア, 格助 一―②

好き uses が, so it's confusing. I repeatedly said that こと can signal which is which. But indeed ことが好き sounds politer as 810 said.


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