N5 · UNIT 7

Likes & Abilities

Talk about what you love, what you hate, and what you can do, 好き, きらい, 上手, and できます all point with が, and back it all up with reasons using から.

About this unit

This unit is about taste and talent: 好き, きらい, 上手, and できます, and the particle が they all point with. Add から for giving reasons, and you can finally explain yourself: what you love, what you're good at, and why.

語彙 · Vocabulary 41 words · 10 kanji

1

Read the words

Read straight down the list once, out loud if you can. Don't grind them here, the Anki deck at the bottom does the memorizing. Right now you only want the shapes and sounds to feel familiar.

WordReadingMeaning
liked; to one's liking
disliked; hated
loved; favorite
good at; skilled
bad at; unskilled
one's strong point; good at (used of oneself)
can do; to be able to
hobby
song; singing
to sing
karaoke
cooking; dish
to make
sports
soccer
tennis
baseball
swimming
to swim
guitar
piano
to play (guitar, piano)
picture; painting
photograph
game; video game
travel; trip
drive (for pleasure)
fishing
reading (as a hobby)
to dance
dance; dancing
party
English (language)
skiing
not at all (with a negative)
often; well
why
because; so (attaches to the end of the reason)
well then; in that case
oh really?; wow (mild surprise)
amazing; great
2

Learn the kanji

The 10 kanji for this unit. Tap any card to flip between its meaning and its readings, and say the reading aloud as it flips.

like; fond of
language; word
study; learning
school
life; birth
hand
eye
ear
mouth
name
3

Read it in context

Everything above, working together. Read the conversation top to bottom, out loud. Every line is built only from words and kanji you have already met, so resist the English, tap a word only if you are truly stuck.

Show English

A small party at Mr. Yamada's place. The food is out, the music is on, and the talk turns to hobbies, where Mr. Tanaka's cooking claims get put to the test.

やまだ
Maria, what are your hobbies?
マリア
Music. I love music. Every evening I play guitar at home.
たなか
Wow, that's great. So do you like karaoke too?
マリア
No, karaoke is a bit... Because I'm bad at singing.
たなか
My hobby is cooking. I'm good at cooking, you know.
やまだ
Oh really. Then why did you buy a boxed lunch at the convenience store today?
たなか
...Because I didn't have time.
マリア
Haha. Mr. Yamada, can you do any sports?
やまだ
Yes, I can swim. I swim every day.
マリア
That's amazing!
Notice: 好きです, 下手です, and できます all point at their target with が, never を. And から glues itself to the END of the reason: 下手ですから = “because I'm bad at it.” Also: Mr. Tanaka calls himself 上手, and gets caught. There's a lesson there.
Stop, learn the vocabulary before the grammar

These units are short on purpose. The grammar only clicks when the words are already automatic, so front-load the deck here, and let spaced repetition do the memorizing while the lesson does the teaching.

  1. Import this unit's deck. Generate it with npm run content:deck, then import n5-unit7-deck.apkg into Anki or Migaku. (SRS connection status lives on your dashboard.)
  2. Learn all 41 words as new cards. Get through the whole deck in a sitting or two, you're aiming for recognition, not mastery yet.
  3. Review daily until every card reaches a 3–5 day interval. When the whole deck has settled at that spacing, the words are holding on their own and won't fight you during the grammar.
  4. Then come back. You'll read the patterns instead of decoding the words, and that's when a "small" unit actually soaks in.
Anki open with AnkiConnect? I can confirm the deck for you.

Tick the box above once the deck is soaking in, then the grammar unlocks.

文法 · Grammar 4 patterns

Take one pattern at a time. Read the rule, then read each example out loud until the shape feels obvious. The words should already be automatic from your deck, so all you are learning here is how they lock together.

Quick suggestion: write these patterns down by hand as you read them. It is the one habit that textbook learners and self-taught immersion learners both swear by, and a notebook is the cheapest memory upgrade there is. Not required, just recommended.
Likes and dislikes. The liked (or hated) thing takes が, because 好き and きらい are な-adjectives, “N is pleasing”, not verbs.
I like music.
I hate tests.
Note: The classic mistake: おんがくを好きです ✗. There's no verb here to take を. Crank the volume up with 大好き, 日本のえいがが大好きです = I LOVE Japanese movies.
Skill judgments, good at (上手) and bad at (下手). Like 好き, both are な-adjectives, and the skill takes が.
Mr. Tanaka is good at cooking.
I'm bad at singing.
Note: Never call yourself 上手, it sounds like bragging (ask Mr. Tanaka). For your own strong points, use とくいです, or just stay humble: 下手 about yourself is always safe.
Ability: “can do N.” Works with nouns, languages, sports, instruments, and the thing you can do takes が.
Maria can speak Japanese.
Can you do any sports?
Note: が again, できます never takes を. For now it pairs with nouns only; the full “can + verb” forms come later, and this pattern will carry you a long way until then.
Giving reasons: the reason sentence comes FIRST, から clips onto its end, then the result follows. A どうして (why?) question is answered with ～からです.
I don't go to karaoke, because I'm bad at singing.
“Why do you study Japanese?” “Because I love Japanese movies.”
Note: English says result-then-reason; Japanese says reason-then-result. Train the reflex: hear どうして, answer with something ending in から.

文化 · Culture note

A short read on the world these words live in. Nothing to drill here, just the context that makes the grammar feel like something people actually say.

The Humble Reflex, Clubs, Karaoke & Compliments

Compliment a Japanese friend's cooking with 上手ですね and you will almost never hear ありがとう back. The standard reply is いえいえ (“no, no”) or まだまだです (“I still have a long way to go”). This isn't false modesty, deflecting praise is basic politeness, and accepting it head-on can sound boastful. It's the same reflex behind this unit's rule that you don't call yourself 上手: skill is something others say about you, never something you claim.

Hobbies in Japan are often organized, not solitary. At universities nearly everyone joins a サークル, a circle, or club, for anything from tennis to photography to jazz. Circles are as much about belonging as about the activity: the weekly practice matters, but so does the dinner afterward, and many lifelong friendships (and not a few marriages) start there. Asking しゅみは何ですか is a completely normal first-meeting question precisely because the answer places you socially.

Karaoke is Japan's great social glue, and it happens in private rooms, not on a stage. You rent a small box with friends or coworkers, order drinks from a phone on the wall, and take turns with the mic. Nobody outside your group ever hears you, which is the whole point: there is no stage fright because there is no stage. That's why うたが下手ですから rarely gets you off the hook, the polite move is to sing one song anyway, badly and happily.

Try it: When someone compliments your Japanese, 日本語が上手ですね！, answer いえいえ、まだまだです. Deflecting the compliment in perfect form is the strongest proof it was deserved.

練習 · Worksheet 8 exercises

Type each missing word in hiragana, then check your answers.

Check your answers to continue, it doesn't matter how many you miss.

Unit Quiz JLPT FORMAT

Pass mark 80% · instant explanations · passing unlocks the next unit