Vocabulary · 词汇 cíhuì

喜欢

xǐhuan

The everyday verb for liking: how to like a thing or an activity, how to say how much, how to say you don't, and how it differs from the heavier word for love.

~4 min read

字源 zìyuán Etymology & Structure

字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight

喜 xǐ means joy, gladness, the happy feeling celebrated at weddings and festivals (the doubled 囍 "double happiness" is built from it). 欢 huān (traditional 歡) means merriment, delight, gladness. The compound 喜欢 thus joins two words for happiness, and that is exactly its sense: to like something is to take gladness in it. The word frames "liking" not as cool approval but as a small pleasure of the heart.

This is worth holding onto, because 喜欢 sits on a spectrum of positive feeling. Below it is mere neutrality; at its own level is gladness and fondness; above it is 爱 ài, love, which carries commitment and depth. The shared root of joy is why 喜欢 can attach so freely to almost anything, a food, a song, a person, a way of spending an afternoon: anything that brings a flicker of gladness.

喜欢 xǐhuan The Core Verb

喜欢 xǐhuan to like; to be fond of; to enjoy

V 动词 dòngcí

The general verb for liking. It takes either a noun (我喜欢音乐, I like music) or a verb phrase (我喜欢听音乐, I like listening to music). The second syllable is neutral tone in speech (xǐhuan). When the object is an activity, English "like to do" and "like doing" both map to 喜欢 + verb phrase.

我喜欢中国菜。

Wǒ xǐhuan Zhōngguó cài.

I like Chinese food.

他喜欢看书。

Tā xǐhuan kàn shū.

He likes to read.

你喜欢什么音乐？

Nǐ xǐhuan shénme yīnyuè?

What kind of music do you like?

用法 yòngfǎ Patterns — Objects, Negation, Degree

喜欢 in use · the core patterns Subject + 喜欢 + Noun , 我喜欢茶 · I like tea
Subject + 喜欢 + Verb phrase , 我喜欢喝茶 · I like to drink tea
Subject + 不喜欢 + Object , 我不喜欢咖啡 · I don't like coffee
Subject + 很 / 非常 / 最 + 喜欢 + Object , 我最喜欢春天 · I like spring the most
Subject + 喜欢 + Object + 吗？ , 你喜欢这个吗？· Do you like this?

不喜欢 bù xǐhuan to not like; to dislike

Negate with 不 before the verb. To soften, insert 太: 不太喜欢 ("don't really like") is gentler and more polite than a flat 不喜欢. For a stronger feeling, 讨厌 tǎoyàn means "to find annoying, to dislike intensely."

我不太喜欢吃辣。

Wǒ bù tài xǐhuan chī là.

I don't really like eating spicy food.

最喜欢 zuì xǐhuan to like the most; favourite

With 最 zuì (most), 喜欢 expresses a favourite. The attributive pattern 最喜欢的 + Noun gives "favourite X": 我最喜欢的电影 (my favourite film). This is the standard way to say "favourite," since Chinese has no single adjective for it.

这是我最喜欢的季节。

Zhè shì wǒ zuì xǐhuan de jìjié.

This is my favourite season.

喜欢与爱 xǐhuan yǔ ài Like vs. Love

辨析 biànxī · Distinguishing the Words

喜欢 xǐhuan and 爱 ài both express positive feeling, but they sit at different depths. 喜欢 is "to like": light, broad, suitable for hobbies, food, weather, or a person you are fond of. 爱 is "to love": deeper, more committed, reserved for family, romantic partners, country, or a passion one is devoted to. Telling someone 我喜欢你 is a tender, low-stakes "I like you"; 我爱你 is a weighty declaration of love.

With activities the two can overlap but differ in intensity: 我喜欢运动 ("I like exercise") versus 我爱运动 ("I'm passionate about exercise"). A more literary middle term is 喜爱 xǐ'ài (to be fond of, to cherish), which leans warmer than 喜欢 and is common in writing. And 愿意 yuànyì, "to be willing," is a false friend: it answers "are you willing to?" not "do you like it?", so 我愿意 means "I'm willing," not "I like it."

成语 chéngyǔ Set Phrases

喜闻乐见 xǐ wén lè jiàn glad to hear and pleased to see — popular and well-liked Describes something the public genuinely enjoys and welcomes, literally "glad to hear it and happy to see it." 喜 (glad) and 乐 lè (happy) pair with 闻 (hear) and 见 (see). Often used of art, entertainment, or activities that are widely and warmly received.

喜欢就好 xǐhuan jiù hǎo as long as you like it, that's enough A warm everyday phrase, not a classical chengyu, used when giving a gift or making a choice for someone: if you like it, that's all that matters. It captures a generous, easygoing attitude and is one of the most common natural uses of 喜欢 in spoken Chinese.

两情相悦 liǎng qíng xiāng yuè two hearts delighting in each other — mutual affection A classical phrase for mutual romantic fondness, where 悦 yuè (to delight in, akin to 喜欢) is shared by both sides. It names the ideal of love that is returned, two people who like and are gladdened by each other, and is often quoted in the context of relationships and marriage.