すき ("suki") vs すきだ ("sukida")

Question

Background

I am currently studying Japanese grammar at a beginner's level. Yes, I am familiar with Hiragana but I have not quite learnt Katakana yet. Obviously, I know Romaji and hardly much Kanji.

Problem

However, I came across the formal and informal way of using "suki" (すき). I know "desu" is required if you were to say to your boss "I like apples" but is "da" really necessary for informal? I mean, is it as polite if you went without it? Is it grammatically correct or right to go without it?

For example, what's the difference between りんごが好き ("I like apples") and and with だ on the end (sentence + grammatical particle perhaps?) 🍎

Answer 1

I think that sukida is more casual, whereas suki have a sense of lightheartedness to it. Just my personal opinion:P

Answer 2

Including sentence-final だ is a marker of blunt-style speech, typical of males. The alternate without だ is more apt to be used in feminine/gentle speech.

For more detail on this particular nuance, see this question:

Is "da" used often in the casual speech?

And for information about other patterns typical of blunt/gentle speech styles, see this question:

What differences should I look out for between male vs female speech?

Answer 3

Well, 好き{すき} could be translated as "something that someone likes" (it means "to like" but it's an adjective). So if you want to say "I like apples" you must say りんごが好{す}きです. だ is the informal version of です. If you are with your friends, you should say りんごが好き{すき}だ. But sometimes people (particularly women) skip だ when talking in colloquial speech. So you could leave it in りんごが好き{すき}.

To summarise, 好き{すき} is an adjective, that may be alone (informal, femenine), with だ (informal in general) or with です (formal).