It just dawned on me…Japanese people dont say “I love you” to one another, do they? Is it something that they would say to their friends in the same way that some people in the English-speaking express platonic love for one another? For example, I say “I love you” to my friends. Would a Japanese person say 好きです to a friend? The reason why I ask is because my teacher was really sick and I wanted to say something like “we your students love you,” (先生が好きです)。but then I had a total brain fog and figured that it might sound inappropriate in Japanese, so I refrained. The best thing I could do to express this feeling is to express my gratitude for the lessons.
Anyway, how would one go about expressing this feeling to someone in Japanese, whether it’s a teacher or student?
3 comments
This is a difficult question to answer, because yes, you can’t easily say 好きです without suggesting something romantic (it may be non-romantic if you know each other for a long time and it is understood to be platonic). The best way I can think of is to tell them what you like about them instead, like “教え方は上手ですね” but you have to be aware that this may also be interpreted as romantic, so it is kind of difficult. Japanese is more about how you say something. The problem is Japanese culture concept of interpreting something even not directly being said as having deep meaning, so it is kind of challenging.
This is indeed tricky. You’re facing a cultural issue more than a linguistic one. Usually we just say something like 応援しています in that case. When you want to say you like someone, like a friend, you’ll usually say いい人だね or something like that. Just complimenting them in some way.
It doesn’t mean you can’t say 大好き to friends, or even your teacher, without it sounding romantic, but it does sound like the sweetness/cuteness/childishness is cranked to 100%, which is maybe not the nuance you’re going for.
try saying カッコイイです
Yabanjin’s answer also makes sense.