すき ("suki") vs すきだ ("sukida")


### 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?)




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




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?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/35893/is-da-used-often-
in-the-casual-speech/35895)

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?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/97/what-differences-
should-i-look-out-for-between-male-vs-female-speech)

