Is there a difference between きらい and がすきではありません?


Simply put Pimsluer says to use がすきではありません to express a dislike, but Human
Japanese uses きらい, is there a difference?




The nuance of 好きではない depends largely on the context and the tone of the
speaker's voice.

People often use 好きではない when they actually _hate_ something/someone, because
嫌い is a very strong and offensive word. Someone who says 嫌い too often is
someone who is disliked by others. 好きではない can act as an euphemistic
expression, so to say. 苦手【にがて】だ (be not good at ～) is an even more euphemistic
expression, but it's still easy to express your hate on the target with this
phrase, if you say it with an appropriate facial expression.

On the other hand, people can use 好きではない when they literally "do not like"
something:

> 「寿司は好きですか?」「好きではないですね。」  
>  "Do you like sushi?" "Not particularly. / Not really."

Here, the person who answered does not particularly love nor hate sushi.

My understanding is that 嫌い is more like _dislike_ and 大嫌い is closer to _hate_
, but these should depend on the context, too.

By the way, there is also a verb 憎【にく】む, which is usually translated as _to
hate_ , but this is a _really_ strong word which refers to a long-held grudge
on someone. Don't say, for example
私は[納豆【なっとう】](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natt%C5%8D)を憎んでいます, because it
sounds almost like a joke.




The nuance of 好きではない depends largely on the context and the tone of the
speaker's voice.

People often use 好きではない when they actually _hate_ something/someone, because
嫌い is a very strong and offensive word. Someone who says 嫌い too often is
someone who is disliked by others. 好きではない can act as an euphemistic
expression, so to say. 苦手【にがて】だ (be not good at ～) is an even more euphemistic
expression, but it's still easy to express your hate on the target with this
phrase, if you say it with an appropriate facial expression.

On the other hand, people can use 好きではない when they literally "do not like"
something:

> 「寿司は好きですか?」「好きではないですね。」  
>  "Do you like sushi?" "Not particularly. / Not really."

Here, the person who answered does not particularly love nor hate sushi.

My understanding is that 嫌い is more like _dislike_ and 大嫌い is closer to _hate_
, but these should depend on the context, too.

By the way, there is also a verb 憎【にく】む, which is usually translated as _to
hate_ , but this is a _really_ strong word which refers to a long-held grudge
on someone. Don't say, for example
私は[納豆【なっとう】](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natt%C5%8D)を憎んでいます, because it
sounds almost like a joke.

