Hi! It’s konkaz (@konkazuk) here.
We are going to have a look at some expressions of “dislikes” with this article.
There are several occasions we face a choice in our everyday life. In order to be able to reject some offers that won’t work in your favour, let’s get familiar with some expressions to show our “dislikes” here…
By the way, the article which is about expressing our “liking” is featured here. 👉 《Eigo-jiru vol.17》
This blog post is written for the purpose of implementing “soliloquy” in English, therefore all the sentences featured here as examples are essentially commenced with “I”, “we” or “My ~”
Well, let’s have a look!
The expressions to show your “dislikes” in English
Sometimes telling your “dislikes” to someone could be trickier than conveying your “likes”.
You might end up hurting the other person’s feeling if you don’t choose the words carefully.
So, let’s find out which expression is useful in certain situations.
I don’t like / My (subject) doesn’t like 〜
Right. The most commonly used expression is the negative form of the sentence with “like”, …just like it appeared at the top of the list with the article of “liking”.
Since its level of a feeling of distaste could be so neutral that it can be used quite casually in our daily life just like you can say… “I don’t like scrambled eggs!”
So, here are some examples.
Please read them aloud as usual…
I don’t like it.
I don’t like cats.
I don’t like his attitude.
I don’t like my shoes any more, because I’ve found out that quite a lot of people are wearing the same ones!!!
With a gerund form (a noun that is derived from a verb)…
I don’t like walking in the rain.
I generally don’t like cooking.
I don’t like being watched while I’m eating.
I hate 〜
Ok. The next commonly used expression in our everyday life is this “hate”.
The equivalent word of “hate” in Japanese is “nikumu” which actually sounds quite strong, and I presume the word is not used so often.
On the contrary, the word “hate” is frequently used in English-speaking countries, and you can use it quite casually even if you are not at the level of… holding some sort of grudge…
I hate carrots.
I hate myself.
I hated the beginning of the movie.
I hate that sound.
I hate her because she is always late.
By the way, because the level of the feeling of your “dislike” can be easily raised up to the max just by adding some adverbs such as “absolutely” and “totally”, or simply by the way you talk, the word “hate” is such a mighty vocabulary!
Incidentally, we often hear a phrase such as “I hate to do 〜 but 〜”, which is very useful to use when you are in a difficult position or situation to tell somebody the truth. So, why not learning this too!
I hate to tell you this, but you are wearing your shirt inside out…
I hate to announce this, but today’s event has been cancelled.
I can’t stand 〜
This expression is also frequently used in our daily life to show our feeling towards something unbearable.
By the way, as for the pronunciation of “can’t”, British people pronounce it as [kɑːnt] while it is pronounced as [kænt] in American English.
I can’t stand the noise she is making.
I can’t stand the smell.
I can’t stand him. He is simply annoying.
I can’t stand the fact that he hasn’t contacted her.
I’m allergic to 〜
We hear this expression quite often as well.
Somebody is allergic to something means the person is having a strong dislike for something.
I guess they are allergic to each other.
I’m allergic to 80’s pop music.
Don’t get near me! I’m allergic to kids.
I’m allergic to desk work.
Other expressions whose level of the feeling could be quite strong are “dislike”, “loathe” and “detest”, however you don’t hear these vocabularies so often in your everyday life unless your life is full of hatred…
Therefore, as long as you understand the meaning of these, it’s fine.
Indirect ways to show your “dislike”
The feeling of “dislike” is diverse and sometimes its level can be just low as… “you don’t hate it, but you don’t love it.”
The expressions I have featured here are frequently used in our everyday life, therefore make sure you read them aloud and familiarise yourself with them.
I don’t really like / My (subject) doesn’t really like 〜
Right. We’ve come back to check some sentences with “like”…
By locating the word “really” just before “like” in the negative form of the sentence with “like”, we can show a milder feeling of our distaste.
I don’t really like the way it looks.
I don’t really like being in a crowded place.
The movie was great, but I didn’t really like the main actor, to be honest…
The word “particularly” can be replaced with “really”…
I don’t particularly like the design of this.
I don’t particularly like the colour of it.
However, if you put “really” or “particularly” before “don’t” in a sentence, the meaning of it will be totally opposite, so be careful!
I’m not really into 〜
This expression is used quite often as well.
When somebody talks to you about something very passionately, while your feeling towards the subject is just like “so-so”, then you can reply with the expression.
I’m sorry but… I’m not really into this type of games.
I’m not really into partying, to be honest.
I’m not a big fan of 〜
This one is used as frequently as “I’m not really into 〜”
Instead of giving a direct expression such as “it sucks!”, you can respond with this one so as not to upset people’ feeling,
I love the design of it but unfortunately, I’m not a big fan of purple (or its colour) … What a shame…
I’m not a big fan of spicy food, to be honest.
not my cup of tea
Although this one might not be familiar to Japanese, the idiom is actually used quite often. You can use the expression when what you are being offered is not the type of thing that you like.
I’m sorry but “acid jazz” is not my cup of tea.
It was just not my cup of tea.
Hollywood movies are not my cup of tea.
So, it’s basically the same as “not my favourite”, isn’t it?
There are lots more expressions such as “I don’t fancy doing 〜” or “I don’t feel like doing 〜” and vocabularies like… “reluctant”, “hesitant”, “tentative” and so on, but for now, please give focus on those 4 expressions above.
Anyway, this is it for “expressing your dislikes”.
I recommend reading these examples aloud several times so that they will stick to your head as “forms“. And then create your own versions for your “soliloquy” in English.
Anyway, thanks for reading the article till the end, and hope it was useful.
konkaz