Talking About Likes and Dislikes in Igbo

This is one of the places where translating from English will reliably produce the wrong Igbo — not because the words are hard, but because the sentence runs the other way round.

The Verb: Masị

• masị — cause satisfaction or happiness
  

Read that gloss again, because it is doing all the work: cause satisfaction or happiness. Not to like. Masị is something the liked thing does to you.

In English, I like the job. In Igbo, the job pleases me. The thing is the subject; you are on the receiving end.

Once you see that, the sentences stop looking strange:

• Ọrụ ahụ amasịghị m. — I did not like that job. (literally: that job did not please me)
• Ahanjakịrị a na akpọ ya amasịghị ya. — He does not like the nickname he is being called.
• Ọ dị ka ọ na-amasị ya ịsị asị. — It seems he likes telling lies.

In every one of those, the person doing the liking appears at the end as m or ya — the object. The thing liked sits at the front where English would put the person.

The shape to memorise

Build the sentence from the thing, not from yourself. That single habit fixes this entire topic.

Saying You Don’t Like Something

You already know how. It is the negative ending -ghị on masị, giving amasịghị — with the a- prefix because masị is built on a and ị.

And notice there is no past tense ending on it. Amasịghị covers did not like and does not like, with context deciding — exactly as the negative verbs topic describes.

There is also a noun for dislike: mkpọmasị. You can see masị inside it.

Interest: Mmasị

• mmasị — interest
  

Mmasị is the noun built from the same root, and it behaves more like English — you have it:

• E nwere m mmasị ịmụ aka ọrụ. — I am interested in learning a skill.
• Mmasị ya di n’ịzụ ahịa. — His interest is in doing business.
• Ana m enwe mmasị n’ide edemede nkọwasị. — I like writing descriptive essays.

So you have two routes to the same idea. Masị puts the thing first; nwe mmasị — have interest — puts you first and is closer to English word order.

If the reversed structure is still awkward, E nwere m mmasị … is a legitimate way to say what you like while you get used to it.

Wanting: Chọ

• chọ — want; desire; need; search for
  

Chọ is the straightforward one, and it works the way you expect — you are the subject:

• Ada chọrọ ego akwụkwọ. — Ada wants money for books.
• Achọghị m onye ọbụla ịnọ n’oche ahụ! — I do not want anyone to sit on that chair!
• Kedụ ihe ị chọ? — What do you want?

So Igbo keeps wanting and liking apart more sharply than English does. Chọ is desire and you drive it. Masị is pleasure and the thing drives it.

Practise by Reversing

Take five things you like and five you do not. Say each one starting with the thing, never with yourself.

If you catch yourself beginning a sentence with m, stop and start again from the object. That reversal is the whole skill, and it transfers — several other Igbo verbs about feeling behave the same way.

Keep Learning Everyday Igbo

Likes and dislikes is the fourth topic in Igbo You’ll Use Every Day, following needs and feelings — which introduces the same reversed structure with a different set of words.

👉 Learn Igbo You’ll Use Every Day free on IgboLearn

💬 Talk about food you like in an AI Igbo conversation

Related reading: expressing needs and feelings in Igbo introduces the same reversed structure with another set of words, and negative verbs in Igbo is the topic behind amasịghị and why it carries no past ending. For the m and ya sitting at the end as objects, see Igbo object pronouns and question words. And to practise on real food, the top ten Igbo soups and Igbo food names give you plenty to have an opinion about.