I gave this sentence as an example before(どういう関係) 何か気に入られてる、みたいなんだけど

But Jisho says it means 'pleased' and in english there's a difference between
liking someone and being pleased with them so I'm really confused about what
speaker thinks exactly when he observes the two people interact and says this
sentence about them.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-22T13:05:01.550
58092
2018-05-23T17:13:28.710
29668
question
grammar translation meaning word-choice
In what context can kiniira mean 'pleased'?
Emotions and intent are expressed very differently in Japanese and English.
Both in terms of grammar and culture. So direct a translation of 気に入 to
"pleased" or "like" is highly inappropriate. In abstract terms one could say
気に入 means "becoming emotionally attached". Depending on context this can mean
positive, neutral and negative emotions. In the context you give (a girl
talking about a boy) it clearly means "I like him".

PS: It frustrated me a lot when I started learning Japanese (and still does
once in a while), but you have to unlearn ALL grammar and vocabulary in your
mother language related to emotions. Then relearn the very concept of
expressing intent and emotions from scratch in Japanese. (At least this holds
for a European).

PSS: Once cannot give a complete list of situation in which 気に入 means "like".
Usually when refering to a "positive concept" it means "like". When refering
to a "negative concept" it may mean "dislike".

PSS: Japanese has a number of words with a contextual "implied negative".

A 外国に行ったことがある？(Did you ever go abroad?)

B 全然 (Never)

A 全然大丈夫 (That's also fine)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-23T16:24:41.767
58110
2018-04-23T16:34:36.773
2018-04-23T16:34:36.773
26563
26563
58092
answer