verb and noun phrase similarities

[dwcarless]

I know in Japanese it is common to nominalize verbs (for nuance, style, softening), like using:
base 3 + んです vs base 2 + ます in polite speech.
Is it similar for items like this:
必要ですvs 要ります
好きです vs 好みます
存じです vs 知っています
Do these all mean about the same, but it is just stylistic to use a noun and the copula instead of a verb? Are there times where is is definitely better to use either a noun phrase or a verb phrase?

 

[tokkyo]

It is not just stylistic, there are some very significant differences between some of those. For example ご存じ is honorific, 知っています is not (also, you do not often see 存じ as you listed unless it is ご存知ですか etc. or 存じています, which is humble)
In any case the nuances and sometimes the meaning of the words are different, even if they translate the same way into English, or even if their kanji is the same. Whether it's a noun phrase or verb phrase also doesn't matter, basically there's not much one can do except learn them in context and develop a feeling for exactly how they differ.

 

[dwcarless]

So, I gather a) they mean the same in English, but b) not in Japanese, and c) there is no real way to learn the difference in English.

Ok, Thanks. Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but it is what it is.

 

[Angel Valis]

there is no real way to learn the difference in English.

Not quite. You can learn the difference easily enough through seeing/hearing the words in context, but there's not really a good way to express the difference in English. Not simply in a one to one relationship anyway.

 

[Toritoribe]

必要 and 好き are both the stem of a na-adjective, not a noun. Generally speaking, the difference between an adjectve and a verb is from their fanctions; adjectives are for state, verbs are for action/movement. (As for the OP's example, 要る happens to be a state verb, though.)