Learn Spanish Reigate

Early on , you probably learned the phrase “me gusta”.  Me gusta this, me gusta that.  While you are somewhat correct that it means “I like this, I like that”, it would be more correct to say “This is pleasing to me, that is pleasing to me”.  That is why the verb conjugates differently than say “comer”.

Let’s have a look and dissect the Gustar (to like) and the several others that are similar to it.

In English the “like” is used as follows:

• I like Spanish class.
• You like flowers.

But Spanish is different. The “gustar” in Spanish depends on “what you like” and not the person who likes”

• I like the Spanish class.
• Do you like flowers.

As you can see, the is conjugated according to the noun not the person.  In the first sentence there is “gusta” because the noun is “la clase” thus is singular.  The second sentence uses “gustan” because the noun is “las flores” and is plural.  The form of gustar and the noun have to agree with each other.

Additionally, “Gustar” is preceded by an indirect object pronoun (me / te etc.). This indicates that the person is performing the action (of liking).

The conjugation of the verb “gustar” in present tense is pretty easy since you really are learning the aforementioned two terms:

(I) → (to me) I like / love

(You) → (to you) Like / love

(He / she) → (him / her) She likes / like

(Us) → (to us) We like / love

(They / them) → (to them / them) They like / love

(You) → (to you) I like / love

Here are some more examples in sentences:

Like the party - You like the party.

You like fiestas.- You like the parties.

We like the song. - We like the song.

We like the songs. - We like the songs.

I like to dance. - I like to dance.

While it is more common to place the thing that is liked (noun or verb)

after the verb “gustar”, it may also precede the verb.

For example:

I like the movie. - I like the film.

The film I like. - (Literally: The film pleases me.)

You like cartoons. - You like the cartoons.

Cartoons you like. - (Literally: The cartoons please you.)

We like to swim. - We like to swim.

Nadar nos gusta. – (Literally: To swim (swimming) pleases us.)

NOTE: If the thing liked is not a noun but an action (expressed by a verb in the infinitive), “gustar” is used in the third person singular.

Also NOTE: The indirect object (a mí, a tí etc.) normally precedes the indirect object pronoun when you want to:

clarify the indirect object pronouns “le” and “les” give emphasis (to me, to you etc.)

For example:

A Tina no le gusta volar. – Tina doesn´t like to fly. (literally “To Tina, she doesn’t like to fly)

Students do not like exams. - The students don't like exams. (Literally "To the students, They do not like the exams)

A Candida likes the cake. - Candida likes the cake. (Literally "To Cándida, she likes the cake)

A mí me gusta dormir. – I like to sleep.  (literally “To me, I like to sleep)

Once you feel confident in the structure above, try to expand using gustar in different tenses:

Preterite: enjoyed / they liked

Imperfect: liked / she loved

Future: will like / will like (like / will like)

Conditional: would / Like

Some examples here:

I did not like the film, it was very boring. - I did not like the movie, it was very boring.

She liked strawberries when she was pregnant. - She liked strawberries she was pregnant When.

Yo sé que a ellos les va a gustar mi idea. – I know that they will like my idea.

Would you Like classes to students? - Would the students like the classes?

Gustar isn’t the one verb that has these funky rules.  Check out below for some very common verbs.  Fortunately, they all work in the same manner.

Encantar: to love (like in a strong way)

• I love concerts. - I love the concerts.

Parecer: to seem

• The film seemed to us short. - The short film Seemed to us.

The stories found them boring. - The stories Seemed boring to us.

NOTE: since parecer is usually followed by an adjective, the adjective must agree in number and gender with the item described.

Doler: to be painful, to cause sorrow

• I have a headache. - I have a headache.

Faltar: to be lacking, to need

• I left five dollars. - I lack (need) five dollars.

Quedar (a uno): to remain (to someone), to have left

• You have one day of vacation. - I have one day of vacation left.

Tocar (a uno): to be one’s turn

• A ti te toca sacar la basura. – It’s your turn to take out the garbage.

Here are some other verbs that use the same form of “gustar” and the others stated above:

Morrocan - to bore.

Bastar – to be sufficient.

Falling good / bad - to like someone.

Disgustar  – to dislike something.

Fascinar – to be fascinating to.

Importar – to be important to.

Interesar – to be interesting to.

Molestar – to be a bother.

Picar – to itch.

Volver loco – to be crazy about.

photo credit:  via

photo credit:  via