El verbo gustar (The Verb “gustar”/To Like)

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While the verb gustar has an -ar ending, it does have a unique structure and form of conjugation. As it was briefly noted in chapter 1, gustar is used to express what someone likes or enjoys, but follows a different structure from English and other Spanish verbs. In English, we can say “I like” something, but in Spanish, the structure resembles something more like “It pleases me” (me gusta). The verb gustar is conjugated in the third person (singular or plural) based on what is being liked, which is really the subject and is placed after the verb, Additionally, to express who or what is doing the liking, we do not use the habitual subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, nosotros, etc.) but we use indirect object pronouns (me, te, le, nos, os, les). Check these examples:

Correcto: Me gusta el chocolate. 🍫

• I like chocolate.

Incorrecto: Yo gusto el chocolate.

Correcto: Nos gustan los videojuegos. 🎮

• We like videogames.

Incorrecto: Nosotros gustamos los videojuegos.

Finally, a + a prepositional pronoun may be needed at the beginning of the structure. Prepositional pronouns are pronouns that are used after a preposition and they are different from subject pronouns. In the case of gustar, prepositional pronouns are used after the preposition a to emphasize or clarify who or what is doing the liking (also known as the indirect object):

• Emphasis: if we want to stress who likes something, we use a + prepositional pronoun even when it’s already clear. For example: A mí me gusta el chocolate  (emphasis on  first person singular).
• Clarification: the indirect object pronouns le or les can be ambiguous (they could mean “him, her, you, them”), so we add a + “name/pronoun” for clarity. For example: A ella le gusta el chocolate/A Clara le gusta el chocolate (She/Clara likes chocolate).

Check out the image below for a complete summary of how to use gustar, including prepositional pronouns and indirect object pronouns:

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Here is a list of verbs that follow the same way structure as gustar:

• encantar

• to love something

• interesar

• to be interested in

• fascinar

• to be fascinated with

• molestar

• to be bothered by

• caer bien/mal

• to like/dislike someone (not romantically)

• aburrir

• to be bored by

• doler

• to be in pain

• importar

• to matter/to care about/to be important to or for

• quedar

• to fit (clothing wise) to have left

• sorprender

• to be surprised by

Ejemplos:

• Me interesan los viajes en familia. 🧳👪

• I'm interested in family trips.

• A ti te caen mal las personas pesimistas. 😒😩

• You don’t like pessimistic people.

• Nos importa pasar tiempo juntos. 👩‍❤️‍👨

• Spending time together matters to us.

• A él le fascinan los partidos de fútbol. 🥰⚽

• He is fascinated by/with soccer games.

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