GUSTAR and similar verbs

• In most sentences, in both English and Spanish, the subject comes first and then the verb. For example: • Maria camina al parque. • Maria walks to the park. • Maria is the subject and camina (walks) is the verb.

Therefore, most verbs in Spanish are conjugated based on the subject, which is placed BEFORE the verb. However, the verb “gustar” is different! Gustar is conjugated based on the subject, which is placed AFTER it. Example: A mi, me gusta la manzana.

One apple, thus it is “gusta”.

A mi, me gustan las manzanas.

WHY?? (see next slide)

(many apples, thus “gustan”)

Many people get confused, because in English we say “I like” but gustar actually means to please. Therefore: A mi, me gusta la manzana.

to me

The apple

pleases

me

= To me, the apple pleases me.

So if something pleases us, in English we say that we “like” that thing, but if you are trying to translate word for word, it won’t work!

Back to the previous example: A mi, me gusta la manzana. There’s one apple, and it is the SUBJECT of the sentence. So, therefore, we use the “el” form of the verb GUSTAR (gusta). A mi, me gustan las manzanas. There’s many apples, and they are the SUBJECT of the sentence, so therefore GUSTAR is conjugated into the “ellos” form (gustan). For the purpose of Levels 1 and 2 of Spanish, you will only ever see the “el” and “ellos” forms of GUSTAR. There is no such thing as “yo gusto.” If you think it means “I like” you are wrong! Remember, you can’t directly translate.

A mi, me gusta la manzana. The apple pleases me. But what if you want to say that it pleases someone else? “me” is the Indirect Object Pronoun, in other words it is thing that is AFFECTED by the verb GUSTAR, and it can change depending on who is affected.

A mi, me gusta la manzana manzana. To me, the apple pleases me. A ti, te gusta la manzana. To you, the apple pleases you.

A nosotros, nos gusta la To us, the apple pleases us. A vosotros, os gusta la manzana. To y’all, the apple pleases y’all.

A el/ella/Ud., le gusta la manzana. A ellos/ellas/Uds., les gusta la manzana. To him/her/you, the apple pleases To them/y’all, the apple pleases them/y’all. The following is a chart of IOPs (indirect object Him/her/you. pronouns): me nos te os le les

So what is that phrase at the front? A mi, me gusta la manzana. Don’t we already know that the apple pleases me? Why say “TO ME, the apple pleases me.”? Well, with “me” and “te” it’s pretty clear we are talking about me or you, but if we are talking about someone else, it’s not always so clear. Example #1: Le gusta la manzana. The apple pleases him/her/you. Because “le” stands for all three, we don’t even know if the person is a boy or a girl and even in the context of conversation this might be confusing. But: A él, le gusta la manzana. Now we know he’s a boy. Example #2: A él, le gusta la manzana. To him, the apple pleases him. Who is he?! What if there are many boys in the room? You can change the first phrase to include his name: A Marcos, le gusta la manzana.

To Marcos, the apple pleases him.

Many students learning Spanish will incorrectly write: “Marcos gusta la manzana.” They are thinking “Marcos likes the apple” but remember, GUSTAR doesn’t mean to like! They need to write “A Marcos, le gusta la manzana. Another HINT: If you want to say a certain activity please someone, and you put the infinitive of a verb after gustar, gustar will always be in the EL form. infinitive A ella, le gusta nadar en la piscina. (Span.) To her, to swim in the pool pleases her. (literal translation) “She likes to swim” (Eng.) infinitive A nosotros, nos gusta comer pizza. (Span.) To us, to eat pizza pleases us. (literal translation) “We like to eat pizza.” (Eng.)

Many other verbs uses this same format. Here are a few: ENCANTAR FALTAR INTERESAR For example: (Span.) A mi, me interesa el libro. (literal) To me, the book interests me. (Eng.) “I like the book.”

A mi, me interesan los libros. To me, the books interest me. “I like the books.”

(Span.) Me falta una cuchara. (literal) The spoon is lacking for me. me. (Eng.) “I lack a spoon.”

Me faltan los papeles. The papers are lacking for “I lack the papers.”

(Span.) A ti, te encanta el helado. A él. le encantan las películas de acción. (literal) To you, the icecream enchants you. To him, the action movies enchant him. (Eng.) “You love icecream.” “He loves action movies.”

Stop here if you are in Level 1. If you are in Level 2, please continue.

Gustar (and similar verbs) function the same in the past tense as they do in the present tense. Present: Preterite: libros. Imperfect:

Me gusta el libro.

Me gustan los libros.

Me gustó el libro. Me gustaron los

Me gustaba el libro. Me gustaban los libros.

“GUSTAR” (for the purpose of this class) can only be in the EL and ELLOS forms, based on the thing that is AFTER it. Again, there is no such thing as “yo gustaba” or “nosotros gustábamos.” This is an error because you are trying to translate directly from English, which won’t work!

A few examples: Ayer, volví de Madrid. Me gustó mucho el viaje. singular Since there is one trip, GUSTAR is in the EL form (and in the preterite b/c the trip only happened once).

Cuando era niño, siempre comía toda la cena. A él, le gustaban las judías verdes. plural Since there are several green beans, GUSTAR is in the ELLOS form. Also, in this case, it is talking about the fact that the green beans “used to” please him, so it’s in the imperfect. Translation: When he was a child, he always ate all the dinner. To him, the green beans pleased him. In English, “When he was a kid, he always ate all his dinner. He liked the green beans.”

Remember, if there is an INFINITIVE after GUSTAR, then GUSTAR will be in the “EL” form. This holds true for past tense as well. Example:

Te gustaba jugar al fútbol, ¿verdad?

(Span.)

infinitive To play soccer used to please you, right? “You used to like soccer, right?” (Eng.)

(literal)