gustar – to be pleasing to (often interpreted as ‘to like’)
[<L gustare to taste, so ‘is tasty to’, hence E ‘gusto’]
“
le” verbs
For gustar (and other verbs, see below), the object is placed
before the verb and the subject follows it, for example:
me gusta el vino – the wine is pleasing to me; the wine
pleases me; el vino is the subject, me is the object
With these verbs, indirect object
pronouns are used to indicate the object of the verb (me, you,
her, etc.); these look like reflexive pronouns (but using le
and les instead of se):
me – to/for me
te – to you (tú form)
le – to him, to her, to you (usted)
nos – to us
os – to you (vosotros)
les – to them/you (ustedes)
In general, for me gustar (something pleases me):
me gusta + infinitive
me gusta el/la + singular noun
me gustan los/las + plural noun
Since the subject is usually a noun (singular, infinitive used
as a noun, or plural) only the 3rd person is used (gusta or
gustan in the present tense):
gusta is used for a singular subject, or an infinitive
gustan is used for a plural subject
e.g.,
me gusta el arte – I like art
me gusta comer – I like to eat (I like eating)
me gustan los museos – I like museums
lo que más me gusta es ... – that what I like best is ...
me gusta andar por las montañas – I like to walk in the
mountains
A nadie le gusta hacer cola en las tiendas – No one likes
to wait in line in shops.
Other tenses follow the same structure, e.g.,
Me gustó la película que vimos ayer – I liked the film
we saw yesterday
¿Te han gustado los coches? – Did you like the cars?
Verbs like gustar
Some other verbs that are used in the same way:
apetecer, encantar, extrañar, doler, faltar, fastidiar, horrorizar,
importar, interesar, molestar, preocupar, quedar, tocar
e.g.,
nos cae bien – it goes well for us
le extraña – it’s strange [to him, etc.]
me duele la cabeza – my head hurts (the head, it hurts
me)
no me importa – I don’t mind; no importa – it doesn’t
matter
¿Te importaría si cierro la ventana? – would you mind if
I close the window?
la política no me interesa – politics doesn’t interest
me
me encanta la natación – I love swimming
te molesta – it bothers you
te preocupa – it worries you
le toca – it’s your turn
More ...
a + prepositional pronoun (see pronouns table) or a
person’s name can be added for clarity or emphasis:
a mí me gusta el cine – I like cinema
no me gusta el fútbol – I don’t like football
a ellos les gusta pasear – they like walking
a Juan le gusta el cine – Juan likes cinema
gustar + de – to enjoy:
gusta del buen comer – she enjoys good food (she is pleased
by/of good eating)
me gustaría (conditional) + infinitive – I would like ...
me gustaría ir al cine – I would like to go to the cinema
more or less:
me gusta más el tenis – I like tenis more
me gusta menos el fútbol – I like football less
lo que más me gusta son las vacaciones – what I like best
is holidays
lo que menos me gusta es el mal tiempo – what I like least
is bad weather
(not that lo and gusta don’t change)