The Verb gustar 2010 Teachers Discovery Me gusta

The Verb gustar © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

Me gusta is often translated as “I like. ” Ejemplos: Me gusta la pizza. = (I like pizza. ) Me gusta el coche rojo. = (I like the red car. ) © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

Actually, the verb gustar does not translate well into English. Por ejemplo: Me gusta el libro. In English, we would say, “I like the book. ” book but the meaning is really closer to “I am pleased by the book, ” or “The book pleases me, ” or “The book is pleasing to me. ” © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

Otro ejemplo: Le gustan los panqueques. = (He is pleased by the pancakes. ) In English, we would say: He likes pancakes. © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

The verb gustar is conjugated to go with the thing you like, which is actually the subject of the sentence. © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

Ejemplos: ► Me gusta la manzana = (I like the apple. ) ► Me gustan las galletas = (I like cookies. ) © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

Gustar is almost always used with indirect object pronouns. Indirect Object Pronouns Plural Singular nos (we) os (you, ya’ll, you all me (me) te (you, familiar) le (you, formal/he/she) familiar - Spain) les (them, they, you all) © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

To talk about likes and dislikes with gustar … Use this formula! (indirect object pronoun) + form of gustar + what you like © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

Ejemplos: Me gusta la música. = (I like music. ) Le gusta la música. = (He/She likes music. ) (You (formal) like the music. ) Nos gusta la música. = (We like music. ) © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

Remember, the verb is conjugated to agree with the subject of the sentence. With gustar the subject is the thing or things you like. • Use gusta if the thing you like is singular. Ejemplo: Me gusta el libro. = (I like the book. ) • Use gustan if the things you like are plural. Ejemplo: Me gustan los tacos. = (I like tacos. ) © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

Ejemplos: Singular • Me gusta la casa. = (I like the house. ) • Te gusta el cuarto. = (You [familiar] like the room. ) • Le gusta la silla. = (He/She likes the chair. /You [formal] like the chair. ) • Nos gusta el hotel. = (We like the hotel. ) • ¿Os gusta la comida? = (Do you all [familiar] like the meal? ) • Les gusta el reloj. = (You all like the clock. /They like the clock. ) © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

Plural Más ejemplos: • Me gustan las casas. = (I like the houses. ) • Te gustan los cuartos. = (You [familiar] like the rooms. ) • Le gustan las sillas. = (He/She likes the chairs. /You [formal] like the chairs. ) • Nos gustan los hoteles. = (We like the hotels. ) • Os gustan las comidas. = (You all [familiar] like the meals. ) • Les gustan los relojes. = (You all like the clocks. /They all like the clocks. ) © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

You can also use gustar with an infinitive! Ejemplos: Me gusta nadar. = (I like to swim. ) Te gusta correr. = (You like to run. ) Nos gusta leer. = (We like to read. ) © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

To say someone does not like something, or does not like to do something use “no” before the phrase. Ejemplos: No me gusta el pescado. = (I don’t like fish. ) No me gusta patinar. = (I do not like to skate. ) © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

¡OJO! Look closely at this example: Le gusta la silla. It is impossible to tell whether this means: 1. He likes the chair. 2. She likes the chair. 3. You [formal] like the chair. © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

For purpose of clarification The sentence may begin with a clarifying prepositional phrase: • A él le gusta la silla. • A ella le gusta la casa. • A usted le gusta la bandera. © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

When you want to emphasize or identify the person you are talking about, use: name: A+ example – A Ana le gusta bailar. = (Ana likes to dance. ) noun: example – Al doctor le gusta trabajar. = (The doctor likes to work. ) pronoun: example – A nosotros nos gusta estudiar. = (We like to study. ) a mí – me gusta a ti – te gusta a usted, usted él, él ella – le gusta These pronouns follow a: a nosotros/as – nos gusta a vosotros/as – os gusta a ustedes, ustedes ellos/as – les gusta © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery

Check Your Knowledge! I like to read. We like Spanish. She likes the book. He likes to talk. They don’t like the flowers. You (familiar) like the shoes. We like to run. You (formal) do not like desserts. Me gusta leer. Nos gusta el español. (A ella) le gusta el libro. (A él) le gusta hablar. No les gustan las flores. (A ti) te gustan los zapatos. (A nosotros) nos gusta correr. (A usted) no le gustan los postres. © 2010 Teacher’s Discovery