How To Use The Spanish Verb Gustar

In Spanish, there is no literal equivalent to the English verb to like, in fact the nearest in both meaning and, more importantly, in the way that it is used, is the verb gustar, which literally translated means to please.

To emphasize this; if you were to say in English, I like my coffee strong, the Spanish equivalent when translated would be Strong coffee pleases me.
The use of the verb gustar is actually very simple compared to other Spanish verbs.
Gustar doesnt follow any of the traditional Spanish verb patterns, be they regular or irregular and it only ever uses the third person forms, no matter what the tense.

The construction of a sentence using the verb gustar is the opposite as it is in English. I will explain in good old grammatical terms; the English subject becomes the indirect object and the English object becomes the subject.

Now to put that into English that everyone will understand.
If you look at the example I like my coffee strong, in this sentence I is the subject and coffee is the object, whereas the sentence, Strong coffee pleases me, coffee is the subject and me is the indirect object.

As I have said, gustar is only used in the third person and this is because it relates to what is liked rather than whom or what likes it.
If what is liked is singular or if it is an action that is liked you would use gusta, and if what is liked is plural you would use gustan.
The present tense singular/plural looks like this:

Me gusta/gustanI like...or, I like it
Te gusta/gustanYou like...or, you like it
Le gusta/gustanHe/She/You like...or, he/she/you like it
Nos gustaWe like...or, we like it
Os gusta/gustanYou like...or, you like it
Les gusta/gustanThey/you like...or, they/you like it.

Here are some examples:

Me gusta el deporte. I like sport
Nos gusta EspaaWe like Spain
A Juan le gusta cocinar.Juan likes cooking.

And in the plural:

Me gustan los deportesI like sports
Nos gustan las naranjasWe like oranges
Les gustan los perrosThey like the dogs.

Gustar isnt the only Spanish verb that is used in the this way, encantar to enchant/love, apetecer to fancy/crave for quedar to stay/remain, faltar to be missing, parecer to seem, and doler to hurt/ache/mourn are a few of the common verbs that are used in the same way.

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About the Author:
Daniel Major is a budding internet entrepreneur and an avid learner of the Spanish Language having recently relocated to Spain. He was previously a director of a successful employment business and has since moved on to a new challenge.

http://www.learn--spanish.net
http://www.learning--spanish.net
http://www.learntospeak-spanish.net

Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com

Tags: Spanish , Learn Spanish , Spanish Language , Spanish Grammar , Spanish Verbs

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