How to use the verb ‘gustar’ in Spanish?

Did you know that in Spanish we don't say "I like dogs"? Instead, we say something like, "Dogs are pleasing to me” → Me gustan los perros. That is why the verb gustar in Spanish is tricky but with these two important tips, you will easily master it: 1) you don’t need to memorize many forms, 2) they always go with a pronoun like me, te, le! If you want to know more about gustar and similar verbs, continue reading!

As previously mentioned, gustar doesn’t have a direct equivalence in English. In Spanish, we don’t say “I like X,” but instead, we say something like “X is/are pleasing to me.” Let’s explore this further. Take a look at the following examples:

Do you see why “me gusta la tortilla de patata" means “the tortilla de patata is pleasing to me”? The idea behind this verb is that there is an item or person that creates a feeling in someone. That is, the item being liked (la tortilla de patata) is the subject of the sentence! (Bear this in mind because it will be important later!) And, in order to express to whom the item is pleasing, we need a pronoun (me). This pronoun is a Spanish indirect object pronoun.

Although gustar conjugates like a regular -ar verb (e.g. gusto, bustas, gusta...) most of the time in the present tense you will use two verb forms: él/ella/usted form: gusta ( third person singular); and ellos/ellas/ustedes form: gustan (third person plural). Can you guess why? Yes! Because in this type of construction, the item or person being liked is the subject of the sentence and the subject has to agree with the conjugation of the verb.

But, what if what I like is an action like running or singing? Take a look at the example in the table below to also see what to do when you like to do an action:

Basically, we use the singular form (gusta) when the person/item being liked is singular or an action (infinitive). We use the plural form (gustan) when the person/item being liked is plural or we have several nouns coordinated.

Depending on who likes the item/activity or to whom the item is pleasing, we use one pronoun or the other. For example, if I like swimming I would say:

• To make a negative sentence just add no in front of the pronoun:

  No les gusta nadar cuando hace frío.

  Translation: They don’t like to swim when it’s cold.

We can add the construction a + pronoun if we want to make clear or emphasize who likes the item/action. These forms are optional.

For example:

• You can also use this handy construction with people’s names instead of the pronoun:

  A Carlos le gusta la comida salada, pero a Sofía le gustan los postres.

  Translation: Carlos likes savory food, but Sofia likes desserts.

• If you want to make make a sentence negative, place no in between a + pronoun and the indirect object pronoun:

  A nosotros no nos gusta estudiar de noche.

  Translation: We don’t like studying at night.

• Finally, this a is also used to make questions before the question words quién/quiénes (meaning who):

Now that you know how to use gustar, keep reading to learn about other verbs that work exactly like gustar.

Now that you how to use gustar you can apply the same strategies to many other verbs, remember the two important things with these verbs:

1. You typically only need the él/ella form (the singular) or the ellos/ellas form (the plural)

   • Use the singular if the verb is followed by a singular noun or an infinitive verb.

   • Use the plural if the verb is followed by a plural noun.

2. And, you need an Indirect Object Pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les).

   Me interesan las novelas históricas.

   Translation: I’m interested in historical novels.

In this case, las novelas históricas is a plural noun so we use the plural form of verb interesar (meaning to interest), and because the novels are interesting to me, then we use the pronoun me. Easy peasy!

Other verbs you can add to your repertoire are:

If you want to know more verbs that behave like gustar, take a look at the resource we created for you!

It is important to mention that some verbs that behave like gustar can be followed by an adjective in order to express the feeling the verb causes to us. Take a look at the following examples, and don’t forget that adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

For instance, you can express if something seems interesting or boring using the construction: parece + adjective (it seems + adjective).

In this post, we went over how the verb gustar behaves. There are two important things you need to remember:

1. The item/action being liked is the subject of the sentence and thus, it must agree with the verb.

   • Use gusta if followed by a singular noun or an infinitive.

   • Use gustan if followed by a plural noun.

2. We need to use an indirect object pronoun in order to express who likes the item/action.

   • The pronouns are: me, te, le, nos, os, les.

We also went over many other verbs that follow the same structure as gustar. Remember that these verbs are different from English, but with some practice you will soon master them.

Before you leave, check out these exercises so that you can practice the use of verbs like gustar! They come with an answer key! Enjoy!