Gustar vs. Encantar
Gustar means “to like” and
encantar means “to love”, but
these English meanings can
cause confusion.
Gustar literally means “to be
pleasing”. It has two conjugations
because things that are pleasing
are singular things and plural
things.
 Gusta
 Gustan
(for things that
are singular)
(for things that
are plural)
Encantar means “to be
delighting or enchanting” and
works in the same manner
 Encanta
 Encantan
(for things that (for things that
are singular)
are plural)
Both verbs use formulas to
construct complete sentences:
For liking/loving objects:
(No) + IOP + form of verb + article + object
The INDIRECT
OBJECT
PRONOUNS
(IOPs) are:
ME
NOS
TE
LE
LES
Formulas continued…
For activities:
(No) + IOP + singular verb + infinitive
(Gusta/Encanta)
NOTE: When liking/loving activities, the
verb is singular.
Examples:
No me gustan las papas fritas.
 Nos encanta jugar fútbol americano.
 No te encanta la leche chocolate?
 No nos gustan los huevos.

NOTE: Subject pronouns are not used
with gustar and encantar. Indirect
object pronouns are used instead.
With the object pronouns le and
les, there is some confusion.
Les encantan sus clases could mean:





They love their classes.
You (all) love your classes.
The boys love their classes.
The teachers love their classes.
And so forth…….
To relieve that confusion, we add
“A” phrases:
a mí
 a ti
 a él
 a ella
 a usted

a nosotros, -as
 a ellos, -as
 a ustedes
 a + a name
 a + a noun

“A” phrases emphasize and/or clarify
So…
A ellos les encantan sus clases becomes
They love their classes.
The “A” phrase a ellos defines the subject
as “they” without question.
Translate:
 We

Our new bicycles are pleasing to us.
 Do

they like lemonade?
Is lemonade pleasing to them?
I

like our new bicycles.
love my math teacher.
My math teaching is delighting to me.
 Marco

loves reading novels.
Reading novels is delighting to Marco.
Check your work:
 Nos
gustan nuestras bicicletas
nuevas.
 (A ellos) les gusta la limonada?
 Me encanta mi profesor de
matemáticas.
 (A Marco) le encanta leer novelas.
If you are still having
trouble, come in for help.