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Gustar Family of Verbs


Sentences that use verbs like gusta are set up “backwards” from regular
English sentences. In English, the subject is followed by the verb. In gusta
family verbs, the word following the verb is the subject. The literal translation
and the translation we use are different.
There are a large number of verbs in this group. Spanish speakers often use
this style of speaking.
For example:
Me gusta Taco Bell.
In English, we say- “I like Taco Bell.”
Literally, it means- “Taco Bell pleases me” (Reading backwards).
You just have to adapt.
Here’s how to do it- The nuts & bolts.
1. What do you want to say? I like Taco Bell.
2. The front of the sentence.
 If the subject in English is a pronoun; use the IOPN chart below to
choose the pronoun that matches the English subject.
IOPN
(I) Me
Nos (We)
(You-informal1) Te
(He, She, It, Le
You-formal1)
(Os) (You-plural informal2)
Les (They, You-plural formal2)
Example: I like Taco Bell.
We like to read.
Me gusta Taco Bell.*
Nos gusta leer.
*Me doesn’t really mean “I”. It’s just what we use in this type of sentence.

1
2
If the English subject is a noun instead of a pronoun, choose the
pronoun as above, then place the English subject in front of that. Put
an “A” in front of the English subject.
Example: Pablo likes tacos. A Pablo le gustan los tacos.
See Tú & Usted.
See Vosotros & Ustedes
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Pablo and Juan like tacos.

A Pablo y Juan les
gustan los tacos. (Les=
they)
If the English subject is a noun and a pronoun:
a) Choose the IOPN, either nos, os, or les as above, then place the
English subject in front of that. Put an “A” in front of the English
subject.
b) Choose a pronoun from this chart and place it with the English
subject.
Prepositional Pronouns
(I) mí
nosotros/as (Us)
(You-informal3)
ti
(He, It5) él
(She, it)
ella
(You-formal) usted
(vosotros/as) (You-plural informal4)
ellos/as (They)
ustedes (You-plural formal4)
Example: Pablo and I like tacos.
A Pablo y mí nos gustan
los tacos.
Pablo and them like tacos. A Pablo y ellos les
gustan los tacos. (Les=
they)
3. Which verb form?
3

If the word after “like”, is a singular noun or pronoun, use the vowel
ending form of the verb.
Example: I like the book. Me gusta el libro.

If the word after “like” is a verb or verbs use the vowel ending form of
the verb. (The verbs must be the infinitive, end in -ar, -er, -ir)
Example: I like to sing. Me gusta cantar.
I like to sing and dance. Me gusta cantar y bailar.

If there is a dependent clzuse after “like”, use gusta. The clause will
start with a conjunction such as “cuando, que, porque, etc.”
Example: I like it that there’s no homework. Me gusta que no
hay tarea.
Note: “it” after gusta is understood and not written out.
See Tú & Usted.
See Vosotros & Ustedes
5
See Subject Pronouns.
4
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
If the word after “like”, is a plural noun or pronoun or more than one
noun or pronoun, use the verb form ending in “n”.
Example: I like tacos. Me gustan los tacos.
I like the pen and pencil. Me gustan el bolígrafo y el
lápiz.
In most cases there are only two choices for the verb conjugation; the third
person singular, él/ella, or plural, ellos/ellas. That means the verb will either
end in a vowel or “n” such as gusta/gustan or fascina/fascinan, etc.
The Gusta Family
 Shown here in the present tense “I” form.
Gustar(le)
Me gusta/n.
Encantar(le)
Me encanta/n.
Fascinar(le)
Me fascina/n.
Chocar(le)
Molestar(le)
Fastidiar(le)
Parecer(le)
Doler[ue](le)
Me choca/n.
Me molesta/n _____.
Me fastidia/n _____.
Me parece/n _____.
Me duele/n ___.
I like.
I like a lot.
I love. (not
used with people)
I hate.
_____ bothers me.
_____ annoys me.
It seems ______ to me.
My _____ hurts/aches.
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Bits & Pieces
Steps
Steps to making a sentence like this. Remember; you should start at the back of
the sentence and work to the front until you become comfortable with the
process.
For example,, if you want to say, “I like tacos”, here’s how you do it.
 It’s a two part process. The first part is deciding which conjugation of the
verb you use. The second part is what happens in front of the verb.
Part 1.
If the Spanish subject is a verb, write it as an infinitive (the -ar, -er, -ir
ending) and conjugate the verb of the sentence in the él/ella form. This is
true no matter how many infinitives there are in the sentence.
Conjugate the verb for the Spanish subject.
* If the is a noun or pronoun, conjugate the verb of the sentence in the
ellos/ellas form (the verb will end in “n”.)
Place the Spanish subject after the conjugated verb.
1. Choose the IOPN that matches the English subject of the sentence.
2. Place the IOPN directly in front of the conjugate verb.

Look at it this way. It like a gangster store-front operation. Up front, the store
looks normal. There can be only six customers; me, te, le, nos, os, les. The
speaker of the sentence chooses which one to use based, not on the subject
of the literal translation, but on the translation the way we would say the
sentence.
That takes care of the front room for now. Let’s look at the backroom.
Just like a store front operation, what goes on in the front room doesn’t
effect the backroom. They are two separate operations. The back room is
operated by the literal translation.

The first word, “me”, in front of the verb, gusta, is an indirect object pronoun
(IOPN). The noun behind the verb, Taco Bell, is the subject and determines
how you conjugate the verb. It’s the real subject of the sentence.
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Let’s look at this example more closely.
Here’s what the other words mean in this type of sentence:
Me- I
Te- You (on a 1st name basis)
Le- He, She, It, You (not on a 1st name basis)
Nos- We
Os- Yall (everyone is one a 1st name basis with the speaker.) See
Vosotros
Les- They, Yall