Gustar
Un verbo complicado
Gustar
• Gustar is not irregular, however, it does follow a
special set of conditions to be used correctly
• Most mistakes are made because people
translate Gustar as “to like”
• Gustar means> to be pleasing to
• Since gustar means to be pleasing to, the thing
that is “liked” is actually the subject of the verb—
the thing that is pleasing to someone
– Ejemplo: me gusta chocolate (chocolate is pleasing to
me—the subject is chocolate)
Gustar (cont.)
• Gustar also uses a special set of pronouns
• These pronouns indicate to whom something
is pleasing (who likes it)
• The pronouns are called indirect object
pronouns
Me (me)
Nos (us)
Te (you)
Os (you all)
Le (him, her, you f.)
Les (they, you guys)
Los Pasos
• Find your subject—what is liked
• Conjugate gustar for that subject
– Ej: me gusta beisbol (beisbol gets the third person singular
form of gustar)
– Ej: me gustan fiestas (fiestas is plural so it gets the third
person plural form)
• Find the indirect object—who likes it
• Use corresponding pronoun
– Ej: me gusta beisbol (I like beisbol—beisbol is pleasing to
me—the pronoun for me is ME)
– Ej: Nos gustan fiestas (we like parties—parties are pleasing
to us—the pronoun for us is NOS)
¡OJO!
• When using the Le and Les pronouns we have to
clarify who we are talking about
– le could be referencing “him” or “her” or “you f.”
– Les could be referencing “they” or “you guys”
• To clarify all that is necessary is “a _______”—la
A personal and the name of the indirect object
(who likes it) near the phrase—either in front of it
or directly behind
– Ej: a mis amigos les gusta musica electronica
– Ej: le gustan los museos a Jorge