Gustar vs. Encantar
Gustar means “to like” and
encantar means “to love”, but
these English meanings can
cause confusion.
Gustar (to be pleasing) has only two
conjugations, because things that are
pleasing to us are either singular or
plural.
• Gusta
• Gustan
(for things that
are singular)
(for things that
are plural)
Encantar (to be delighting) works
in the same manner:
• Encanta
• Encantan
(for things that
are singular)
(for things that
are plural)
GUSTAR and ENCANTAR do not use
subject pronouns. Instead, they use
indirect object pronouns.
to me
• ME • NOS
to you • TE • OS
to him/ • LE • LES
her/you
to us
to you all
to them/
you all
Indirect object pronouns are placed
BEFORE
conjugated verbs.
• Nos gustan las hamburguesas con queso.
We love hamburgers with cheese.
(Hamburgers with cheese are pleasing to us.)
When more than one thing is
pleasing/enchanting, the verb is used in
PLURAL form.
Nos gustan las hamburguesas con queso.
We love hamburgers with cheese.
(Hamburgers with cheese are pleasing to us.)
To say that something
pleases/delights you A LOT add…
Me gusta la pizza mucho.
I really like pizza.
(Pizza pleases me a lot.)
To say that something doesn’t
please/delight you AT ALL add…
in front of the verb and
at the end of the sentence.
To say that you don’t like NEITHER
this NOR that, use…
A mis padres no les gusta ni el café ni el té.
My parents don’t like neither coffee nor tea.
(Neither coffee nor tea pleases my parents.)
To clarify or emphasize who
the object pleases/delights,
use an “A” phrase.
This is helpful when there is confusion
on who the indirect object pronoun
(me, te, le,nos, os, les) represents.
Often there is confusion with the
object pronouns le and les.
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
Therefore,
A ellos les encantan sus clases
becomes:
They love their classes.
The “A” phrase a ellos defines the
subject as “they” without question.
Both GUSTAR and ENCANTAR
use formulas to construct
complete sentences:
For objects:
(No) + IOP + form of verb + definite article + object
For activities:
(No) + IOP + singular verb + infinitive
NOTE: When liking/loving activities, the verb in
always singular, no matter how many activities are
liked/loved
Examples:
•
•
•
•
Me gustan las papas fritas.
Nos encanta jugar fútbol americano.
¿No te encanta la leche chocolate?
A ellos no les gustan los huevos.
NOTE: Subject pronouns are not used with
gustar and encantar.
Translate the last 5 sentences in
your notes:
•
•
•
•
•
He doesn’t like vegetables at all.
I love to eat breakfast.
Do you like to share?
They like fruit salad a lot.
We don’t like neither hot dogs nor
hamburgers.
Check your work:
•
•
•
•
A él no le gustan las verduras nada.
Me encanta comer el desayuno.
¿Te gusta compartir?
A ellos les gusta la ensalada de
frutas mucho.
• No nos gustan ni los perritos
calientes ni las hamburguesas.
So… what do you remember?
• What verb means “to be delighting”? ENCANTAR
2 forms: _____
• GUSTAR has __
singular and ____.
plural
• We don’t use subject pronouns with GUSTAR
indirect
object
and ENCANTAR. We use ______
______
pronouns
_______.
• To avoid confusion when using “le” and “les”,
A _____
phrase to the sentence.
add an __
mucho
• To say that you like something a lot use _____.
• To say that you don’t like neither this nor that,
ni
ni
use ___...___.