Verbs Like Interesar
Important Parts of the Sentence
indirect object pronoun
indirect object
Las clases le gustan a Tomás.
subject
verb
It is important to remember the difference between the indirect object
pronoun and the indirect object. The indirect object pronoun (me, te, le,
nos, or les) represents the indirect object (a person, animal, etc.)
The following verbs function like
interesar.
• aburrir – to bore
• gustar – to please*
• encantar – to enchant*
Gustar and encantar are loosely translated in
another way, which will be seen later.
Sentence Order
• Remember that word order is more flexible in
Spanish than in English. Each of the following
sentences is correct, and they mean the same
thing.
- Los libros me aburren.
- Me aburren los libros. (This order is probably
more common.)
• The indirect object is often left out of the
sentence if it is understood, but the indirect
object pronoun is required.
aburrir – to bore
• La clase de historia me aburre.
• La clase de español no me aburre.
• Los discursos (lectures) me aburren.
• Translate the following:
-The teachers bore us.
- Los profesores nos aburren. OR
- Nos aburren los profesores.
gustar – to please
• Me gustan las películas.
– Movies please me.
• A Pablo le gustan los libros.
– Books please Pablo.
• ¿Te gusta el perro?
– Does the dog please you?
• Since English speakers do not really say things
like, “Movies please me” or “Books please
Pablo,” the verb gustar is typically loosely
translated to mean, “to like.”
• Translating gustar as “to like” seems more
natural to English speakers, but has its risks.
Doing so makes it more difficult to remember
which word is the subject and which is the
indirect object. See the next slide for
examples.
Thinking of gustar as “to like.”
Notice that the following to sentences have the same
meaning, but different sentence structures. Which
matches the Spanish structure?
• I like tigers.
subject
verb
Me gustan los tigres.
object
• Tigers please me.
Me gustan los tigres.
This one matches the Spanish structure
because “tigers” is the subject, and therefore
determines the form of the verb.
Thinking of gustar as “to like”
Again, even though the meaning is essentially
the same, the sentences have different
subjects.
subject
I like tigers.
Tigers please me.
When thinking of gustar as “to like,” it is
important not to confuse the subject and
object.
Thinking of gustar as “to like”
Rewrite this sentence in Spanish using the verb
gustar.
I like movies. (The word for movies is películas.)
Me gustan las películas.
To like doing things.
To talk about liking activities (verbs), gustar is
used in the same way, but followed by a verb
in the infinitive form. Look at the following
examples.
- I like swimming.
Me gusta nadar.
- They like dancing.
Les gusta bailar.
- He likes reading.
Le gusta leer.
- You like to cook.
Te gusta cocinar.
Notice that gustar is singular in this situation.
encantar – to enchant
• Me encanta tu camisa.
– Your shirt enchants me.
• Me encantan los animales.
– Animals enchant me.
Notice that this sounds even more bizarre than
saying, “Your shirt pleases me.” For that reason,
encantar is loosely translated to mean “to love.”
The same pitfalls apply, however.
Thinking of encantar as “to love.”
Notice that the following to sentences have the same
meaning, but different sentence structures. Which
matches the Spanish structure?
• I love tigers.
subject
verb
Me encantan los tigres.
object
• Tigers enchant me.
Me encantan los tigres.
This one matches the Spanish structure
because “tigers” is the subject, and therefore
determines the form of the verb.
Thinking of encantar as “to love”
• Encantar is not used to talk about loving
people. It is used to talk about loving (as in
really enjoying) activities and things.
• Examples
– Me encanta esquiar.
• I love to ski.
– Te encanta ese programa de tele.
• You love that TV show.