Purpose
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to correctly use “gustar” and similar verbs to express likes, dislikes, and interests.
Lesson Explanation
Gustar (to like) works completely differently from English “to like.” Spanish does not literally say “I like the book” — it says something closer to “the book is pleasing to me”: Me gusta el libro. (I like the book.) Me gustan los libros. (I like the books — plural subject, plural verb.)
The verb gustar conjugates to agree with the THING being liked (the grammatical subject), not with the person doing the liking — appearing mainly in two forms: gusta (singular thing) and gustan (plural things). The “liker” is expressed with the indirect object pronouns from Part 2, Lesson 3: Me gusta, Te gusta, Le gusta, Nos gusta, Les gusta.
When the thing liked is an action rather than a noun, gustar is followed by an infinitive and stays singular regardless: Me gusta bailar. (I like to dance.)
Other verbs follow this exact same “backwards” pattern: encantar (to love/be delighted by), interesar (to interest), molestar (to bother), faltar (to be lacking/missing), quedar (to have left/remaining): Me encanta esta canción. (I love this song.) Me faltan dos dólares. (I’m missing two dollars.) A genuinely important connection: this same “backwards” logic underlies the inverted idiom Me duele la cabeza. (My head hurts — literally “the head pains me”), covered further in Part 6, Lesson 4’s idiomatic expressions.
Practice Questions
1. Does “gustar” literally mean the same as English “to like”?
View Answer
No — it more literally means “to be pleasing to.”
2. In “Me gusta el libro,” what does the verb “gusta” actually agree with?
View Answer
The thing being liked, not the person.
3. Write “I like the books” (plural).
View Answer
Me gustan los libros.
4. Which pronoun system expresses who is doing the liking?
View Answer
Indirect object pronouns.
5. Which earlier lesson covered these indirect object pronouns?
View Answer
Part 2, Lesson 3.
6. Write “He/She likes,” using gustar.
View Answer
Le gusta.
7. When the thing liked is an infinitive, does “gustar” stay singular?
View Answer
Yes.
8. Write “I like to dance.”
View Answer
Me gusta bailar.
9. Name one other verb that follows the same backwards pattern as “gustar.”
View Answer
Encantar, interesar, molestar, faltar, or quedar.
10. Write “I’m missing two dollars,” using “faltar.”
View Answer
Me faltan dos dólares.
11. What idiom, covered further in a later lesson, uses this same inverted logic?
View Answer
“Me duele la cabeza” (my head hurts).
12. Which later lesson covers idiomatic expressions like this further?
View Answer
Part 6, Lesson 4.