The Verb Gustar in Spanish
In this Spanish grammar lesson for beginners you will learn about the Spanish verb gustar, which means “to like”. In Spanish, the verb gustar is more literally translated as “something that gives pleasure to me”, which means the conjugation is a bit counter intuitive for English speakers.
The video is all in Spanish, so try to follow along with the explanation, then use the transcript and English translation below if you have any questions or to check your comprehension.
Video Transcript and English Translation
Verbo GUSTAR
Observa las siguientes frases con el verbo gustar:
A mí me gusta el helado …………………………………….
A mí me gustan los caramelos
A mí me gusta el helado
Indicamos la persona con:
(A mí) me,
(A tí) te,
(A él) le,
(A nosotros) nos,
(A vosotros) os,
(A ellos) les
Después usamos el verbo GUSTAR, gusta, en singular.
Y después añadimos el objeto o la acción:
el helado,
jugar al tenis,
la música,
el chocolate,
tocar la guitarra,
el café…
Por ejemplo:
A mí me gusta el helado
A ti te gusta jugar al tenis.
A mí me gustan los caramelos
Veamos cómo funciona el verbo GUSTAR en plural.
Indicamos la persona de la misma forma,
usamos el verbo GUSTAR, gustan, en plural.
Y después indicamos el objeto:
los caramelos,
las canciones,
los deportes,
los libros,
las fresas,
los zapatos…
Por ejemplo:
A mí me gustan los caramelos.
A tí te gusta el caramelo
Gusta, en singular,está relacionado con el caramelo.
Gustan, en plural,
está relacionado con los caramelos.
Y al principio de la frase indicamos a qué persona, a tí = TE
La frase, construida en el orden tradicional, sería:
Los caramelos gustan a tí.
PRONOMBRES CON GUSTAR
A mí me gusta el caramelo, es lo mismo que Me gusta el caramelo
A mí me gustan los caramelos, es lo mismo que Me gustan los caramelos
GUSTAR CON VERBO INFINITIVO
A mí me gusta cantar
Indicamos que nos gusta una acción, con el infinitivo: cantar
A mí me gusta comer, la acción es comer.
La regla, es que el primer verbo aparece conjugado y el segundo verbo, en infinitivo. ………………..
Esto puede suceder, también con otros verbos.
Por ejemplo:
Necesito comer
Quieres comer
Puede comer
Verb TO LIKE
Observe the following phrases with the verb “to like”:
To me, the ice cream gives me like
{I like ice cream}
To me, I like candies
To me, I like ice cream
We indicate the person with:
(To me) me,
(To you) you,
(To him) him,
(To us) us,
(To you all) you all,
(To them) them
After we use the verb TO LIKE, like, in singular.
And after we add the object of the action:
the ice cream,
to play tennis,
music,
chocolate,
to play the guitar,
coffee …
For example:
To me I like ice cream
To you, you like to play tennis.
To me, I like candies
We see how the verb TO LIKE functions in plural.
We indicate the person of the same form, we use the verb TO LIKE, like, in plural.
…
And after we indicate the object:
the candies,
the songs,
the sports,
the books,
the strawberries,
the shoes …
For example:
To me, I like the candies
To you, you like candy
To like, in singular, is related with the candy. ……………..
To like, in plural,
Is related with the candies.
And at the beginning of the phrase we indicate to which person, to you = YOU
The phrase, constructed in the traditional order would be:
The candies give like to you
PRONOUNS WITH TO LIKE
To me, I like candy, is the same as I like candy
To me, I like candies, is the same as I like candies
TO LIKE WITH INFINITIVE VERB
To me I like to sing
We indicate that we like an action, with the infinitive: to sing
To me, I like to eat, the action is to eat.
The rule, is that the first verb appears conjugated and the second verb, in the infinitive.
This can happen, also with other verbs. ……………………
For example:
I need to eat
You want to eat
He can eat
*This video is a sample video made from our full Spanish Immersion Course – Beginner Level (A1) Grammar videos. The entire course is also available for purchase.
Refresher from the course:
Lesson 6: The verb gustar
