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**October 5, 2023**  
**Cindy Blanco, Ph.D.**

# How to use the Spanish verb ”gustar” and others like it  
After reading this post, you won’t just _like_ gustar... you‘ll love it!

Spanish learners know what they like: _¡_ [_la música_](https://blog.duolingo.com/bad-bunny-spanish/) _,_ [_la comida_](https://blog.duolingo.com/latinx-comfort-foods/) _y_ [_la cultura_](https://blog.duolingo.com/siesta-pinata-and-more-spanish-customs/) _!_ But expressing that admiration in Spanish is another story—you need the verb _gustar_, which works differently than other Spanish verbs.

Here’s everything you need to know about _gustar_!

## What does _gustar_ mean in Spanish?  
Gustar is the Spanish verb you use to express liking something:

| Spanish                          | English                             |  
|----------------------------------|-------------------------------------|  
| Nos gusta viajar.                | We like to travel.                 |  
| ¿Te gustan mis zapatos?          | Do you like my shoes?              |  
| No me gusta la pizza con piña.  | I don’t like pizza with pineapple. |

While we translate _gustar_ as “to like,” it’s used in a totally different way than in English—so be careful not to confuse its _meaning_ with how to _use_ it! Instead, think of _gustar_ as having its very own grammar _structure_. Sentences with _gustar_ follow their own [word order](https://blog.duolingo.com/how-to-make-sentences-in-spanish-french/).

💡  
Think of _gustar_ as literally meaning “to be pleasing to.”  
So Me gusta la película means “I like the movie,” but its literal structure is more like “The movie is pleasing to me”!

## How to use _gustar_  
_Gustar_ feels different from most Spanish verbs in 2 important ways:  
- _Gustar_ is conjugated to match **the thing you like.**  
- You use an **indirect object pronoun** with _gustar_.

### How to conjugate _gustar_  
Like all Spanish verbs, you’ll change the ending of _gustar_ to match the subject of the sentence. But the grammatical subject of _gustar_ is **the thing that is pleasing to you**—just like the subject of _The movie is pleasing to me_ is “the movie” and not “me”!

The subject of _gustar_ can be either a noun or a verb. In most cases, you’ll need the third person forms of _gustar_: gusta and gustan.

| Form of _gustar_ | Use it with             | Example                                 | Normal translation                   | Literal structure                          |  
|-------------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|  
| _gusta_           | singular nouns          | Me gusta el té verde.                   | I like green tea.                      | Green tea is pleasing to me.            |  
|                   | verbs in the infinitive | Me gusta correr en la mañana.         | I like running in the morning.         | Running in the morning is pleasing to me. |  
| _gustan_         | plural nouns            | Me gustan tus aretes.                  | I like your earrings.                  | Your earrings are pleasing to me.        |

It’s also possible to use other forms of _gustar_, for example, Me gustas tú means “I like you” (or literally, “You are pleasing to me”). For lots of practice with this form, check out Manu Chao’s song [_Me gustas tú_](https://open.spotify.com/track/6b37xrsNCWYIUphFBazqD6?ref=blog.duolingo.com)—music is a great way to [practice a new language](https://blog.duolingo.com/how-music-can-help-you-learn-a-language/)! (And as with many songs, there is some mature content in _Me gustas tú_.)

### Indirect object pronouns with _gustar_  
In sentences with _gustar,_ you always use the [indirect object pronoun](https://blog.duolingo.com/direct-indirect-objects-spanish/). That’s because the thing is pleasing “to” you (or him, or them, etc). Since the thing you like is pleasing **to you,** that’s why you’ll use an indirect object pronoun!

Here are the Spanish indirect object pronouns:

| Indirect object pronoun | Pronoun meaning              |  
|-------------------------|-------------------------------|  
| me                      | to me                         |  
| te                      | to you                        |  
| le                      | to him<br>to her<br>to you (formal) |  
| nos                     | to us                         |  
| os                      | to y’all (Spain only)        |  
| les                     | to them<br>to y’all          |

## The sentence formula for _gustar_  
The basic formula for using _gustar_ is simple: indirect object pronoun + form of _gustar_. That means some _gustar_ sentences are really short!

But you can add more information, too, including:  
- **The thing that’s liked.** The noun or verb that’s liked typically goes after the verb _gustar_, but since Spanish has pretty flexible word order, it can also show up in other places.  
- **Negation.** Negative words like _no_ (no) and _nunca_ (never) go before the indirect object pronoun.  
- **Who is doing the liking.** You can also say more about who exactly the indirect object pronoun refers to, using the formula _a +_ (person). This typically goes before the indirect object pronoun, but it can also appear in other places.

That phrase with _a_ + (person) is really helpful, especially if the indirect object pronoun is unclear, like with _le_ (which has many meanings), or if you want to put emphasis on who is doing the liking. You can either include a person’s name after the _a_ or a special prepositional object pronoun, and whichever you use, it’ll always match the indirect object pronoun:

| Phrase with _a_ | Indirect object pronoun | Example                                 |  
|------------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------------------|  
| a mí             | _me_                   | A mí me gusta la película.             |  
| a ti             | _te_                   | A ti te gusta la película.             |  
| a él<br>a ella<br>a usted<br>a Zari<br>a mi mamá | _le_             | A él le gusta la película.<br>A Zari le gusta la película. |  
| a nosotros<br>a nosotras<br>a Eddy y a mí | _nos_           | A nosotros nos gusta la película.   |  
| a vosotros<br>a vosotras<br>a Lin y a ti | _os_            | A vosotros os gusta la película.     |  
| a ellos<br>a ellas<br>a ustedes<br>a Lily y a Zari<br>a mis padres | _les_          | A ustedes les gusta la película.<br>A mis padres les gusta la película. |

Here is the typical sentence formula for _gustar_:

## Other Spanish verbs that work like _gustar_  
_Gustar_ isn’t the only Spanish verb that behaves this way! Here are a few more you’re likely to encounter:

**_Encantar_** (to love something)  
¡Me encanta tu estilo! (I love your style!)  
Nos encantó el concierto. (We loved the concert.)  
A Junior le encanta el helado. (Junior loves ice cream.)

**_Emocionar_** (to be excited about something)  
Les emocionan sus nuevos TikToks. (They’re excited about his new TikToks.)  
La verdad es que no me emociona mucho. (The truth is that I’m not really excited about it.)  
Te emocionaron las noticias de la compañía, ¿no? (You were excited about the company’s news, weren’t you?)

**_Interesar_** (to be interested in something)  
A Oscar le interesa el vino. (Oscar is interested in wine.)  
¿Les interesa nadar con los delfines? (Are y’all interested in swimming with the dolphins?)  
Me interesaría aprender muchos idiomas. (I’d be interested in learning many languages.)

**_Molestar_** (to be bothered by)  
¿No te molestan las moscas? (Are the flies not bothering you? / You’re not bothered by the flies?)  
A mí me molesta mucho su actitud. (His attitude really bothers me. / I’m really bothered by his attitude.)  
A él le molesta ir de compras, pero es su responsabilidad. (He doesn’t like going shopping, but it’s his responsibility.)

## _¡Nos gusta el verbo gustar!_  
_Gustar_ works differently from other Spanish verbs, but its basic structure is simple! Use the _gustar_ sentence formula to learn the most important parts of _gustar_ sentences first and then practice adding more information when you’re ready.