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Los gustos y las preferencias personales
Likes and personal preferences

 

humgryboy_small

Me gusta la pizza.

something_kitchen

La pizza nos gusta mucho.

scaredguy_small

 ¿Te gustan las películas
de terror? 
 GUSTAR

Spanish expresses likes and dislikes with a different pattern than English. Gustar literally means to be pleasing. Therefore, the verb agrees with the thing liked or disliked:

Me gusta la pasta.   
Pasta is pleasing to me. = I like pasta.

Gustar and similar verbs typically require an indirect object and appear in this order:  objeto indirecto + verbo. The subject can appear before or after, or simply not appear.
 -¿Te gustan las películas de terror (subject)?
  –No, no me gustan (ø subject).

 120px-Nuvola_apps_important_green.svg The article precedes nouns in Spanish in statements with gustar.

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Pues me gustan los tacos, los burritos, las enchiladas. Oye, ¿a ti te gusta
la comida picante?
Well, I like tacos, burritos, enchiladas. Hey, do you like spicy food?

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Bueno, me gusta ir al gimnasio y también salgo a correr.
Well I like to go to the gym, and I also go out running.                           

Gustar is a fully conjugated verb, with which we can express sentences such as I like you or We like each other.

  • Me gustas.    You are pleasing to me. → I like you.
  • ¿Te gusto?    Am I pleasing to you?    → Do you like me?
gusto   I’m pleasing gustamos   we are pleasing
gustas   you are pleasing gustan     you (formal, plural)/they are pleasing
 gusta   you (formal)/he/she is pleasing
VERBOS COMO GUSTAR PARA EXPRESAR REACCIONES PERSONALES
VERBS LIKE GUSTAR TO EXPRESS PERSONAL REACTIONS
aburrir = to bore Me aburre el béisbol.
Baseball bores me.
fascinar = to fascinate (to be very pleasing) Me fascinan algunos deportes.
Some sports fascinate me.
importar = to matter Las notas no me importan mucho.
Grades don’t matter much to me.
interesar = to interest El beisbol no me interesa.
I’m not interested in baseball/Baseball does not interest me. 
molestar = to bother Me molestan las personas que mienten.
People who lie bother me.
parecer = to seem Me parece buena idea ir al museo esta tarde.      
Going to the museum this afternoon seems like a good idea to me.

120px-Nuvola_apps_important_green.svg The order of elements in the sentence is more flexible than in English.
Spanish uses articles preceding nouns more frequently than English.

Sometimes, the prepositional phrase a + mí/ti/usted/él…  accompanies gustar-like verbs  in order to clarify or emphasize.

  • A Luisa le parece bien tu idea.
  • A mí me gusta el té pero a mi hermana no (le gusta el té).
  • ¡A mí me encantan las telenovelas? ¿Y a ti?

 

PRÁCTICAactivity

 

ACTIVIDAD 1: Gustar

  Volver a la explicación

 

ACTIVIDAD 2: ¿Qué les gusta?

  Volver a la explicación

 

ACTIVIDAD 3: Verbos que funcionan como gustar

Volver a la explicación