<\/p>\n
Hello there!<\/p>\n
This may seem a post for beginning students, but many intermediate and advanced students get this structure wrong. Gustar, like some other verbs, doesn’t follow the subject + verb pattern.<\/p>\n
Here’s how it’s conjugated:<\/p>\n
(a m\u00ed) me gusta<\/em> So why are there parts of the conjugation in parentheses? The thing is, most of the time the verb endings show which person we are talking about. For example, me gusta<\/strong> clearly means that I like. But can we use the whole form a m\u00ed me gusta<\/strong>? Of course, if you want to emphasize that you do like, really like something or someone.<\/p>\n Now let’s talk about about the he, she<\/em> and formal you (usted)<\/em> persons. As they use the same pronoun, le<\/strong>, it depends on the context if you’re talking about a man, a woman or addressing someone formally.<\/p>\n Let’s suppose you’re talking about your daughter and you say, le gusta mucho jugar<\/strong>, she likes to play a lot. It’s obvious that it’s a ella le gusta<\/strong>, she likes. However, when there is a chance of misunderstanding, use the whole form, ok?<\/p>\n Now you want to say that your father likes to get up early. In this case you’re going to say:<\/p>\n a mi padre le gusta despertarse temprano<\/em><\/p>\n We can’t shorten it to le gusta<\/em> because we need to specificy the subject (mi padre<\/em>). Some more examples:<\/p>\n A nuestro profesor de espa\u00f1ol le gusta darnos pruebas dif\u00edciles.<\/em> – Our Spanish teacher likes to give us difficult tests.<\/p>\n Al ni\u00f1o le gusta jugar con sus amigos.<\/em> – The boy likes to play with his friends.<\/p>\n And so on!<\/p>\n Now gustar<\/strong> also has a plural form, gustan<\/strong>, when you like something in the plural. Some examples:<\/p>\n Me gusta esta pel\u00edcula.<\/em> – I like this movie. Te gustan<\/strong> los chocolates<\/strong>.<\/em> – You like chocolates. So whenever the object is plural, use gustan<\/strong>, ok?<\/p>\n This is it for today. See you next time!<\/p>\n
\n (a ti) te gusta<\/em>
\n (a \u00e9l) le gusta<\/em>
\n (a ella) le gusta<\/em>
\n (a usted) le gusta<\/em>
\n (a uno) le gusta<\/em>
\n (a nosotros\/as) nos gusta<\/em>
\n (a vosotros\/as) os gusta<\/em>
\n (a ellos) les gusta<\/em>
\n (a ellas) les gusta<\/em>
\n (a ustedes) les gusta<\/em><\/p>\n
\nMe gustan<\/strong> estas pel\u00edculas<\/strong>.<\/em> – I like these movies.<\/p>\n
\nA ella le gustan<\/strong> los perros<\/strong>.<\/em> – She likes dogs.
\nNos gustan<\/strong> estos zapatos.<\/strong><\/em> – We like these shoes.<\/p>\n