{"id":142853,"date":"2023-07-02T00:25:16","date_gmt":"2023-07-02T04:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/how-to-use-gustar\/"},"modified":"2025-01-29T23:10:52","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T04:10:52","slug":"how-to-use-gustar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/spanish\/how-to-use-gustar\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Gustar in Spanish"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Spanish verb gustar<\/em> is essential for expressing likes and dislikes, but its unique structure can be tricky for learners since it’s very different to how we would say it in English.\u00a0Unlike the English verb “to like,” gustar<\/em> flips the subject and object roles, requiring a different sentence order and use of indirect objects.<\/p>\n

Confused? Read on to see exactly how gustar<\/em> works, including its conjugation, grammar rules, and cultural nuances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Introduction to Gustar<\/em><\/h2>\n

If you look up the verb gustar<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>in a dictionary, you’ll get translations such as “to like,” “to taste,” “to enjoy”\u00a0and “to be pleasing,”<\/strong> among others.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0gustar <\/em>is not a\u00a0regular Spanish verb<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here’s a breakdown of how to conjugate it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Object Pronoun<\/th>Spanish<\/th>Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
A m\u00ed<\/i><\/td>me gusta(n)<\/i><\/td>I like<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A ti<\/i><\/td>te gusta(n)<\/i><\/td>You like<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A ella\/\u00e9l\/usted<\/i><\/td>le gusta(n)<\/i><\/td>He\/she\/you (formal) likes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A nosotros<\/i><\/td>nos gusta(n)<\/i><\/td>We like<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A vosotros<\/i><\/td>os gusta(n)<\/i><\/td>You (plural) like<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A ellos\/ellas\/ustedes<\/i><\/td>les gusta(n)<\/i><\/td>They\/you (plural) like<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Instead of changing according to the pronoun,\u00a0gustar<\/em> changes depending on the quantity of the noun that follows it. This is why you’d say\u00a0gusta<\/em> for singular objects and\u00a0gustan<\/em> for plurals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

Me gusta<\/strong> esta pel\u00edcula<\/em>. (I like this movie.)<\/p>\n

Me gustan<\/strong> las pel\u00edculas de terror. <\/em>(I like horror movies.)<\/p>\n

You can also slightly change the sentence structure and place\u00a0gustar<\/em> at the end. For example:<\/p>\n

Las pel\u00edculas de terror me gustan.<\/strong> <\/em>(I like horror movies. Literally: “horror movies are pleasing to me.”)<\/p>\n

Using Gustar<\/em> in Spanish<\/h2>\n

1. Using gustar<\/em> changes the word order of the sentence<\/h3>\n

Take a look at this example:<\/p>\n

Nos gustan<\/strong> los fuegos artificiales. <\/em>(We like fireworks. Literally: Fireworks are pleasing to us.)<\/p>\n

If fireworks are what we like, they are the sentence’s subject. So why do they appear at the end?<\/p>\n

Well, gustar<\/em> uses a different sentence structure than other Spanish verbs<\/a>. It follows this structure:<\/p>\n

object pronoun<\/strong> (nos) <\/em>+ verb<\/strong>\u00a0(gustan)<\/em> + subject\u00a0<\/strong>(los fuegos artificiales)<\/em><\/p>\n

2. The conjugation of gustar<\/em> depends on the thing being liked<\/h3>\n

There’s another big difference between gustar <\/em>and “to like.” In English, the verb is conjugated like normal and refers to the person doing the liking (I like, you like, he likes…).<\/p>\n

In Spanish, the verb is conjugated according to the thing we like,<\/strong> which is the subject.<\/p>\n

Let me give you a couple of examples:<\/p>\n

Me gusta el chocolate.<\/strong><\/strong> <\/em>(I like chocolate. \u2014 “chocolate” is singular)<\/p>\n

Me gusta la pizza.<\/strong><\/strong> <\/em>(I like pizza. \u2014 “pizza” is singular)<\/p>\n

Me gustan los libros.<\/strong><\/strong> <\/em>(I like books. \u2014 “books” is plural)<\/p>\n

Me gustan las tormentas.<\/strong><\/strong> <\/em>(I like thunderstorms. \u2014 “thunderstorms” is plural)<\/p>\n

Remember that gustar <\/em>only has two possible forms (gusta<\/em> and gustan),<\/em> depending on whether the subject is singular or plural.<\/strong><\/p>\n

3. Gustar<\/em> requires an indirect object<\/h3>\n

The final difference we can see between English and Spanish is the object of the sentences.<\/p>\n

English needs a direct object (DO) after “to like”\u2014a direct object<\/a> answers the question “what?” or “who?”:<\/p>\n

“I like ice cream.<\/strong>” (What do I like? Ice cream.)<\/p>\n

“We like romantic movies<\/strong>.” (What do we like? Romantic movies.)<\/p>\n

But Spanish requires an indirect object<\/a>\u00a0(IO), <\/strong>which answers the question “to what?” or “to whom?”:<\/p>\n

Me<\/strong> gusta el helado. <\/em>(“Ice cream is pleasing to me.” To whom? To me.)<\/p>\n

Nos<\/strong> gustan las pel\u00edculas rom\u00e1nticas. <\/em>(“Romantic movies are pleasing to us.” To whom? To us \u2014 IO.)<\/p>\n

The next section covers this more in-depth.<\/p>\n

Spanish Indirect Objects and Gustar<\/em><\/h2>\n

When using gustar,<\/em> the indirect object comes first.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You don’t even have to consider what you like or the conjugation of gustar!<\/em> Just add the appropriate indirect object and forget about it.<\/p>\n

If you need a refresher on your indirect object pronouns, check out our in-depth post on them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These examples should help solidify everything for you:<\/p>\n

A Mar\u00eda<\/strong> le gusta la tarta de manzana. <\/em>(Mar\u00eda likes apple pie.)<\/p>\n

Me<\/strong> gusta Halloween. <\/em>(I like Halloween.)<\/p>\n

Nos<\/strong> gustan los deportes extremos. <\/em>(We like extreme sports.)<\/p>\n

Les<\/strong> gustan las pel\u00edculas italianas. <\/em>(They like Italian movies.)<\/p>\n

You must remember to transform the English subject into the indirect object<\/strong> of the Spanish sentence if you don’t want to sound weird, as you will see in the next section.<\/p>\n

Me Gusta <\/em>vs. Me Gusto<\/em><\/h2>\n

At the beginning of this post, I said you can’t conjugate the verb gustar <\/em>as if it were a regular verb. This is not entirely true.<\/p>\n

You can<\/em> indeed conjugate it in every pronoun. Have a look:<\/p>\n

Me gusto<\/strong><\/p>\n

Te gustas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Se gusta<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nos gustamos<\/strong><\/p>\n

Os gust\u00e1is<\/strong><\/p>\n

Se gustan<\/strong><\/p>\n

But as you can see, it’s a reflexive verb<\/a>. What does this imply?<\/p>\n

Simply put, if you say “me gusto,” <\/em>you’re saying you like yourself.<\/strong> That might make people think that you’re slightly conceited.<\/p>\n

Spanish speakers are very aware of this, and they generally don’t use gustar<\/em> as a reflexive verb unless they really need to, like in these examples:<\/p>\n

Si nos gustamos<\/strong> tanto, \u00bfpor qu\u00e9 no estamos juntos? <\/em>(If we like each other so much, why are we not together?)<\/p>\n

Juan es muy cre\u00eddo. Se gusta<\/strong> demasiado. <\/em>(Juan is very conceited. He likes himself too much.)<\/p>\n

Me gusto<\/strong> m\u00e1s cuando estoy contigo. <\/em>(I like myself better when I am with you.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And there you have it! If you practice using\u00a0gustar<\/em> and always\u00a0remember to put the indirect object first, the rest is just a walk in the park!<\/p>\n

Seeing gustar<\/em> used in real contexts will make you more confident when using it. For that, you can practice with authentic Spanish media and videos on FluentU<\/a>.

FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n

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