El verbo “gustar” (with 3rd person singular) ¿Te gusta mi coche? Sí, me gusta mucho.

Gustar = to be pleasing Gustar is used to express preferences, likes, and dislikes. However, gustar means “to be pleasing,” and is constructed very differently from the English “to like.”

I like it. It’s pleasing to me. Gustar = to be pleasing In Spanish, the thing or things that we like are expressed as being “pleasing to us.” . . . where “it” is the direct object. In English, we say . . . I like it. In Spanish, “it” becomes the subject of the sentence and we say instead . . . It’s pleasing to me. “I” is then expressed as the indirect object phrase “to me.”

Let’s start by talking about something we all like. I like Spanish. Following the format on the previous slide, we would say . . . Spanish is pleasing to me. In Spanish, this would literally be . . . me gusta. El español gusta me. But, of course, in Spanish, pronouns must be placed before conjugated verbs. Now, it so happens that, by convention, the subject (in this case El español) is generally placed at the end of the sentence with this type of construction.

I like Spanish. Spanish is pleasing to me. Me gusta me gusta. el español. El español It turns out, then, that the sentence in Spanish is exactly the reverse of that in English, in its sense, and also in its word order.

To express that others like Spanish, only the object pronoun needs to change, since Spanish remains the subject in all the sentences. Me gusta el español. I like Spanish. Te gusta el español. You like Spanish –informal. Le gusta el español. He / she likes Spanish. *or* You (formal) like Spanish.

Since most of the things or people that please us are expressed in third person, the two forms of gustar that are used most commonly are gusta and gustan. gusta gustan Me gusta el verano. I like summer. No me gustan las tardes aburridas. I don’t like boring afternoons.

GUSTA Use the form gusta with a singular noun. Examples of gusta + singular noun: Me gusta la literatura. Me gusta la universidad. ¿Te gusta el español?

GUSTAN Use the form gustan with 2 or more singular nouns, or with a plural noun. Examples of gustan + nouns: Me gustan el arte y la música. No me gustan los lunes. Me gustan las matemáticas.

¿Gusta o gustan? 1. Me _______ los deportes (sports). 2. ¿Te ________ el español? 3. Le _______ el español y el inglés. 4. No me ______ los lunes. 5. Me ______ los viernes y los sábados. 6. Le ______ el libro de español. 7. Te ______ las matemáticas.

¿Gusta o gustan? 1. Me __gustan__ los deportes (sports). 2. ¿Te __gusta___ el español? 3. Le __gustan__ el español y el inglés. 4. No me _gustan_ los lunes. 5. Me _gustan_ los viernes y los sábados. 6. Le __gusta____ el libro de español.* 7. Te _gustan_____ las matemáticas. * de español functions as an adjective – describing the book - so use gusta + 1 noun.

When gustar is used with one or more infinitive verbs, only the third person singular (gusta) is used. Me gusta leer. Me gusta leer, jugar fútbol, y viajar. So remember, use gusta with a verb or with a list of verbs!

Gustar + infinitive Remember, use the form “GUSTA” + a verb or list of verbs, even if the verb is followed by a plural noun. Ex: “Me gusta estudiar las ciencias” vs. “Me gustan las ciencias.” What is the difference between these two phrases? The first has an infinitive verb after gustar – the second does not.

¿Gusta or gustan? Le ______ estudiar. Me _____ estudiar y leer. Te ______ estudiar, aprender, y leer. Le ______ hablar el español. ¿Te _______ aprender las matemáticas? Me ______ preparar para mis clases.

¿Gusta or gustan? Le _gusta__ estudiar. Me _gusta____ estudiar y leer. Te __gusta____ estudiar, aprender, y leer. Le __gusta____ hablar el español. ¿Te __gusta__ aprender las matemáticas? Me _gusta__ preparar para mis clases. *ALWAYS gusta + infinitive verb, even if the infinitive is followed by a plural noun – just look at what comes DIRECTLY after gustar.

The verb gustar is used exclusively with indirect object pronouns me to me te to you (informal) to him, to her, or to you (formal) le

Gustar is used with indirect object pronouns Me gusta este apartamento. I like this apartment. ¿Te gusta el tiempo hoy? Do you like the weather today? Le gustan mucho las fotografías. He/She likes the photgraphs a lot. No me gusta el yogur. I don’t like yogurt. ¿Te gusta cenar en casa? Do you like to eat dinner at home?

Do you like to study a lot? When we like something a lot (mucho) or more (más) than something else, mucho and más immediately follow the verb gustar: Me gusta mucho comer. I really like to eat. ¿Te gusta mucho estudiar? Do you like to study a lot?

Do you like winter or spring best? When we like something a lot (mucho) or more (más) than something else, mucho and más immediately follow the verb gustar: ¿Te gusta más el invierno o la primavera? Do you like winter or spring best? Me gusta más la primavera. I like spring best.

To emphasize or clarify… To emphasize or clarify an indirect object (me, te, le), you can also use the corresponding prepositional pronouns. These are normally used with something called a “personal a” in front of them. A mí goes with me A ti goes with te A él / ella / Ud., or A + name goes with le

Examples: A mí me gusta el invierno. ¿A ti te gusta el invierno? A Marcos le gustan mucho los viernes. A Julia le gusta leer. ¿A Ud. le gusta jugar al fútbol y hacer ejercicio. Don’t forget the “personal a”!!!

(for clarification or emphasis) Again, the verb gustar is used exclusively with indirect object pronouns These are mandatory (a mí) (a ti) (a usted) (a él) (a ella) The prepositional forms are optional me te le (for clarification or emphasis)

All the prepositional forms can be used to emphasize the object pronoun form. Juan doesn’t like beans, but I do. A Juan no le gustan los frijoles, pero sí me gustan. a mí Notice that because Juan and I were stressed in the above sentence in English, we added the prepositional forms a Juan and a mí in Spanish to reflect that stress.

Le encantan las bananas. Since the third-person pronoun le can be ambiguous, it sometimes requires prepositional forms for clarification. Le encantan las bananas. Since le can represent a number of different people, we may need to add a prepositional form to avoid confusion. A él le encantan las bananas. A ella le encantan las bananas. A Luis le encantan las bananas. A Ud. le encantan las bananas.

¡OJO! Cultural note: In some countries, it is not considered appropriate to use “gustar” when talking about liking people….unless you are talking about being attracted to that person.

Página 83: Actividad 2-30 ¿Qué te gusta? Decide whether or not you like these items and share your opinions. el centro estudiantil 5. aprender idiomas los sábados 6. la cafetería vivir en un apartamento 7. correr las matemáticas 8. los libros de Harry Potter *Don’t forget to match gusta or gustan with the noun(s)/verb(s)

2-30 Respuestas – gusta or gustan gusta (+singular noun) 5. gusta (+verb) gustan (+plural noun) 6. gusta (+singular noun) gusta (+verb) 7. gusta (+verb) gustan (+plural noun) 8. gustan (+plural noun)

Actividad 2-31 Change the cues from 2-30 into questions and ask your partner to answer. (Switch off asking and answering questions).

FIN