Gustar-Type Verbs

What is “to like” in English? (English)

In English, “to like” works like any regular verb: the person who likes is the subject, and the thing liked is the object.

Structure: [Person] + likes + [thing]

Sentence	Subject	Verb	Object
I like pizza.	I	like	pizza
She likes dogs.	She	likes	dogs

English examples

Sentence	Subject	Thing liked
I like coffee.	I	coffee
You like movies.	you	movies
He likes soccer.	he	soccer
She likes books.	she	books
We like music.	we	music
They like traveling.	they	traveling
I like this song.	I	this song
You like her plan.	you	her plan
He likes cooking.	he	cooking
We like this city.	we	this city

Why it works this way

• English treats the liker as the grammatical subject — “I” does the liking, “pizza” simply receives it
• The verb conjugates for the liker (“I like” vs “she likes”)

---

How Spanish expresses “to like” differently

Spanish flips the structure. Gustar literally means “to please” — so “I like pizza” is really “Pizza is pleasing to me.”

Structure: [Indirect object pronoun] + gustar + [thing liked, now the subject]

Spanish	Literal	English
Me gusta la pizza.	to-me it-pleases the pizza	I like pizza.

Key differences

• The thing liked becomes the grammatical subject — gustar agrees with it, not with the person
• The person who likes becomes an indirect object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les)
• Gustar only really has two forms in play: gusta (singular thing liked) and gustan (plural things liked)

This is the same inverted-subject pattern used for other feelings-verbs: encantar (to love), doler (to hurt), interesar (to interest), faltar (to be missing/need), quedar (to have left).

---

Conjugating gustar

Only two forms matter for everyday use — the rest of the paradigm exists but is rare.

Thing liked	Form	Example
singular noun / verb	gusta	Me gusta el café.
plural noun	gustan	Me gustan los perros.

Pair with the indirect object pronoun for who’s doing the liking:

Person liking	Pronoun	Example
yo	me	Me gusta.
tú	te	Te gusta.
él/ella/usted	le	Le gusta.
nosotros	nos	Nos gusta.
vosotros	os	Os gusta.
ellos/ustedes	les	Les gusta.

---

Singular thing liked → gusta

Spanish	Word-by-word	English
Me gusta el chocolate.	to-me it-pleases the chocolate	I like chocolate.
Te gusta esta canción.	to-you it-pleases this song	You like this song.
Le gusta el fútbol.	to-him/her it-pleases the soccer	He/She likes soccer.
Nos gusta la playa.	to-us it-pleases the beach	We like the beach.
Os gusta el plan.	to-you.pl it-pleases the plan	You all like the plan.
Les gusta la comida.	to-them it-pleases the food	They like the food.
¿Te gusta viajar?	to-you it-pleases to-travel	Do you like to travel?
Me gusta leer.	to-me it-pleases to-read	I like to read.
Le gusta bailar.	to-him/her it-pleases to-dance	He/She likes to dance.
No me gusta el ruido.	not to-me it-pleases the noise	I don’t like noise.

---

Plural things liked → gustan

Spanish	Word-by-word	English
Me gustan los gatos.	to-me they-please the cats	I like cats.
Te gustan estas fotos.	to-you they-please these photos	You like these photos.
Le gustan los libros.	to-him/her they-please the books	He/She likes books.
Nos gustan las películas.	to-us they-please the movies	We like movies.
Os gustan los videojuegos.	to-you.pl they-please the videogames	You all like videogames.
Les gustan las fiestas.	to-them they-please the parties	They like parties.
¿Te gustan los animales?	to-you they-please the animals	Do you like animals?
Me gustan tus ideas.	to-me they-please your ideas	I like your ideas.
No le gustan las verduras.	not to-him/her they-please the vegetables	He/She doesn’t like vegetables.
Nos gustan los viernes.	to-us they-please the fridays	We like Fridays.

---

Other verbs that follow the same pattern

Spanish verb	Meaning	Example
encantar	to love (things)	Me encanta este lugar. (I love this place.)
doler	to hurt	Me duele la cabeza. (My head hurts.)
interesar	to interest	Le interesa la historia. (History interests him/her.)
faltar	to be missing / need	Nos falta tiempo. (We’re short on time.)
quedar	to have left	Me quedan cinco euros. (I have five euros left.)
parecer	to seem	Me parece buena idea. (It seems like a good idea to me.)

---

Common mistakes

• ❌ Conjugating gustar for the person: Yo gusto pizza → ✅ Me gusta la pizza — the pizza is the subject
• ❌ Using gusta with a plural thing liked: Me gusta los perros → ✅ Me gustan los perros
• ❌ Dropping the indirect pronoun: Gusta el café → ✅ Me gusta el café
• ❌ Treating the liked-person as subject with a subject pronoun: Yo me gusta → ✅ just Me gusta (no yo needed, though it can be added for emphasis: A mí me gusta)

---

Summary

• Gustar flips subject/object: the thing liked is the subject, the person is an indirect object pronoun
• Use gusta for one thing/action liked, gustan for multiple things
• Same inverted pattern applies to encantar, doler, interesar, faltar, quedar, parecer
• To clarify or emphasize le/les, add a + [name/pronoun]: A Juan le gusta el café.

See also: Object Pronouns — the indirect pronouns gustar depends on.
See also: Present Tense — regular -ar conjugation gustar is built from.