Other gustar-type verbs
A2What are "other gustar-type verbs"?
Gustar-type verbs are Spanish verbs that work differently from English verbs like "to like." In English you say "I like the book" (subject = I). In Spanish you usually say "Me gusta el libro," which literally means "The book pleases me." The person who feels something is expressed as an indirect object (me, te, le, nos, os, les), and the verb agrees with the thing that causes the feeling (the book).
"Other gustar-type verbs" are simply verbs that follow the same pattern as gustar — the person is an indirect object and the verb agrees with the thing, action, or situation that causes the feeling. Examples include encantar, interesar, faltar, importar, molestar, doler, costar, quedar, sobrar, sorprender, preocupar, alegrar, aburrir, and many more.
Examples:
- Me gusta el libro. (I like the book. — The book pleases me.)
- Me gustan los libros. (I like books.)
- Me encanta la música. (I love/I'm delighted by music.)
- Me duele la cabeza. (My head hurts. — The head pains me.)
Use gustar-type verbs whenever the meaning in Spanish naturally puts the object or situation as the grammatical subject and the person as an indirect object. Common situations:
- Likes and strong likes: gustar, encantar, fascinar
- Me encanta la pizza. (I love pizza.)
- Interest or importance: interesar, importar
- ¿Te interesa la historia? (Are you interested in history?)
- Annoyance, bother, or dislike: molestar, fastidiar, disgustar, aburrir
- Me molesta el ruido. (Noise bothers me.)
- Physical sensations and pain: doler
- Me duelen los pies. (My feet hurt.)
- Lack, remaining, or need: faltar, hacer falta, sobrar, quedar
- Nos faltan dos horas. (We are missing two hours / We have two hours left to go.)
- Difficulty or effort: costar
- Me cuesta entender esto. (It’s hard for me to understand this.)
- Emotional reactions: sorprender, preocupar, alegrar, emocionar
- Me preocupa el examen. (The exam worries me.)
Basic formula:
A (clarifier, optional) + indirect-object pronoun + verb (3rd person sing. or pl.) + subject (the thing, action, or situation)
- Indirect-object pronouns: me, te, le, nos, os, les
- The verb agrees with the subject (the thing causing the feeling), not with the person who feels it.
- You can add "a + name/phrase" for clarity or emphasis: A María le gusta el té.
Examples with the formula:
- Me gusta el chocolate. (me + gusta + el chocolate)
- Te gustan las películas. (te + gustan + las películas)
- A Juan le interesa la política. (A Juan + le + interesa + la política)
- Nos falta tiempo. (nos + falta + tiempo)
- Les molestan los mosquitos. (les + molestan + los mosquitos)
Clarifying who "le" or "les" refers to
Because "le" and "les" are ambiguous (they can mean he, she, or you formal), Spanish speakers often add "a + phrase" to make it clear:
- Le gusta el fútbol. — ambiguous
- A él le gusta el fútbol. — clearly "he likes soccer"
- A usted le gusta el fútbol. — clearly "you (formal) like soccer"
Infinitives and clauses
- When the subject is an infinitive (an action), the verb is singular: Me gusta bailar. (I like dancing.)
- When the subject is a clause (e.g., "que" + verb), treat the clause as the subject and usually use singular: Me gusta que vengas mañana. (I like that you’re coming tomorrow.)
- With subordinate clauses that express wishes, feelings, or doubts, you will often use the subjunctive in the clause: Me preocupa que no estudies. (It worries me that you don’t study.)
Negative and question forms
- Put no before the indirect-object pronoun: No me gusta la lluvia. (I don’t like the rain.)
- Questions are formed as usual: ¿Te gusta el cine? ¿Les interesa esta clase?
The verb matches the grammatical subject (the thing that causes the feeling):
- Me gusta la casa. (la casa — singular → gusta)
- Me gustan las casas. (las casas — plural → gustan)
With compound noun subjects joined by "y":
- Me gustan el té y el café. (plural → gustan)
With several infinitives, Spanish speakers commonly use singular because the actions are treated as a single idea:
- Me gusta leer y escribir. (I like reading and writing.)
Below are common verbs that follow the gustar pattern, grouped by meaning. Examples show different pronouns and singular/plural agreement.
PLEASURE / LIKING
- gustar — Me gusta el chocolate. (I like chocolate.)
- Me gustan las películas románticas. (I like romantic movies.)
- ¿Te gusta este restaurante? (Do you like this restaurant?)
- encantar — Nos encanta la música. (We love the music.)
- A ella le encanta bailar. (She loves to dance.)
- fascinar — Me fascina la astronomía. (Astronomy fascinates me.)
- Les fascinan los insectos. (Insects fascinate them.)
INTEREST / IMPORTANCE
- interesar — ¿Te interesa la historia? (Are you interested in history?)
- A mis padres les interesa la política. (My parents are interested in politics.)
- importar — No me importa. (It doesn’t matter to me.)
- A él le importa mucho la opinión de su familia. (His family’s opinion matters to him.)
- apetecer — Me apetece un café. (I feel like having a coffee.)
- ¿Os apetecen unas galletas? (Do you (plural) fancy some cookies?)
- parecer — Me parece una buena idea. (That seems like a good idea to me.)
- Me parecen caros esos zapatos. (Those shoes seem expensive to me.)
ANNOYANCE / BOTHER
- molestar — ¿Te molesta el ruido? (Does the noise bother you?)
- A María le molesta que llegues tarde. (It bothers María that you arrive late.)
- fastidiar — Me fastidia la impuntualidad. (Tardiness annoys me.)
- aburrir — Me aburre esta película. (This movie bores me.)
- Nos aburren las clases largas. (Long classes bore us.)
PAIN / PHYSICAL SENSATIONS
- doler — Me duele la espalda. (My back hurts.)
- Me duelen los pies. (My feet hurt.)
- A ella le duele el estómago. (Her stomach hurts.)
LACK / REMAINING / FIT
- faltar — Me falta dinero. (I lack money / I need money.)
- Nos faltan dos sillas. (We are missing two chairs.)
- hacer falta — Me hace falta tiempo. (I need time.)
- Me hacen falta dos libros. (I need two books.)
- sobrar — Me sobra tiempo. (I have time to spare.)
- Nos sobran entradas. (We have extra tickets.)
- quedar — Me queda una manzana. (I have one apple left.)
- Ese vestido me queda bien. (That dress fits me well.)
DIFFICULTY / COST
- costar — Me cuesta estudiar por la noche. (It’s hard for me to study at night.)
- Me cuestan las matemáticas. (Maths are hard for me.)
EMOTIONAL REACTIONS
- preocupar — Me preocupa el resultado. (The result worries me.)
- Nos preocupa la salud pública. (Public health worries us.)
- sorprender — Me sorprende la noticia. (The news surprises me.)
- Nos sorprendieron los cambios. (The changes surprised us.)
- alegrar — Me alegra verte. (It makes me happy to see you.)
- A ella le alegra la buena noticia. (The good news makes her happy.)
- emocionar — Me emociona la película. (The movie moves me / excites me.)
- Saying "Yo gusto el libro." (Incorrect)
- Correct: Me gusta el libro. (The subject is el libro; the person is an indirect object.)
- Putting the verb in the wrong number:
- Incorrect: Me gusta los libros.
- Correct: Me gustan los libros. (Plural subject → gustan.)
- Using a direct-object pronoun (lo/la) instead of an indirect-object pronoun:
- Incorrect: Lo me gusta.
- Correct: Me gusta. / A mí me gusta.
- Forgetting to clarify "le/les":
- Le gusta el fútbol. (Ambiguous)
- Better: A él le gusta el fútbol. / A ella le gusta el fútbol.
- Placing no in the wrong spot:
- Incorrect: Me no gusta.
- Correct: No me gusta.
- Using "gustar" reflexively (gustarse) with the wrong meaning:
- "Gustarse" as "to like oneself" exists but is rare; don’t use "Me gusto" to say "I like this." Use "Me gusta esto."
- Translating literally from English:
- English "I like Maria" might be translated as "Me gusta María," but be aware in many contexts that can imply romantic attraction. To say you like someone as a person, Spanish speakers often prefer: "Me cae bien María." (María is nice to me / I like María as a person.)
- Map the English subject (the person) to an indirect-object pronoun in Spanish.
- English: I like the movie. => Spanish: Me gusta la película.
- Match verb number to the Spanish subject (the thing): one movie → gusta; movies → gustan.
- When translating "I like to + verb," use an infinitive:
- I like to swim. => Me gusta nadar.
- For stronger liking use encantar or fascinar:
- I love pizza. => Me encanta la pizza.
- To say "I need" in some contexts, Spanish often uses faltar/hacer falta:
- I need money. => Me falta dinero. / Necesito dinero. (Both possible; nuance: "me falta" focuses on what is missing.)
- me + gusta/gustan (to/for me)
- Me gusta el cine. / Me gustan los libros.
- te + gusta/gustan (to/for you — informal)
- ¿Te gusta esa canción?
- le + gusta/gustan (to/for him/her/you formal)
- A él le gusta el fútbol. / A usted le gustan las noticias.
- nos + gusta/gustan (to/for us)
- Nos encanta la playa.
- os + gusta/gustan (to/for you — plural in Spain)
- ¿Os interesa esta exposición?
- les + gusta/gustan (to/for them/you plural)
- Les molestan las preguntas.
- Indirect-object pronoun: The pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les) that indicates who is affected by the action. In gustar-type verbs this pronoun marks the person who receives the feeling.
- Subject: The grammatical subject is the thing or idea that causes the feeling (el libro, las películas, bailar, que vengas).
- Agreement: Making the verb match the subject in number (singular/plural): gusta vs gustan, duele vs duelen.
- Infinitive: The unconjugated verb form (e.g., bailar, comer). Often used as the subject after gustar-type verbs.
- Clarifier (a + phrase): A phrase like "a María" or "a mí" used to specify or emphasize who the indirect-object pronoun refers to.
- Subjunctive: A verb mood used in subordinate clauses after many expressions of feeling, desire, doubt, or emotion (e.g., "Me preocupa que no estudies").
- Practice by thinking: what is the thing that causes the feeling? Make that the subject, and use the indirect-object pronoun for the person who feels it.
- Use "a + name" when you need to clarify "le/les."
- Remember infinitives count as singular subjects.
With these rules and the many examples above, you should be able to recognize and form most gustar-type phrases in everyday Spanish.