GUSTAR & ENCANTAR

GUSTAR
• The Spanish verb gustar can be translated as "to like." This verb may be confusing for Spanish
learners because gustar is considered a defective or impersonal verb, so it is often conjugated in the
third person only. In addition, it requires a variation in the sentence structure.
• As a beginner at Spanish, chances are most of the sentences you've been using as examples follow
roughly the same word order as we use in English, with the verb following the subject. But Spanish also
frequently places the subject after the verb, and that is usually true with gustar. Here are some
examples of gustar in action:
• Me gusta el coche. (I like the car.)
• Nos gustan los coches. (We like the cars.)
• Le gustan los coches. (You/he/she likes the cars.)
• As you can see, the sentences aren't quite what you might expect. Instead of following the form "person
who likes + verb + the object liked," they follow the form "indirect-object pronoun representing the
person who likes + verb + the object liked" (the indirect-object
pronouns are me, te, le, nos, os, and les). In these sentences, the object liked is the subject in Spanish.
Also, note that the subject of these sentences (the object that is liked) is always accompanied by
the definite article (el, la, los, las).
• We can look at it in different way:
• Instead of thinking of gustar as meaning "to like," it is both more accurate
and makes more sense in this sentence structure to think of it as meaning "to
be pleasing." When we say, "I like the car," the meaning is much the same as
saying, "the car is pleasing to me." In plural form, it becomes "the cars are
pleasing to me," with a plural verb. Note, then, the differences in the common
and literal translations below:
• Me gusta el coche. (I like the car. Literally, the car is pleasing to me.)
• Nos gustan los coches. (We like the cars. Literally, the cars are pleasing to us.)
• Le gustan las manzanas. (You /he/she likes the apples. Literally, the pickups
are pleasing to you/him/her.)
• When the pronoun le or les is used, as in the third example, the context
might not always make clear who is the person doing the liking. In that
case, you can add the prepositional phrase "a + the person liking," at the
beginning of the sentence (or less commonly at the end of the sentence).
• Also, the verb takes the form of the third person singular if the person likes
a singular noun or verb, and the third person plural if the person likes a
plural noun.

• A Carlos le gusta el coche. (Carlos likes the car.)

• A María le gustan las camionetas. (María likes the pickups.)
• ¿A ustedes les gusta el coche? (Do you like the car?)
 Gustar
A mí me gusta(n) Me gusta la comida I like Chinese food.
china.
A ti te gusta(n) Te gustan las frutas y You like fruits and
verduras. vegetables.
A usted/él/ella le gusta(n) Le gusta bailar salsa. She likes to dance
salsa.
A nosotros nos gusta(n) Nos gusta el arte We like modern art.
moderno.
A vosotros os gusta(n) Os gusta caminar por You like walking
la ciudad. around the city.
A ustedes/ellos/ellas les gusta(n) Les gustan los colores They like bright
vivos. colors.
Encantar
• Encantar is a transitive verb that can be translated as "to enchant" or "to
bewitch." However, it is most often used to express an extreme like or love
for an object. For example, Me encanta el chocolate is translated as I love
chocolate.

• The verbs encantar and gustar have a unique property:

• They are frequently used in the third person, where the subject in the
English sentence becomes the object in Spanish. For example, the English
sentence "I like the house" (subject + verb + object) is reversed
as me gusta la casa (object + verb + subject) in Spanish. If we wish to say
"I like the house very much" or "I love the house," the phrase would be
translated as Me encanta la casa.
• Encantar is more commonly used as a backward verb meaning "to love
something." For all the conjugations of Encantar, the subject of the sentence is
the object that is loved. If the object is singular or a verb, the third person
singular conjugation is used, and if the object is plural, the third person plural
conjugation is used.
• Note that all of the conjugations use indirect object pronouns to show who loves
the object, and the object always includes the definite article (el, la, los, las).
• Sentences with verbs like encantar may include the preposition a plus a pronoun
or noun that matches the indirect object. This is usually included to draw
attention to or make explicit the entity that is doing the liking.
• For example, A muchas mujeres les encantan los cuentos de
amor, which means, "Many women really like love stories."
Encantar conjugation

A mí me encanta(n) Me encanta leer. I love reading.

A ti te encanta(n) Te encantan las películas You love action movies.
de acción.
A usted/él/ella le encanta(n) Le encanta aprender She loves learning
español. Spanish.
A nosotros nos encanta(n) Nos encanta la comida We love Italian food.
italiana.
A vosotros os encanta(n) Os encanta hacer You love exercising.
ejercicio.
A ustedes/ellos/ellas les encanta(n) Les encantan los They love tulips.
tulipanes.
• When our object is an infinitive form of the verb or more tan one
infinitive form of the verbs, conjugation of gustar and encantar
remain in third person singular number.

• Example:
• A mi, me gusta leer los libros.
• A ella, le encanta bailar.
• A mi, me gusta leer los libros, escuchar las músicas y ver las películas.
• A ella, le encanta bailar, nadar, hacer ejercicio y correr.