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The verb gustar is one of the trickiest concepts for English speakers learning Spanish. It is often translated as "to like," but it actually works in the opposite direction compared to English. Understanding gustar will also unlock a whole family of similar verbs that follow the same pattern.
In English, you say: I like pizza.
In Spanish, the literal structure is: Pizza is pleasing to me. — Me gusta la pizza.
The subject of the sentence is not the person who likes something — it is the thing that is liked. The person who likes it is expressed with an indirect object pronoun.
| English | Spanish | Literal Translation |
|---|---|---|
| I like the book. | Me gusta el libro. | The book is pleasing to me. |
| She likes the flowers. | Le gustan las flores. | The flowers are pleasing to her. |
| We like music. | Nos gusta la musica. | Music is pleasing to us. |
Because the thing liked is the subject, gustar is almost always used in just two forms:
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