Lesson 1.3 · Unit 1 · Structures
The verbs that work backward
In English "I like the books" has a subject, I, who does the liking. In Spanish the books do the pleasing, and me tells you who is pleased. That backward structure is not limited to gustar. Many useful verbs work the same way: encantar, interesar, molestar, importar, faltar and doler. One lesson restores the structure, because the same pronouns return in unit 2.
- The thing liked is the subject. Me gustan los libros means "the books please me." The verb agrees with the thing, so it has only two forms in daily use: gusta and gustan.
- The indirect object pronouns. me, te, le, nos, les say who is pleased. They go before the verb: Me gusta, Te gusta, Le gusta, Nos gusta, Les gusta.
- An infinitive counts as one thing. Me gusta cantar y bailar uses gusta, singular, even with two infinitives.
- Add a plus a name for emphasis or clarity. A mí me gusta, A ti te gusta, A Marta le gusta, A nosotros nos gusta, A ellos les gusta. Le and les can mean several people, so the a phrase tells which.
- The pronoun is never optional. A Marta gusta la música is wrong; A Marta le gusta la música is right.
- The same pattern: encantar ("love"), interesar, molestar ("bother"), importar ("matter"), faltar ("be missing"), quedar ("remain"), doler ("hurt"). Me encantan las fresas. Nos interesa la historia. Le duele la cabeza.
- Negatives and questions. No me gusta el café. ¿Te gustan los deportes? ¿A quién le gusta bailar?
- Answer with the same structure. ¿Te gusta el fútbol? Sí, me gusta. or No, no me gusta, pero me encanta el tenis. Do not answer Sí, yo gusto.
Where students lose marks: Yo gusto las manzanas (English structure carried over), Me gusta los libros (wrong number: gustan), A Marta gusta (missing le), and Les gusta with no clue who. This is error 2, the wrong pronoun or a missing pronoun. Find the thing liked first, then choose gusta or gustan.
The problem. Write five sentences: (1) I like the classes. (2) Marta loves music. (3) My brother does not like to wake up early. (4) We are interested in history. (5) Her head hurts.
Step one: sentence 1. The thing liked is "the classes", plural, so the verb is gustan, and "I" is me: Me gustan las clases.
Step two: sentence 2. Encantar works like gustar. The name is Marta, so le, and the thing is singular: A Marta le encanta la música.
Step three: sentence 3. "To wake up early" is an infinitive, so gusta. It is negative, so no goes before the pronoun: A mi hermano no le gusta levantarse temprano.
Step four: sentence 4. Interesar works the same way, with nos for "we" and a singular thing: Nos interesa la historia.
Step five: sentence 5. The body part hurts: doler is a gustar verb and "her" is le: Le duele la cabeza.
Step six: verb number. Check the verb number in each sentence: gustan (classes), encanta (music), gusta (infinitive), interesa (history), duele (head).
Step seven: pronouns. Check that every sentence has a pronoun before the verb: me, le, le, nos, le.
Step eight: check. No sentence has yo gusto or a bare a Marta. Each structure is the Spanish one, not the English one carried over.
Problems 1 to 5 are routine. Problems 6 to 10 are multi-step or ask for reasoning.
- Complete with gusta or gustan: Me ___ las películas. Me ___ ver películas.
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The first thing liked is plural, and the second is an infinitive, which counts as one thing. gustan; gusta
- Complete with the pronoun: A ti ___ gustan los deportes. A nosotros ___ encanta la comida.
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A ti goes with te, and a nosotros goes with nos. te; nos
- Say "Do you (informal) like soccer?"
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The pronoun te goes before the verb, and the thing liked is singular. ¿Te gusta el fútbol?
- Say "I don't like the coffee."
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No goes before the pronoun, and the coffee is singular. No me gusta el café.
- Complete: A mis padres ___ ___ la música clásica.
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A mis padres is plural, so the pronoun is les, and the thing is singular. les gusta
- Say "My friends love dancing, but my sister is not interested in dancing."
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Encantar with les and an infinitive; interesar with le for one person, with no before it. A mis amigos les encanta bailar, pero a mi hermana no le interesa bailar.
- Find the error: Yo gusto las fresas y a Marta gusta las naranjas.
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Two errors. The first is the English structure: Me gustan las fresas. The second is the missing pronoun le and the wrong number: le gustan las naranjas. Me gustan las fresas y a Marta le gustan las naranjas.
- Say "Her feet hurt, and my back hurts."
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Doler agrees with the thing that hurts: pies is plural and espalda is singular. Le duelen los pies y me duele la espalda.
- Answer in Spanish in a full sentence: ¿Qué te gusta hacer los fines de semana?
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Answer with the same structure and an infinitive. One correct answer: Me gusta ver películas y salir con mis amigos. (Gusta is singular for the two infinitives together.)
- Write three sentences about your family, one with gustar, one with encantar, one with importar.
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One correct answer: A mi papá le gusta cocinar. A mi mamá le encantan los libros. A mis abuelos les importa mucho la familia. Each pronoun matches the people (le, le, les) and each verb matches the thing (gusta, encantan, importa). A mi papá le gusta cocinar. A mi mamá le encantan los libros. A mis abuelos les importa mucho la familia.