ASD p.

21 Gustar-type verbs
Me gusta does not translate as I like even though thats what the book says!!!! The verb gustar actually means to be pleasing. So, I like to say that sentences with these kinds of verbs translate backwards. The subject in Spanish is really what we think of as the object in English. Me gusta el espaol. translates better as Spanish is pleasing to me instead of I like Spanish. Notice that gusta ends in an a, not an o. Thats because the subject of the sentence is actually el espaol, so you need the 3rd person singular ending.

If you are saying that more than one thing is pleasing to you, you need the 3rd person plural ending. Me gustan mis clases. because clases is your subject & is plural.

If you switch it to say that something is pleasing to someone else, then you need to change the indirect object pronoun in front of the verb. Me Te Le Nos Os Les
Notice that these correspond to the subject pronoun chart, but they are not subjects they are objects telling TO WHOM something is pleasing/displeasing.

Examples: Volleyball is pleasing to her. (She likes volleyball.) Le gusta el voleibol (a ella). Tennis is pleasing to us. (We like tennis.) Nos gusta el tenis. French fries are pleasing to you. (You like French fries.) Te gustan las papas fritas.

The other verbs work the same way as gustar: Encantar: encanta / encantan Fascinar: fascina / fascinan Chocar: choca / chocan

Me Te Le

Nos Os Les +

gusta/n encanta/n fascina/n Choca/n

The thing(s) that is/are + pleasing or displeasing

*** You may also add a clarifying phrase in addition to the object pronoun. Ex. a m can go with me a ti can go with te a ella, a l, a mi hermano, etc. can go with le a nosotros or a mis amigos y a m can go with nos a ellos, a los estudiantes, etc. can go with les