Verbs Like Gustar
Reflexive Verbs Verbs Like Gustar
Spanish has several verbs that, like gustar, tend to give English speakers some problems. The formation of these verbs follows the same pattern as the verb gustar: an indirect object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les) and the verb which is usually in singular (gusta) or plural form (gustan). Some examples are provided below.
fascinar - to fascinate
Me fascina el ajedrez. - Chess fascinates me.
encantar - to enchant
Nos encanta tu carro. - We love your car.
interesar - to be of interest
A Diego le interesan las novelas. - Diego is interested in novels.
sorprender - to surprise
¿Te sorprendieron las noticias? - Were you surprised by the news?.
aburrir - to bore
fascinar - to be fascinating to
bastar - to be sufficient
importar - to be important to
caer bien - to suit
caer mal - to not suit
interesar - to be interesting to
dar asco - to be loathsome
molestar - to be a bother
disgustar - to hate something
parecer - to appear to be
doler - to be painful
picar - to itch
encantar - to "love" something
quedar - to be left over, remain
faltar - to be lacking something
volver loco - to be crazy
Spanish has frequent structures where the indirect object usually precedes the verb. These structures are often different in English.
Certain verbs such as alegrar, encantar, divertir, convencer.. can be have anagentive and unaccusative structures. In the first one, the subject is the agent of the action (and thus, normal):
-
Ayer divertimos a los invitados.
Yesterday we entertained the guests.
But the unaccusative structures are more confusing, since the order is inverted:
-
Me divirtió lo que hicieron los invitados
I found it entertaining what the guests did/what the guests did entertained me. -
Me interesa el arte moderno.
I am interested in modern art/modern art interests me. -
Me molesta que no pongan las tildes.
I find it annoying when stress marks are not used /not using stress marks annoys me.
There are verbs where the action is involuntary, and therefore this structure is preferred, i.e. the verb agrees with the "passive object" (normally the direct object in English) and the person "affected" is the indirect object (normally the subject in English).
I like your house.
I like your houses.
I like you.
I like your friends.
Do you like me?
Who do you like?
Who do you (guys) like?
Who does your sister like?
Who likes your sister?
I find this topic interesting.
This is not convenient for me.
You are not bothering me.
Juan finds Ana annoying.
I like you.
I like your friend.
I like your friends.
He likes me.
He likes him/her.
He likes us.
He likes them.
I feel like having a beer.
I feel like having two beers.
I find English very hard.
I find languages very hard.
My leg hurts.
My legs hurt.
His leg hurts.
Your leg hurts.
One leg each.
One leg each.
His leg hurts.
His legs hurt.
There are more than 300 verbs with this structure: aburrir, acojonar, apetecer, asombrar, alegrar, agobiar, asustar, cansar, costar, encantar, enfadar, fastidiar, marear, relajar, deprimir, engañar, gustar, confundir, doler, liar, preocupar, cortar, extrañar...
Again, the person (or thing) affected by the verbal action happens to be the indirect object:
The cup fell down (suddendly).
I dropped the cup/the cup "fell on me."
He dropped the cup.
The meal got burnt.
I let the meal get burnt.
We let the meal get burnt.
Some have (or can have) the same structure in English:
Something incredible happened to me.
An idea occurred to me.
Has it ever happened to you?
Popular Phrase: estar forms | Reflexive Verbs | Conjugated Verb: dilatar - to dilate [ click for full conjugation ]