Lesson 42

Gustar: Thinking “It Pleases Me”

Language Transfer Complete Spanish is by Mihalis Eleftheriou. Listen to the original audio first; use these notes for revision.

Gustar works backwards compared to English. Don't think "I like it." Think "It pleases me" — me gusta. The thing you like is the SUBJECT, not you.

Spanish	Literal	English
Me gusta.	It pleases me.	I like it.
Me gustan.	They please me.	I like them.
Te gusta.	It pleases you.	You like it.
Le gusta.	It pleases him/her.	He/she likes it.
Nos gusta.	It pleases us.	We like it.

Common mistake: Me gusto does NOT mean "I like it." Gustar means "to please," so me gusto = I please myself = I like myself. Be careful!

Me gustaría = I would like (it would please me). Hugely common. Always start with the verb: "it would please" = gustaría. "It would please us" = nos gustaría (NOT "nos gustarían" — the subject is "it," singular).

Podría = I/he/she could. Poder loses the e in conditional: "podería" → podría. Podríamos (we could), podrían (they could), podrías (you could).

Mi casa = my house.

Sentences practiced

Spanish	English
Hablaría.	I'd speak.
Hablaríamos.	We'd speak.
Hablarían.	They'd speak.
No hablarían.	They wouldn't speak.
Gusta.	It pleases.
Me gusta.	I like it.
Me gustan.	I like them.
Me gustaría.	I would like.
Me gustaría comer ahora.	I'd like to eat now.
Nos gustaría.	We'd like.
Nos gustaría comer ahora.	We'd like to eat now.
Me gustaría verte.	I'd like to see you.
Podría.	I/he could.
Podrían.	They could.
Podrías.	You could.
Podríamos.	We could.
¿Podrías venir a mi casa?	Could you come to my house?
¿Me podrías decir algo?	Could you tell me something?
¿Podrías decirme si quieres venir?	Could you tell me if you want to come?