Overview: In this free Spanish lesson, we’ll talk about how to use the verb “to like” and how to conjugate “gustar.”
Who it’s for: People who want to review gustar conjugation and learn more about how to use it in your everyday conversation in Spanish.
Skill level: For beginners

How to Conjugate Gustar in Spanish

In this free lesson, we will cover a very common and useful verb in Spanish: “gustar”. In English, this means: “to like”. It is important to learn the correct gustar conjugation because it differs greatly from English. A good strategy for learning any new language is to learn the easiest and most common words in the beginning, and then extend your vocabulary from there. Gustar is one of the most basic and essential verbs in both Spanish and English.

Here is an example of what English speakers get WRONG:

• I like the cat ≠ Yo gusta el gato
• Important: In Spanish, we never use personal pronouns (yo, tu, ella, etc) with the verb gustar. Instead, we use indirect personal pronouns (me, te, le, etc.)

Here is the correct gustar conjugation:

• Me gusta(n)- I like
• Te gusta(n)- You like
• Le gusta(n)-He/She likes
• Nos gusta(n)- We like
• Os gusta(n)- You all like (formal)
• Les gusta(n)- You all like (formal)

The second simple rule of the verb gustar is when you are referring to something singular, you will use “gusta.” When you are referring to something plural, you will use “gustan.”

Examples:

• Me gusta el árbol è Me gustan los árboles
• Te gusta el museoè Te gustan los museos
• Le gusta el perroè Le gustan los perros
• Nos gusta la cervezaè Nos gustan las cervezas
• Os gusta la playaè Os gustan las playas
• Les gusta el cineè Les gustan los cines

So what about when we want to express an action activity that we like to do? In Spanish you do not conjugate verbs twice in a row. When looking at the sentence: “I like to walk” there are two verbs in a row, first “like” then “walk.” In Spanish, we only conjugate the first verb and leave the second in the infinitive form.

I like to walk = Me gusta caminar

If instead you wanted to say “I like to go walking” you would say: “Me gusta ir a caminar.”

Sometimes it is not enough to simply say “me gusta.” If you really want to emphasize the how much you or someone else likes something, you can add:

• A mí, me gusta …
• At ti, te gusta…
• A él/ella/usted, le gusta…
• A nosotros, nos gusta…
• A vosotros, os gusta…
• A ellas/ellos/ustedes, les gusta…

This brings us to the end of our lesson! Now you are better equipped to participate in conversations with people, share your preferences, and opinions.