Severn Spanish

Gustar I/II: Verbs like gustar

 

Introduction

Now that you know how object pronouns work, understanding gustar becomes a lot easier, especially when you remember that it means "to please," NOT "to like." The IOPs tell you who is pleased by the subject. As it turns out, there are quite a few other verbs that work in the same way as gustar -- that is to say, they use IOPs. This section focuses on using those and understanding what they really mean, not what the textbook might tell you.

 

Review

Remember how gustar works? Now we can use a little bit more specific terminology. Gustar, which means "to please," has a subject (the thing that is doing the pleasing) and an indirect object (the person or thing that is being pleased by the subject). That is why we need IOPs that come before the verb, but we can also have that "a mí" or "a ti" for clarity/emphasis if we want.

 

The Verbs

• encantar -- to REALLY please, or to enchant

This verb is like gustar on steroids. Gustar means to please, but encantar means to please in the way a double-decker ice cream sundae with hot fudge and caramel and whipped cream pleases.

Examples:

Me encanta el helado. (Literally, "Ice cream really really really pleases me," but if we translate based on meaning, "I love ice cream.")

A ella le encanta nadar. ("She loves to swim." Let's play with this sentence a little bit. Now that you understand IOPs, we can readjust the location of different pieces of the sentence. For instance, "Nadar le encanta a ella," is equally correct.)

A Juan y Pedro les encantan las uvas. ("Juan and Peter love grapes.")

• faltar -- to cause a lack

This one is hard to translate literally because it sounds so awkward. Looking at the examples should clear things up. The thing missing is the subject, and the person or thing that lacks the thing is the indirect object and, therefore, the IOP.

Examples:

Me falta una cuchara. ("I lack a knife," or "I am missing a knife." Notice that faltar is conjugated to match the knife [the missing thing] and the IOP is me, or the person lacking the knife.)

A la mujer le falta una silla. ("The woman needs a seat." Like with gustar and encantar, we can rearrange this sentence. "Una silla le falta a la mujer," while unconventional, is grammatically sound.)

¿Te falta algo? ("Do you need something?")

• doler -- to cause pain

With doler, the subject is the thing causing pain, and the IOP is the person or thing in pain. The literal translations therefore look something like, "My leg pains me." An important thing to note is that, even though you might be tempted to say mi pierna for  "my leg," you should use the definite article, since in Spanish it is implied that the body part belongs to the person it is hurting.

Examples:

Me duele la cabeza. (Literally, "My head pains me," but more succintly, "My head hurts.")

A Margarita le duele la mano. ("Margarita's hand hurts.")

¿Te duele el estomago? No debes asistir en la escuela. ("Your stomach hurts? You should not attend school.")

• aburrir -- to bore

The subject will be the boring thing, and the IOP will be the person who is bored.

Examples:

Me aburre la clase de matemáticas. ("Math class bores me." We can restructure to say, "La clase de matemáticas me aburre.")

A María le aburre la tele. ("TV bores María.")

Nos aburre leer el texto de español. ("Reading the Spanish textbook bores us.")

• interesar -- to interest

This is one of the easier ones to understand. The interesting thing is the subject, just like in English, and the person interested is the IOP.

Examples:

La historia me interesa. ("History interests me." Could also be, "Me interesa la historia.")

Les interesa el museo de la naturaleza. ("The nature museum interests them," or, "The nature museum interests you [plural].")

• quedar -- to fit

Quedar is an interesting one, because it has a ton of different meanings. We will focus on "to fit." Again, this makes intuitive sense to English speakers, because the subject is the thing that fits, and the IOP is the person it fits. Thus, the sentences look something like, "This shirt fits me."

Examples:

Esta blusa me queda bien. ("This blouse fits me well." Could also be, "Me queda bien esta blusa.")

Te quedan perfectamente esos pantalones. ("Those pants fit you perfectly.")

A Marta no le queda ese vestido. ("That dress does not fit Marta.")