Spanish Verbs
Gustar
Conjugations
Here are the conjugations for "gustar" in the simple tenses:
present tense: gusta
gustan
preterite tense: gustó gustaron
imperfect tense: gustaba gustaban
future tense: gustará gustarán
conditional: gustaría gustarían
Usage
In English we use the verb "to
like" to talk about nouns that we like. In Spanish things work a
little differently. The verb gustar actually means "to be pleasing
to". Notice the following example:
"Me gusta el café" would literally be translated as "Coffee is
pleasing to me".
The only two conjugations that will be
used for gustar are the 3rd-person singular and 3rd-person plural.
[gusta and gustan for the present tense]
If you are talking about someone liking a singular noun, use the
3rd-peronal singular. If you are talking about liking something
plural, you will use the 3rd-person plural.
More examples:
Me gusta la comida. I like food.
Me gusta bailar. I like to dance.
Te gustan los dulces. You like candy.
A Juan le gustan los . Juan likes books.
Notice in the last example how "A Juan" was added. To state specifically who it is that likes something, add A + (name) to the beginning of the sentence.