Faltar, Doler, Parecer, Importar, and other verbs like gustar Grammar Essential #45

Verbs like gustar aburrir to bore fascinar To be fascinating to bastar to be sufficient importar to be important to caer bien (mal) to (not)suit interesar to be interesting to dar asco to be loathsome molestar to be a bother disgustar/ chocar to hate something parecer to appear to be/ to seem doler (o:ue) to hurt picar to itch encantar to "love" something quedar to be left over, remain faltar to be lacking something volver (o:ue) loco to be crazy about

General Notes A mí me A nosotros nos A ti te A vosotros os A él le All four verbs are gustar-like verbs. They only conjugate in 2 forms (Ud. and Uds. forms) You must use the indirect pronouns with them. Clarity clauses are used with 3rd and 6th boxes. Clarity clauses are optional and used for emphasis in the other boxes. A mí me A nosotros nos A ti te A vosotros os A él le A ella le A Ud. le A ellos les A Uds. les

Note Not all the gustar like verbs will be conjugated or used as examples. If you need more examples, ask your instructor or another Spanish instructor to help with the verb you would like to use. Here are some gustar-like verbs conjugated with examples.

faltar Means “to be lacking” or “to need” Hacer falta is used similarly meaning “to be missing or a shortfall” You conjugate faltar according to what’s lacking: if its singular, you use falta and if its plural, you use faltan. I am lacking the potatoes in the soup. A mí me falta las papás en la sopa. I am short the money. Me hace falta el dinero.

parecer Means “to seem” Parece is singular, parecen is plural The tomatoes seem good to me. A mí me parecen buenos los tomates. The salad seems good to her. A ella le parece buena la ensalada.

Importar Means “to be important” or “to matter” Can mean “to import” but would not be conjugated like gustar when used as such. Importa for singular, importan for plural It is important to me to go to school. Me importa ir a la escuela. It is not important to them if they eat at six. A ellos no les importa si ellos comen a las seis.

Quedar Roughly meaning "to remain" or "to be left," We have an hour left. Nos queda una hora. I have five dollars left Me quedan cinco dólares.

Doler Means “to hurt/ ache (internally)” Doler is conjugated based on what’s being hurt. Duele for singular, duelen for plural. When you use this, you cannot own your body parts. My eyes hurt. The eyes hurt me. A mí me duelen los ojos. His back hurts. A él le duele la espalda.

Practice Translate these sentences: The windows seem clear to her. Your (s. fam.) foot hurts. It matters to me to have good grades. We are lacking (need) more salt.

Answers A ella le parecen claras las ventanas. A ti te duele el pie. A mí me importa tener notas buenas. A nosotros nos hace falta más sal.

End note Just as is the case with gustar, these verbs don't necessarily need the speaker or other person as the object, although they usually do when a person is affected by the verb action. For example, while one can say me quedó pastel, I had cake left over, one can also speak impersonally, quedó pastel, there was cake left over. Similarly, me gustó el pastel, I liked the cake, but gustó el pastel, the cake was pleasant.