GUSTAR and Verbs Like It Likes and dislikes

Using GUSTAR GUSTAR means “to be pleasing” So, keeping that in mind only things or activities can be pleasing. The verb endings that correspond to things and activities would only be the 3rd person. In the case of GUSTAR the only verb forms applicable are "gusta" and "gustan"

Using GUSTAR, con’t. The second part of the issue is stating to whom the thing or action is pleasing and that to whom refers to people. The way to express that is using an object pronoun. If it is pleasing to "yo" then the object pronoun to use is "me"

Object pronouns w/GUSTAR The other pronouns are like this: Pleasing to… “tú” uses the object pronoun “te” “vosotros” uses the object pronoun “os” “nosotros” uses the object pronoun “nos”

Object pronouns w/GUSTAR, con’t. The “él, ella, Ud., ellos, ellas, Uds.” have an object pronoun but also need a prepositional phrase preceding it. Pleasing to: “él”  “A él, le…” “ella”  “A ella, le…” “Ud.”  “A Ud., le…” “ellos”  “A ellos, les…” “ellas”  “A ellas, les…” “Uds.”  “A Uds., les…”

The GUSTAR construction Putting the two together can turn out in one of three ways: object pronoun + gusta + singular noun Me gusta el libro. I like the book. (The book is pleasing to me) object pronoun + gustan + plural noun Me gustan los libros. I like the books. (The books are pleasing to me.) object pronoun + gusta + infinitive verb (s) Me gusta leer el libro. I like to read the book. (Reading the book is pleasing to me.)

More examples… object pronoun + gusta + singular noun Te gusta el libro.  You like the book. (inf.) A él le gusta el libro.  He likes the book. A ella le gusta el libro.  She likes the book. A Ud. le gusta el libro.  You like the book. (for.) Nos gusta el libro.  We like the book. Os gusta el libro.  Y’all like the book. (inf.) A ellos les gusta el libro.  They like the book. A ellas les gusta el libro.  They like the book. (f.) A Uds. Les gusta el libro.  You all like the book. (for.)

And more examples… object pronoun + gustan + plural noun Te gustan los libros.  You like the books. (inf.) A él le gustan los libros.  He likes the books. A ella le gustan los libros.  She likes the books. A Ud. le gustan los libros.  You like the books. (for.) Nos gustan los libros.  We like the books. Os gustan los libros.  Y’all like the books. (inf.) A ellos les gustan los libros.  They like the books. A ellas les gustan los libros.  They like the books. (f.) A Uds. Les gustan los libros.  You all like the books. (for.)

And, a few more examples… object pronoun + gusta + infinitive verb Te gusta leer el libro.  You like to read the book. (inf.) A él le gusta leer el libro.  He likes to read the book. A ella le gusta leer el libro.  She likes to read the book. A Ud. le gusta leer el libro.  You like to read the book. (for.) Nos gusta leer el libro.  We like to read the book. Os gusta leer el libro.  Y’all like to read the book. (inf.) A ellos les gusta leer el libro.  They like to read the book. A ellas les gusta leer el libro.  They like to read the book. (f.) A Uds. Les gusta leer el libro.  You all like to read the book. (for.)

Other prepositional phrases For emphasis, prepositional phrases can be added to the “me”, “te”, “nos” and “os”: A mí me… A ti te… A nosotros nos… A vosotros os… Ex. A mí me gusta el libro… I like the book…

Other info. Sometimes, you really want to emphasize how much you like something. Use “mucho” which means “ a lot” Me gusta mucho el libro. I like the book a lot. Keep in mind where “mucho” is placed in the sentence.

Other info., con’t. Sometimes you may not like something. Simply place a “no” in the sentence. No me gusta el libro. I don’t like the book. Keep in mind where “no” is placed in the sentence.

Other info., con’t. Sometimes you can combine the two (“no” and “mucho”) in one sentence. No me gusta mucho el libro. I don’t like the book very much. Keep in mind where “no” and “mucho” are placed in the sentence.

Other verbs that function like GUSTAR FASCINAR - to fascinate INTERESAR- to interest ENCANTAR- to love(enchant) MOLESTAR- to bother AGRADAR-to please APETECER- to fancy IMPORTAR- to matter

Conclusión. The verb GUSTAR agrees with the subject of the sentence and that is a thing or activity, not a person. The object pronoun or prepositional phrase + object pronoun agree with who is being pleased by the thing or activity, and that is a person. GUSTAR does not translate literally to English!