Page 1 of 6
Spanish 3 – Unit 3
Patterns
Study Sheet
Figure It Out!
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mí no me gustan ni la pizza ni las hamburguesas.
tí te gusta viajar.
ella le gustan las comidas internacionales.
nosotros no nos gusta este restaurante.
ustedes les gusta nadar y montar a caballo.
ellos no les gusta volar.
In the previous six sentences we read what some people like and dislike about travel and
tourism. What patterns do you see in the use of the verb gustar? What patterns do you
see in the word order? What do the sentences mean?
Introduction
Imagine yourself on a remote island resort in the Caribbean -- one of those fancy
schmancy ones. You are the only guest at the resort and as you are relaxing on the beach,
a waiter comes up to you and asks, "Does it please our guest to have a nice, fresh
lemonade?"
At first you don't quite get what the guy means, and he rephrases the question.
"Does lemonade please you?"
Finally, you understand what the waiter is asking. "Sure, I like lemonade," you
reply. This time, the waiter gives you a confused look.
He asks again, "Does lemonade please our guest?"
You smile and reply, "Yeah, it pleases me!"
The waiter gives you a big grin and within five minutes, brings a large glass of icecold lemonade -- which he refills twelve times in the next couple hours. From then on, you
learn that you will get whatever pleases you. You can't help but think, "I wonder what
would happen if I told these guys it would really please me to have a hot date on this island
paradise . . ."
O.k., so we're not telling you this to distract you from your Spanish lesson. The point is
this: Spanish speakers have a different way of saying they like something. You guessed it - instead of saying, "I like the beach," they say, "The beach pleases me." "Me gusta la
playa." If you like an action such as running, use the singular form of gustar. Look at these
examples:
Me gusta la playa. =
“The beach pleases me.”
Or
"I like the beach."
Le gusta correr. =
"Running pleases him.”
Or
"She likes to run."
Nos gustan los libros. =
"Books please us.”
Or
"We like books."
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No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of
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Page 2 of 6
Spanish 3 – Unit 3
Patterns
Study Sheet
Les gusta la playa.
= “The beach pleases them.”
Te gustan las computadoras. = “Computers please you.”
Or
"They like the beach."
Or
"You like computers."
There are four simple steps:
1) Decide what is pleasing -- for example, the beach, ice cream, movies, etc.
2) Ask yourself: How many things are pleasing? The beach is one thing (singular), but
movies are more than one (plural).
3) Match the correct form of gustar with the thing that is pleasing. This is easy. If the
thing is singular, use gusta. If it's plural, use gustan.
4) Decide whom it pleases -- me, you, her, him, us, them.
me = me, You = Te (informal) or Le (formal), her = Le
Him = Le, It = Le, us = Nos, Them = Les
Indirect Object Pronouns
Yo (me)
Nosotros/as
(nos)
Tú (te)
Él, ella, usted
(le)
Ellos, ellas,
ustedes (les)
5) Put it all together = Who is pleased + correct form of gustar + the thing
Let's try it.
1) The thing = limonada
2) How many = I'm only talking about one drink --- lemonade = singular
3) Match gustar = lemonade is singular, so I'll use gusta
4) Whom does it please? = Juan = Le
5) Put it together = "Le gusta limonada."
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No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of
Power-Glide.
Page 3 of 6
Spanish 3 – Unit 3
Patterns
Study Sheet
What does the verb gustar mean? When you read that question you probably answered, "to
like." Well, not exactly. In Spanish, instead of talking about what "you like", you say what
"pleases you." The meaning is basically the same; it's just expressed differently via the
verb gustar (to please).
Here are some examples of the correct use of gustar. Notice that the only forms of gustar
that appear are gusta and gustan, even though a lot of different people "like" the things
mentioned.
Me gusta el chocolate.
Me gustan los chocolates.
Nos gusta el chocolate.
Nos gustan los chocolates.
Te gusta el chocolate.
Te gustan los chocolates.
Le gusta el chocolate.
Le gustan los chocolates.
Les gusta el chocolate.
Les gustan los chocolates.
But let's take a closer look at the 3rd person pronouns. For example, what do the following
sentences mean?
Le gusta el chocolate.
Les gusta el chocolate.
It's impossible to tell exactly what they mean. They could mean one of several things.
He likes the chocolate.
She likes the chocolate.
You (formal) like the
chocolate.
They (masculine) like the
chocolate.
They (feminine) like the
chocolate.
You (plural) like the
chocolate.
Gustar-Like Verbs
Now that you know how to correctly use the verb gustar, you should understand how to
correctly form each of the verbs below.
SPANISH INFINITIVE
ENGLISH EQUIVALENT
SPANISH INFINITIVE
aburrir
agradar
to bore
to be pleasing to
importar
indignar
bastar
caer bien (mal)
to be sufficient
to like/dislike (used
to talk about people)
to be disgusting
to hate something
interesar
molestar
ENGLISH
EQUIVALENT
to be important to
to make one
indignant
to be interesting to
to bother
ofender
parecer
to offend, to wrong
to appear to be
dar asco
disgustar
© 2006 Power-Glide. All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.
No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of
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Page 4 of 6
Spanish 3 – Unit 3
Patterns
Study Sheet
doler (o,ue)
encantar
enojar
to be painful
to love something
to anger
picar
preocupar
quedar
faltar
to be lacking
something
to be fascinating to
sorprender
fascinar
tocar
volver (o,ue) loco
to sting
to worry
to be left over, to
remain
to surprise
to be someone’s
turn (in a game,
etc.)
to drive someone
crazy
Here are some example sentences using gustar-like verbs:
(A mí) me ofenden sus palabras.
Her words offend me.
(A nosotros) nos aburre ese deporte.
(That sport bores us.)
(A tí) no te queda mucho dinero.
(You don’t have much money left.)
(A mi hermana) le basta dormir sólo cinco
horas.
(My sister can get by on five hours of sleep.)
(A mis amigos) les agrada nadar y jugar al
golf.
My friends enjoy swimming and playing golf.
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No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of
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Page 5 of 6
Spanish 3 – Unit 3
Patterns
Study Sheet
Practice Questions
To check your understanding of gustar and gustar-like verbs, do the following exercises.
A. Sentence Completion: Gustar
Conjugate the gustar type verbs in the following sentences in the present tense.
*Remember that if gustar precedes a verb (an action word such as comer, bailar, correr,
etc.), gustar is always singular.
Example: *A mí me (gustar) __gusta______ bailar toda la noche.
1. *¿Te (gustar) __________ comer con los amigos?
2. Sólo nos (quedar) __________ cinco minutos antes de que empiece la clase.
3. ¿A tu novia le (encantar) __________ los chocolates de Francia?
4. A mis amigos les (molestar) __________ la tarea.
5. *A mi mamá le encanta __________ limpiar la casa.
6. Nos (parecer) __________ una buena idea ir a Cancún, México de vacaciones.
7. ¿Qué les (gustar) __________ a Uds. de estos ejercicios?
8. *A Pablo le (encantar) __________ jugar al tenis en el parque con sus amigos.
9. *Profesor, no me (interesar) __________ estudiar más para el examen final.
10. Les (doler) __________ la cabeza a María y a Josefina.
11. Yo gasté casi todo mi dinero en el supermercado. Sólo me (quedar) __________
cincuenta centavos.
12. *¿Qué les (tocar) __________ hacer en la casa? ¿Lavar platos o pasar la aspiradora?
13. Nos (parecer) __________ simpáticas las chicas.
14. A Roberto le (molestar) __________ las chicas tontas.
15. *Por favor, a mí me (tocar) __________ jugar.
B. Sentence Completion: Indirect Object Pronouns
Fill in the blanks in the following sentences using the correct indirect object pronouns. Refer
to the Indirect Object Pronouns chart above if you need help.
Example: (tú) ¿ ___Te_____ gustan los espaguetis?
1. (ustedes) Sí, __________ queda media hora más para terminar los experimentos.
2. (yo) __________ duele la cabeza.
3. (tú) ¿__________ molesta limpiar la casa?
4. (ellos) __________ duelen los pies.
5. (nosotros) No, no __________ encanta trabajar.
6. (usted) ¿ __________ parece muy bonita la Casa Blanca?
7. (Roberto y yo) __________ gusta esquiar en “Sundance” en Utah.
8. (José y Elián) __________ encanta dormir.
9. (María) __________ molestan los insectos.
10. (yo) __________ quedan dos problemas para la clase de matemáticas.
11. (tú) ¿ __________ duele el estómago?
12. (nosotros) ¿ __________ queda dinero para ir al concierto este sábado?
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Page 6 of 6
Spanish 3 – Unit 3
Patterns
Study Sheet
C.
A Trip to the Supermarket
Yes! You actually scored that hot island date, and you’ve decided to prepare a delicious
North American meal to tantalize your date’s tastebuds. You take your date to the
supermarket and ask if each of the following items please him/her. Please translate the
sentences into Spanish. You then tell your date the foods that please you most.
Example: Do you like cheese? (queso)
1. Do you like ham?
2. Do you like eggs?
3. Do you like fish?
4. Do you like ice cream?
5. Do you like chicken?
6. I like steak.
7. I like seafood.
8. I like spaghetti.
9. I like cookies.
10. I like noodles.
¿Te gusta el queso?
(jamón)
_____________
(huevos)
_____________
(pescado) _____________
(helado)
_____________
(pollo)
_____________
(bistec)
_____________
(mariscos) _____________
(espaguetis)_____________
(galletas) _____________
(fideos)
_____________
© 2006 Power-Glide. All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.
No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of
Power-Glide.