ReVerb Spanish

Verbs like GUSTAR

I originally wrote this for my other blog, Voices en Español.

Gustar is one of the first verbs you learn when you start studying Spanish. But it’s the type of verb that frequently trips up English speakers because of the way it is conjugated. With gustar, the person that would be the subject in English becomes the indirect object in Spanish. So, I like chocolate in English becomes me gusta chocolate (literally, “chocolate is pleasing to me”) in Spanish.

Everyone who takes a beginner’s Spanish course learns this verb and how it works. But what about all the other Spanish verbs that operate exactly the same way? There are quite a few. You may already know several of these verbs but were you aware that they operated like gustar?

Here’s a list of verbs like gustar:

agradar (to like)

caer bien (to make a good impression)

caer mal (to make a bad impression)

convenir (to suit, to be suitable)

costar trabajo (to be difficult)

dar asco (to disgust)

disgustar (to upset)

doler (to hurt)

encantar (to love, to adore)

enfadar (to get angry)

extrañar (to surprise)

faltar (to lack, to be missing)

fascinar (to fascinate)

hacer falta (to need)

importar (to matter)

impresionar (to impress)

interesar (to interest)

molestar (to bother

parecer (to seem, to appear)

preocupar (to worry)

quedar (to have left)

sobrar (to have in excess)

sorprender (to surprise)

Rule to remember: What would be considered the subject in English turns into the indirect object (me, te, le, nos, os, les) in Spanish. Therefore, the verb in Spanish must agree with the subject of the sentence, not the indirect object.

For example:

John is fascinated by cars. A Juan, le fascinan los coches.

He likes Spaniards. Le caen bien los españoles.

The verbs fascinar and caer are conjugated in the plural because they are connected to the subject of the sentence, which are “coches” and “españoles.”