Coffee Break Spanish - How to say 'I like' in Spanish - Using 'gustar' in any tense | The Coffee Break Spanish Show 1.03

Episode Date: November 2, 2023

In this episode of the Coffee Break Spanish Show, we look at how the verb ‘gustar’ works and how to use it in different tenses and situations. After listening to this episode, you'll be able to say that you like something in Spanish, using 'gustar' in any tense!➡️ Click to access the blog article and worksheet which accompany this episode ⬅️☕️ Purchase a Coffee Break mug here ☕️ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Coffee Break Spanish. Welcome to the Coffee Break Spanish Show. I'm Marge. And I'm Marge. How are you? Stupendamente, Mark, and you? Stumpendamee, too. We're back with another episode of The Coffee Break Spanish Show.

This is a weekly series where we're helping you take your Spanish to the next level, one coffee break at a time. That's so if you're listening to us, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast feed. And if you're watching us on YouTube, don't forget to subscribe. to the channel as well. Now, in this episode, we're going to be talking about something that every learner comes across in Spanish. And at the beginning, it can be a little bit of a challenge.

But then it makes sense. And with this episode, everything will make perfect sense. Exactly. We are talking about the verb gustar. That's right. To talk about I like or indeed I liked, I used to like, I have liked, I will like. That's all the tenses. All the tenses.

And there's even a bonus verb that we're going to throw into. Yes. Let's go to go ahead. So the main way to say, I like something, Konsea, is what? It's me gusta. Me gusta. Now, when you learn this at first, you think, I like me, gusta. I must be me and like must be gust.

But it's not like that. It's not like that, no. So if I say me gusta el cafe, perfect example. I like coffee. And just while we're seeing. this beautiful coffee break Spanish mug. Don't forget, you can get your own coffee break Spanish mug.

If you're watching the video, just click on the link underneath this. Or indeed, if you're listening to the podcast version, then go to coffeebreakgiftshop.com. But anyway, we're talking about I like coffee. Exactly. I like coffee. Me gusta el cafe. Now, this literally doesn't mean I like coffee. It means to me, it pleases the coffee.

Exactly, which sounds a little bit strange, right? It does. But yeah, that is the natural way of saying that in Spanish. Me gusta el cafe. To me, it pleases the coffee. Okay. Yes. And that is why me gusta has mainly two forms that we use or that we learn when we are starting to learn the verb gustar, which are the singular one.

Me gusta, me gustan, with an n sound of the end. Me gustan. Exactly. So me gustan las tazas. So las tazas me gustan and that's the other thing

you can swap it around you can say las tazes me the cups please me or me gues to me

they please the cups yes it's a little bit of a tongue twister indeed yeah and so

indeed in English when we say it pleases and they please we have a different verb form in English just like that we have the same

situation in Spanish and different verb form me Gusta and me gustan. So this is probably already learned knowledge for a lot of our listeners and viewers. Let's take it a little further and talk about Gostar in other tenses. That's, okay, so I'm going to give you a context. I have recently seen the Harry Potter movies. Did you like them?

I did like them, indeed. So how would I say that? How would I say I have liked them very much? So I have liked them very much. We're going to take. And we're going to put it into a different tense. Now, the fact that I have liked them, that should be ringing a bell in English. Because we're talking here about a perfect tense. If we then want to transform that into Spanish, we have to say, to me, they have pleased much. Exactly. Yes.

So to me, me, they have pleased and gustado. and then very much much Mucho So we're talking about perfect tense If you're not familiar with the perfect tense The perfect tense is formed by what's called an auxiliary verb And that auxiliary verb is the verb Aver to have done something

And then the past participle In this case, Gustado So past participle is very often ending Ado or Ido and some irregular ones obviously But Gustar's not irregular It's nice and regular here Me An Gustado Mucho Yes

Okay And if we were thinking of, I saw the Harry Potter films a few years ago, I liked them a lot. And there we're talking about further back in the past, it's not linked to the present. And perhaps it's a more normal way of speaking in Latin America. Yep. What would we say? We would say, me gustaron, much. So we would use the preter tense.

Guestaron. Again, the same concept. Me, to me, gustaron, they pleased much. much. So we just think about the context where we are placing the action and we conjugate the verb gustar accordingly. Okay. So what about another situation, another context? I have lent you two books to read on your holiday and I know that you're going to like them. So how would I say to you, you will like them very much? So you will like them. I need to think about them is the books again will please you very much. So I would say

to like much Te te gustaran much or if we wanted

to talk about the books and put the books in there te guustan

much those or those books te much also

we could also use a slightly different verbal form here we could

use uh do uh to do so ir plus

a plus an infinitive so we could say te van to be

exactly So just remember that you need to conjugate the auxiliary verb, in this case is the verb, so they van to adjuster much. Perfect. Okay. Now, you said earlier, we use Gusta and Gostan really is the two main parts of the verb of Gostar. But of course, verbs have full conjugations, and we can use Gostar in a slightly different situation and actually use it as a kind of conjugated verb.

Yeah, exactly. So in this case, we need to be a little careful because we are going to be talking about using the verb gustar with a romantic kind of meaning. Exactly. So if I like someone and I want to say I like you, I would say me gustas. So to me, you please. You please me me gustas. Yes, yes. Okay.

And if you were not sure whether a person liked you, could you ask te gusto? Yes, exactly. So to you, am I pleasing? Do you like me? Yeah. So you could say, oh, me gustas. Te gusto yo? Mm-hmm.

Te gusto yo. Now, that's really, that really confuses you because the yo in there is like, what was the I doing there? But of course, is am I pleasing to you? Te gusto yo? Again, be careful with this because this is very much used in a romantic sense of liking. It's not in a friendship sense of liking. but that's where our bonus verb comes in

because there's another verb that we can use which is used just in a friendly way. Yeah, exactly. And you might be familiar with this verb only with a different meaning. We are talking about the verb caer. So caer normally means to fall. That's, yes.

But if I say, for example, me cae bien tuermana. So that means I like your sister in a friendly way, of course. Okay, so me cae bien, your sister falls well to me. Yes, again, it's a little strange. But yeah, that's how we say it in Spanish.

Yeah. Me cae bien, tuermana. So she is falling well to me. I like her. She's a nice person. Again, not romantic. It's just a friendly way of saying someone is pleasing to me in that sense in a friendly way. Yes, and you can also use it in the negative sense.

So imagine that you moved into a new place and you don't like your neighbors very much. So you can say, Los Vecinos, no me caen bien. So the neighbors, they don't fall well. Yeah.

Exactly. I'm not really, I'm not really liking the neighbors. Yeah, I don't like the neighbors so much. That's it. Okay, no me caen yen. I don't really get on with them in a sense. That's is.

Okay. So we can use this verb in other tenses as well, of course. Yeah, exactly. So imagine for, example that you're talking to a friend of yours and you say something like, oh, at the beginning, I didn't like you, but now I do. Okay. So how would you say that?

That's tricky, isn't it? Yeah. Let's give our listeners 10 seconds to think about this one. Okay. So at the beginning, I didn't like you, but now I like you a lot. 10 seconds. 10 seconds. Let's go.

Okay. So at the beginning, I didn't like you. which is a little bit bold. Uh-huh. Yes. But, you know, we didn't hit it off, perhaps. Uh-huh. At the principle,

no me caicede bien. That's very well. So you didn't fall well to me. Yes. So that is the verb caer conjugated in the preterate, in the person you. Mm-hmm.

So caiste. Yeah. But now, me caes very well. Mm-hmm. But now you fall very well to me. I really get unwell with you. Exactly.

So at principle, no me caissed bien, but now me caes very well. And why are we using the preterate there as opposed to the imperfect? Well, because we are talking about the beginning. So it's a specific time, it's an isolated action

that is no longer like that. Yeah. So it's finished. It's well finished. Yeah, good. So we can use Caer then in different tensies and so on, just the same way we can do it with Gustar, but just remember that particularly when we're talking about persons, people, then Caer is used just for friends and

getting on well with people. But Gustar, would be used more in a romantic sense. That's leave it there. We hope that you have enjoyed this lesson as ever. And of course, if you'd like to see all of these examples written down, then check out our blog version, which you'll find at the link in the description of this podcast. Yes, so is.

And if you would like more help with your Spanish, you can sign up for our regular free email lessons. So just visit coffeebreaklanguages.com slash Spanish. You can look out for that next mini lesson in your inbox very soon if you sign up for that. Well, yeah that's it for this episode.

We hope that you've enjoyed learning about and the bonus verb caer in there. Well, I mean

me has much. I agree. I'm I'm sure that you're perfect. Well,

until the next. That's Adios. Happy coffee breaking. You have been listening

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