How to express tastes and preferences in Spanish correctly Welcome to a new post about the fantastic world of the Spanish language. Today we are going to discuss a topic that causes a lot of confusion for students who are beginning to learn Spanish. We are going to explain how to express tastes and preferences.
Welcome to a new post about the fantastic world of the Spanish language.
Today we are going to discuss a topic that causes a lot of confusion for students who are beginning to learn Spanish.
We are going to explain to you how express tastes and preferences correctly, focusing on the verb like.
This verb has a different structure, so it is very important that you have a good theoretical basis to use it perfectly.
We will also see some common mistakes in their use, so that you do not fall into them. Additionally, you will learn other verbs to talk about tastes and preferences.
Likewise, you will know how show agreement and disagreement to other people's tastes.
And, of course, at the end of the day you will practice the verb gustar with exercises.
Without a doubt, an article of great value if you are a Spanish student in the initial level.
We are giving you one of our star classes in Hispania, Spanish school.
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Do you want to know how to talk about your tastes and use the verb like like a real native? Well let's get started!
The verb like It is essential in communication in Spanish.
Although its structure is different from that of the rest of the verbs, you will see how once you understand how it works, it is simpler than it seems.
Next, we present theverb structure and the most common mistakes so you can avoid them.
The verb gustar has the meaning that something pleases or someone likes it.
The conjugation of the verb gustar It is different and super important that you learn it. Burn it!
I like it
you like it
He/she likes it
we / we like
You like it
They like it
There are many things to comment on this structure. To begin with, it is striking that the verb is conjugated only in third person of the singular (gusta).
Although if the thing you like is plural, the verb gustar in Spanish is also plural. Let's see how to express tastes and preferences with examples in singular and plural:
Do you see it? In the examples where the final noun is in the singular, the verb gustar is conjugated in the third person singular.
If the noun at the end is plural, so is the verb gustar.
Why is this happening? Because the noun that the person likes is really the subject of the action.
The basic structure of Spanish is this:
SUBJECT + VERB + COMPLEMENTS
If we follow it with the verb gustar, the result would be this:
But talking like that is very strange, it seems like it was said by Master Yoda from Star Wars 😁.
We are used to putting the people at the beginningof sentences, even in this case they are not the subject. That's why we make this change:
That's much better!
The typical subject pronouns are not used (I, you, he, she, etc.), but rather we use person complement pronouns:
to me me
to you you
to him/her him
to us we
To you os
to them them
Another important thing to point out is that, in grammatical terms, there are two types of things that are liked: nouns and infinitives.
Let's see some sentences with the verb gustar, both with nouns and infinitives:
Proper nouns like "Madrid" are also nouns.
Another aspect to highlight is that the structure can be simplify.
It is not always necessary to point out to me, to you, to him, etc. You can just say me, you, him, etc.
Examples:
These sentences are totally correct 👍🏻.
When asking questions to find out someone's tastes and preferences, the structure is exactly the same but with the questions:
This point is very important. There are many errorsthat are committed when the verb gustar is used. We list them for you:
1st. you can't conjugate the verb gustar in a normal way followed by the thing you like: I like coffee, you like bread, he likes to read, etc.
Remember that you have to use the personal pronoun and the verb in the third person: (to me) I like it, (you) like it, (he) likes it, etc.
2nd. You can leave out "to me", but you can never skip «me».
This is equally applicable to the rest of the pronouns:
3rd. If what you like are infinitives, we will always put the verb in the singular, even if there are two or more infinitives.
To express a person's tastes and preferences there are many verbs, not only the verb like.
There are verbs that use the same structure as gustar and others that have the usual structure.
Let's see them!
There are many verbs to describe tastes and preferences with the same structure as the verb gustar.
We actually call them verbs of type gustar.
Some of these are: interest, fascinate, enchant, enthrall, excite, amuse, cool, freak out (this is more colloquial), etc.
What would the verb be like? interest? Very easy, just like it:
I'm interested
You are interested
He/she is interested
We are interested
You are interested
They are interested
And the verb to enchant? The same!
I love it
you love it
He/she loves it
We love it
You love it
They love it
Each verb has its own meaning, but in general they all express the degree of intensity of what we like something.
For example, enchant It means to like a lot. Interest talks about interest. Passionate of what makes you passionate. Molar and freak out It's like liking but in a more youthful slang.
Here are some sentences about tastes and preferences with these verbs:
There are also other verbs which we can use to expand the vocabulary of tastes and preferences that have the typical structure of Spanish.
The most used are: prefer, hate, love, adore and detest.
prefer directly marks the preference of something over other things. love and worship It is showing love for something.
Instead, hate and detest It is the opposite, it is total rejection and a very negative emotion.
For example, the verb adore would be like this:
I adore
you adore
He/she adores
we adore
You adore
They adore
And the verb prefer? The same thing, although this is irregular, has a vowel change of the and by ie.
I preferiero
You prefiebeef
He/she prefiere
We prefer
You prefer
They prefieren
Remember that that vowel change It never changes in the form of us and you.
As you see, these verbs follow the normal conjugation from Spanish. Let's look at some examples:
When we talk about things we like with other people, it is normal to agree or not agree with them.
In this section we are going to show you how show agreement and disagreement to affirmative and negative ideas.
It's very simple and very useful, you'll see!
We can show agreement by adding the word «also» after the pronoun.
If, for example, someone expresses an opinion with a verb like like, we will respond using the same structure.
Example:
If we disagree, instead of saying “also,” we simply say «no»:
If the verb used is with subject pronouns, we will respond with these same pronouns:
With these simple phrases you are showing agreement with people and improving your social connections. How easy! 👏🏻
We can also show agreement with negative ideas, when someone doesn't like something.
In this case we use the word «neither». Otherwise, if you like it, we change "neither" to «yes».
Examples:
Now it's time to practice!
We propose you two activities.
The first one is very simple but effective, ideal for mechanizing something that usually causes a lot of problems with gustar-type verbs: pronouns.
In this exercise you must write the personal pronouns correct in each sentence. Luck!
In the activity 2 you are going to practice the phrases of show agreement and disagreement (to me, too; to me, neither; to me, yes; to me, no...)
You have to respond using the first person singular (to me…).
Example:
Be careful because one of the sentences is answered with "I". 🧐
Well we're done. Do you realize that now you know how to talk about your tastes and preferences?
Your way of communicating has taken a giant step thanks to this article.
Knowing how to master the use of the verb gustar and other similar ones is super valuable. Congratulations!
Would you like to continue learning more important things to improve your Spanish? Then we encourage you to come to our classes in Hispania, Spanish school, in Valencia.
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Leave your comment and we'll talk.
Take care of yourself!
Article written by Carlos Martinez for Hispania, Spanish school.
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