Other phrases for verbs like Gustar
Heaven forbid and may God strike me down but I have been looking at another site with regards "gustar" and similar verbs. Here is one rule which I have read.
Since the subject of the sentence must be either singular (book) or plural (books), the only forms of gustar you will use are "gusta" and "gustan." This is true regardless of what IO pronoun appears in the sentence.
I like the book - Me gusta el libro
Me gustan los libros - I like the the books
However, There are the other phrases using gustar that I would like to clarify as to whether they are correct or not.
I like him - él me gusta o a él me gusta
They like you - les gusto
You like me - te gusto o tú me gustas
Plus any other that you may know, ie, they like them, we like them, they like us, etc, etc, etc.
For the purpose of the foregoing, I am only interested in the present.
9 Answers
I would say:
They like you - les gustas (You please them)
You like me - te gusto (I please you)
I like him - él me gusta
a él me gusta = WRONG
They like me - les gusto
They like you - les gustas
You like me - te gusto
I like you - tú me gustas
In all cases, the source of pleasure (in this case, who is "liked") would be the subject, and the verb would be conjugated accordingly.
I like him - él me gusta o a él me gusta
They like you - les gustas
You like me - te gusto o tú me gustas
I like you - me gustas
Incidentally, when gustar is used in this way, because of the implication of attraction involved, it might be better to translate it as "fancy" or "have a fancy for."
Me gustas - I have a fancy for you
Le gusta María - He fancies María
Aparte de lo que dijo Marianne:
I like him = Me gusta él or Él me gusta. "Él" is the doer of the action, the one who is pleasing.
If it's "a él", then the indirect object pronoun would be "le."
How does this sound,
En aquel entonces les gustamos. En la actualid no les gustamos.
During that period they liked us. Nowadays, they don't.
Since the subject of the sentence must be either singular (book) or plural (books), the only forms of gustar you will use are "gusta" and "gustan." This is true regardless of what IO pronoun appears in the sentence.
This "rule" is an unfortunate and highly persistent misunderstanding of gustar. You may discard it.
Yo is singular (gusto, not gusta).
Tú is singular (gustas, not gusta).
Nosotros is plural (gustamos, not gustan)
Vosotros is plural (gustaís, not gustan)
They are correct on one point, though. The IO pronoun has nothing to do with the verb conjugation.
In all cases, the source of pleasure (in this case, who is "liked") would be the subject, and the verb would be conjugated accordingly.
This says it all (although I would have said "who inspires 'liking' [to preserve the active voice]). Once you understand who/what is the subject and who/what is the object, everything follows logically.
it might be better to translate it as "fancy" or "have a fancy for
This doesn't help in the slightest because the typical English speaker's problem is that "gustar" requires the inversion of subject/object (from the English point of view). Far better would be to substitute "enchants" which has the same subject/object relationship as does the Spanish "gustar" (and, less surprisingly, "encantar").
You like me - te gusto o tú me gustas
I think the last, "o tú me gustas" can only mean, "or you please me" (that is, I like you. Not You like me).
