"gustar" in the preterit & imperfect

Question

What is the best way to use gustar for talking about the past... for instance: What I liked about high school was... Would you use me gustaba or me gustó? Other examples would be awesome for both forms!

Answer 1

It depends on what you want to say.

If you are talking about a period of liking something that has a clear begining and ending, then the preterit should be used, ie: Me gustó la pesentación de ingenería que asisté en la secundaria. If it´s something of an unclear begining and ending, then you should use imperfect Me gustaba mucho cuando salía con las chicas en la secundaria.

Answer 2

Lo que más me gustaba de la escuela era.......

Lo que más me gustó de la boda fue las chicas bonitas.

School was a habitual thing.

The wedding was over and done with.

Hi Jeezzle, it's "Lo que más me gustó de la boda 'fueron' las chicas bonitas." Cheers - geouk, Sep 27, 2011

Nah buddy, it either Lo que más me gustaron de la boda 'fueron' las chicas bonitas OR Lo que más me gustó de la boda 'fue' las chicas bonitas if you are talking about "the thing" figuratively, I've had this discussion before with my friends. - jeezzle, Sep 27, 2011

Or maybe they are wrong. - jeezzle, Sep 27, 2011

Answer 3

For talking about high school, I would use me gustaba if you are talking about high school in general: Lo que me gustaba de la escuela secondaria...If you were talking about a specific day in high school, I think you could use me gustó. I use it to ask someone if they liked their food after they are done eating: ¿Te gustó? I still struggle with when to use preterit vs. imperfect but I believe gustar is one of those verbs that is more commonly used in the imperfect.