The Spanish verb “Gustar” , which means “to be pleasing (to someone)” produces a special sentence structure. But there are other Verbs like “Gustar”, in the sense that they produce the same sentence structure.
In this lesson, we will learn to identify them and read Example Sentences with some of them. Click here to review the use of “Gustar” and its sentence structure, which we called “2 Blocks”.
We will go through the following points:
Contents
1. Identifying Verbs that work like “Gustar”
First of all, it is important to repeat that “Gustar” doesn’t actually mean “to like”, but “to be pleasing”.
Example: “Orange juice is pleasing to me”:
A mí me gusta el zumo de naranja
“Gustar” expresses an effect something has on someone (“it is pleasing”)
Of course, there are many other verbs which express an effect something has on someone. For example:
- Something worries me.
- Something scares me.
- Something bothers me.
- Something makes me happy.
In Spanish, all those verbs work like “Gustar” and produce the same Sentences Structure.
In the rest of this post, we will see Example Sentences with verbs that work like “Gustar”.
2. Some verbs like “Gustar” + Example Sentences
Fascinar = to fascinate someone
A mí me fascina su personalidad.
His personality fascinates me.
The sentence has the same meaning if we use only Block 2:
Me fascina su personalidad.
Or we can also change the order:
Su personalidad me fascina.
Preocupar = to worry
A mí me preocupa esta situación.
This situation worries me.
Interesar = to interest, to be interesting to someone
A mi padre le interesa la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
World War II is interesting to my father.
Dar miedo = to scare, to frighten someone
A ella le dan miedo las arañas.
Spiders scare her.
Aburrir = to bore
A nosotros nos aburren las películas.
Movies bore us.
3. Even more verbs like “Gustar”
- Importar = to be important (to someone)
- Dar asco = to be repulsive
- Molestar = to bother
- Disgustar = to disgust, to be disgusting
- Parecer = to seem
- Doler = to hurt, to be painful
- Picar = to itch
- Encantar = to be very pleasing
- Alegrar = to make (someone) happy
- Poner nervioso = to make (someone) nervous
4. Practice: A Quiz
Take this short Quiz to test your knowledge!: