Gustar and Other Verbs Used with Indirect Objects

Gustar and Other Verbs Used with Indirect Objects

There is a group of verbs that are most frequently used with indirect objects. The most common is gustar, which is the equivalent of to like, but functions very differently. In English, the expression "I like the book" makes I the subject and the book the object. In Me gusta el libro, the book is the subject of the sentence and me is the indirect object. It is as if we were to say in English "The book is pleasing to me": El libro me gusta (note that the article is needed). Hence:

Indirect object Verb (and adverb) Subject
Nos gusta mucho el fútbol. We like soccer a lot.
A mí no me gustaban los periódicos. I did not like newspapers.
Al profesor le gustó la clase. The teacher liked his class.
¿Te gusta leer? Do you like reading?
Me gustas tú. I like you (romantically).

• A sentence beginning "Peter likes..." will have to begin A Pedro le gusta...:
A la mayoría de la gente le gusta dormir. Most people like to sleep.
• Where English says "I don't like it" or "I like them", it or them is the subject of the verb that Spanish uses. Spanish omits these subject pronouns:
¿Te gusta la poesía? Sí, me gusta. Do you like poetry? Yes, I like it.
Do not try to express it or them with gustar. If you must, it will have to be with the appropriate demonstrative pronoun: Me gusta eso, me gusta esta.
• Adverbs such as mucho, poco, and un poco are usually placed right next to gustar and similar verbs, since the adjectives will be next to nouns:
Les gusta mucho tomar agua. They like drinking water a lot.
Les gusta tomar mucha agua. They like drinking lots of water.
• For clarity or contrast, a + prepositional pronoun can be used:
A ella le gustan los viajes, pero a él no. She likes trips, but he doesn't.
A mí me gustó el concierto, pero a ti no. I liked the concert, but you didn't.
• To like better is expressed by gustar más:
Nos gustó más esta lectura que la otra. We liked this reading better than the other.

Other verbs that express personal reactions and function like gustar are the following:

agradar to like (not romantically) fascinar to fascinate
caer bien/mal to (dis)like a person (not romantically) importar to care about
disgustar to annoy interesar to interest
doler to hurt molestar to bother
encantar to like a lot (love) preocupar to concern, worry
enojar to irritate sorprender to surprise
Me encanta el béisbol. I love baseball.
A los murciélagos les molesta la luz. Light bothers bats.
Nos fascinan los insectos. Insects fascinate us.
A José le disgusta el ruido. Noise annoys José.
¿Te agrada el vecino? Do you like your neighbor?
Me cae mal este profesor. I don’t like this professor.
No me importan las noticias. I don't care about the news.
No nos interesaba. We were not interested in it.
Me duele el brazo. Me duele. My arm hurts (me). It hurts.
A la vecina le preocupan sus flores. The neighbor is worried about her flowers.

The verbs faltar, quedar and parecer are used like gustar, but they also appear without an indirect object in impersonal statements:
A este pastel le falta más sabor. This cake is lacking (missing) more flavor.
Falta más educación en la sociedad. More education is lacking (needed) in society.
A mí me parece extraña la poesía. Poetry seems strange to me.
La poesía parece extraña. Poetry seems strange.
Te queda poco tiempo para terminar. You have little time left to finish.
Queda poco tiempo para las vacaciones. There's little time left before vacation.

A common idiomatic expression for How did you like...:
¿Qué les pareció la película? What did you think of the movie?
Nos pareció interesante. We found it interesting.
¿Qué te parecieron los poemas? What did you think of the poems?
Me encantaron. I loved them.