Imagine you had just met the person of your dreams, and she or he speaks only Spanish. S/he is impressed by the fact that you are trying to learn Spanish, and in an attempt to get to know you better, s/he asks you about the things you like and the activities you like to do. How would you respond? Could you respond?
is mostly informational- there is not a lot of vocabulary here because
everybody likes different things. What I suggest is this: Do
the activities to practice and master the structure, and then apply it
when speaking about the things you like and the activities you like to
No me gusta
know all you need to know about how to talk about the things you like.
If you notice, there is no "I" (yo) in this. Don't ever use it- just
use what is above.
|An explanation for the lack of "yo" for those who like and/or need explanations: The verb "gustar" actually means "to please" not "to like". Therefore when you say "I like" something (me gusta...), in Spanish you are actually saying something "pleases me".|
practice, now. Say out loud whether or not you like the following
|Think of all your favorite things, and all the things you don't like also. (try to come up with ten for each). Now create some sort of a project/presentation for either your firends or your classmates that you will use to tell people the things you do and do not like.|
use the same structure to talk about the activities you like to do.
The only difference will be that the word following the "gusta(n)" will
be a verb (acting as a noun). Again, just to get the hang of it,
state whether or not you like to do the following:
First we'll look at ¿Cuándo?- When do you do these activities?
Part 1: Days, months, etc.
(All days are "el" or "los")
días: lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes, sábado, domingo
meses: enero, febrero, marzo, abril, mayo, junio, julio, agosto, septiembre, octubre, noviembre, diciembre
estaciones (These use "en"): el invierno, la primavera, el verano, el otoño
partes del día (Note the use of "por"): por la mañana, por la tarde, por la noche
otro: los fines de semana (el fin de semana), esta noche
modelo: Me gusta salir con mis amigos los sábados por la tarde.
Part 2: Eventos
modelo: Me gusta practicar deportes después de las clases.
Part 3: El tiempo
(For more weather expressions, and a review click here.)
modelo: Me gusta esquiar cuando nieva.
For this first section, start everything with "con" (=with)
mi tío (a)
mi primo (a)
mi abuelo (a)
mi sobrino (a)
mi hijo (a)
mis abuelos etc.
amigos y más
mi novio (a)
mis compañeros (de clase, del equipo, del club, etc.)
animales de la finca
or add a name.... "con Juana"
modelo: Me gusta ir al cine con mi novia.
don't do it with anyone, you do it alone. So all you have to do is
say alone = solo (a)
Since you don't do it "with" anyone, don't say "con". Modelo:
Me gusta estudiar español solo.
Last part-¿Dónde? = Where do you like to do these activities?
The following are some common places you should be familiar with:
en la escuela
en mi casa
en mi alcoba (dormitorio)
en el cine
en la casa
en la casa de* (mi amigo)
* Reminder: There is no apostrophe in Spanish. Possession is expressed by "de", and the word order is reversed from English. Peter's house = la casa de Pedro
a la playa
a la piscina
en el restaurante
en el parque
en la calle
en el gimnasio
en el estaio
en la discoteca
en el teatro
en las montañas
en el centro comercial
modelo: Me gusta correr en el parque.
As you did for the previous section, now talk about the activities you like and do not like to do. For each you need to be able to tell at least two of three of the following: when, with whom and/or where you like to do the activity. Be creative and honest- create a similar project and share your work.
Now you are ready to tell the person of your dreams about the things and activities you like.