In this episode we discuss the verb GUSTAR as well as a brief overview of indirect object pronouns (IOP).To say you like something is done differently in Spanish than in English. Talking about our likes and dislikes requires a slightly different perspective than what you may be used to. As you learned in Spanish 1, we typically use the verb gustar to discuss our likes and dislikes. Many people will say that gustar means“to like” as in“I like apples.” More accurate, however, would be to say that gustar, actually means“to be pleasing”. So in Spanish we don’t really say“I like apples.” Instead what we really say is“Apples are pleasing to me.” That’s why we say that it requires a slightly different perspective. In English we are accustomed to declare what we like, not to think, say, or even believe that it is not us that is doing the action rather that noun that is liked or disliked is actually the noun performing the action. Clear as mud? Don’t worry, by the end of this lesson you should be completely comfortable with how this workd. In order to say this, though, we need to learn a few words called“indirect object pronouns”. You probably discussed indirect object pronouns briefly in Spanish 1. As the name insinuates, an indirect object receives the action of the verb indirectly. What that means is that the indirect object in the sentence indicates the to or for whom the action is completed. In the sentence“Matt gives the book to Jon”, Matt is the subject– he is the one performing the action of the verb– to read. The book is the direct object: it is directly receiving the action of the verb. Matt gives, but what does he give? What is being given? The book. The book is being given so the book is directly receiving the action of the verb to give. Jon, though, is the indirect object because he indirectly receives the action of the verb (the book is given, but given to Jon). Jon is a noun, so in this sentence above Jon is the indirect object noun. When we replace to Jon with to him the indirect object noun becomes an indirect object pronoun. (Remember: a pronoun is a word that replaces a noun.) You’ll notice that in English we use two words to identify the indirect object. In the example above, those two words were to him. In Spanish, both words are wrapped up into one little indirect object pronoun. To say to him we would simply use the word le. Below you will see a list of all the indirect object pronouns in Spanish: Indirect Object Pronounsto/for me = meto/for you (informal)= teto/for him, her or you (formal) = leto/for us = nosto/for you-all (informal/Spain) = osto/for them or you-all = les Where we put the object pronouns in relation to the verb is pretty important. These indirect object pronouns (me, te, le, nos, os, les) usually go: Before a conjugated verb, orConnected to an infinitive verb Let’s look at a few examples: ENGLISH ENGLISH W/SPANISH STRUCTURE SPANISHI like apples.> To me - are pleasing– the apples.> Me gustan las manzanas.You like to eat.> To you - is pleasing - to eat.> Te gusta comer.We like the book.> To us– is pleasing– the book.> Nos gusta el libro.I like your car.> To me– is pleasing– your car.> Me gusta tu coche.I like your eyes.> To me– are pleasing– your eyes.> Me gustan tus ojos.He likes your car.> To him– is pleasing– your car.> Le gusta tu coche.She likes your car.> To her– is pleasing– your car.> Le gusta tu coche. There are 3 things we want you to observe in the examples above.The indirect object pronoun (IOP for short) in these examples is always before the conjugated form of the Spanish verb gustar.When it is only one thing that is pleasing we conjugate the verb as gusta but when there is more than one item that is pleasing we conjugate the verb as gustan. Some Spanish teachers have a rough time helping students to understand why this happens so we’re going to take a minute to clarify what’s happening here: When we want to say“He speaks” we say“Él habla”. And when we want to say“They speak” we say“Ellos hablan”. That is basic conjugating from Spanish 1 and that model is exactly what we follow with the verb gustar. Now since we clarified that gustar means to be pleasing, it should be easier to understand now why we conjugate gustar the way we do. Observe: The apples are pleasing> Gustan las manzanas. The apple is pleasing> Gusta la manzana. Of course, the sentence Gusta la manzana doesn’t make much sense, because if the apple is pleasing it has to be pleasing to somebody. So, we complete the sentence with the IOP Me. Me gusta la manzana.The third thing we hope you observe in the examples above is that the sentence“He likes your car” and the sentence“She likes your car” look the very same in Spanish: Le gusta tu coche. That’s because the IOP for to him is le and the IOP for to her is also le. So we may want to clarify whom we are talking about with those IOPs. Here is how we do it. Le gusta tu coche. (Le is supposed to mean to him) Aél le gusta tu coche.Le gusta tu coche. (Le is supposed to mean to her) A ella le gusta tu coche. So all we are doing is adding aél to clarify or add emphasis that is it pleasing to him. We used a ella in the second example to clarify that it is pleasing to her. We can add emphasis or clarify all of the examples above if we want to: A mí me gustan las manzanas.A ti te gusta comer.A nosotros nos gusta el libro.A mí me gusta tu coche.A mí me gustan tus ojos.Aél le gusta tu coche.A ella le gusta tu coche. There are other words that we will be using and studying later on this semester that operate the same way. One of those is encantar which means to be enchanting or, as we would say in English, really like or love.¡Me encanta el español! (Spanish is enchanting to me! or I love Spanish!) We’ll do more with encantar later, but we just want to plant the seed in your mind now of what’s to come later.