Feelings inside out: me gusta, me molesta, me da vergüenza
English puts the person first: 'I like coffee', 'I'm embarrassed'. Spanish turns the sentence over. The thing that causes the feeling becomes the subject, and the person shrinks to a short pronoun: me gusta el café. For example: “A mí me irrita el ruido, pero a mi hermana le da igual” — Noise irritates me, but my sister couldn't care less. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a…
How it works
English puts the person first: 'I like coffee', 'I'm embarrassed'. Spanish turns the sentence over. The thing that causes the feeling becomes the subject, and the person shrinks to a short pronoun: me gusta el café.
The verb agrees with the thing, not with the person: me gusta el libro for one, me gustan los libros for many. Hence the commonest slip, me gustan with a single object. Yo gusto would mean 'people like me'.
The same shape runs molestar (to bother), encantar (to love), apetecer (to fancy), doler (to hurt). Some feelings use dar: me da vergüenza, me da pena, me da igual.
After a word of feeling the second half takes the subjuntivo — the form for what is not fact. Me alegro de que estés aquí.
Table
| in English | in Spanish | what is the subject |
|---|---|---|
| I like this song | me gusta esta canción | the song |
| I like these songs | me gustan estas canciones | the songs |
| the noise annoys me | me irrita el ruido | the noise |
| I fancy a coffee | me apetece un café | the coffee |
| I'm embarrassed | me da vergüenza | no subject — dummy 'it' |
| I feel sorry for them | me dan pena | they |
| it makes me angry that he's late | me da rabia que llegue tarde | the clause, subjuntivo |
By example
- A mí me irrita el ruido, pero a mi hermana le da igualNoise irritates me, but my sister couldn't care less
- Me da vergüenza preguntar otra vezI am embarrassed to ask again
- Me alegro de que hayáis hecho las pacesI'm glad you have made up
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Feelings inside out: how does it work in Spanish?
English puts the person first: 'I like coffee', 'I'm embarrassed'. Spanish turns the sentence over. The thing that causes the feeling becomes the subject, and the person shrinks to a short pronoun: me gusta el café.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“A mí me irrita el ruido, pero a mi hermana le da igual” — Noise irritates me, but my sister couldn't care less. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.