You can’t use me gusta in these 5 situations!
Me gusta la guitarra, me gustas tĂş.
Me gusta el reggae, me gustas tĂş.
(I like the guitar, I like you.
I like reggae, I like you.)
Me gusta, in general terms, means “I like”. But there’s more to it. Tal vez estás diciendo “me gusta”, cuando en realidad quieres decir otra cosa. (Maybe you’re saying “me gusta” when in reality you mean something else.)
Soy PaulĂsima. Bienvenidos a Spring Spanish. Empecemos con el nĂşmero uno. (I’m Paulisima. Welcome to Spring Spanish. Let’s start with number 1.)
1. Decir “me gusta” en vez de “me cae bien”
Este debe ser el error más común. O por lo menos, uno de los más comunes que cometen los estudiantes de español. (This must be the most common mistake. Or at least, one of the most common mistakes that Spanish students make.)
Actor 1
Acabo de conocer al novio de mi mejor amiga. Es buena onda. Me gusta.
(I just met my best friend’s boyfriend. He’s cool. I like him.)
Actor 2
O sea, ÂżcĂłmo? ÂżTe gustĂł?
(What do you mean? You like him?)
Actor 1
SĂ, me gustĂł, es muy chistoso.
(Yes, I like him, he’s very funny.)
Actor 2
Creo que lo que quieres decir es “me cayó bien”.
(I think what you mean to say is “I liked him as a person”.)
—
Actor 1
ÂżConoces a Pablo MartĂnez? El maestro de EconomĂa.
(Do you know Pablo MartĂnez? The Economics teacher.)
Actor 2
SĂ, me cae bien.
(Yes, I like him.)
En México decimos (In Mexico we say) “me cae bien” to say” I like” but I “like” because they’re funny, a good person. Saying “me gusta” about someone means that you find them attractive.
Me cae bien es muy usado en México y también se usa mucho la versión en pasado “me cayó bien.” (”Me cae bien” is widely used in Mexico, and also its version in the past “me cayó bien”.)
Actor 1
¿Qué te pareció la novia de Daniel?
(What did you think of Daniel’s girlfriend?)
Actor 2
Me cayó muy bien. Aunque no sé si yo le caà bien a ella.
(I really liked her. Though I don’t know if she liked me.)
From this option, I’m going to be sharing different ways to say “me gusta”. There’s nothing wrong with “me gusta”, but people do use other expressions. Me imagino que te gustarĂa tanto entender esas frases, como utilizarlas en conversaciones. (I Imagine that you’d like to understand those phrases, like using them in conversations.)
2. Amo, Amé
Actor 1
Mira esta foto de mi sobrina.
(Look at this photo of my niece.)
Actor 2
¡Ay, qué bonita! ¡Amo!
(Oh, how pretty! I love it!)
This way of saying that you like something is quite new and young. Unlike American English, in Mexican Spanish it is not as common to use the verb “amar” to describe your likings. But nowadays, I keep hearing kids saying this stuff.
Actor 1
ÂżCĂłmo estuvo la cena de ayer
(How was dinner yesterday?)
Actor 2
¡AmĂ©! ¡Estuvo increĂble todo! La decoraciĂłn, los cocteles, la comida… amĂ©.
(I loved (it)! Everything was amazing! The decoration, the cocktails, the food… I loved it.)
Actor 1
¿Te está gustando el café?
(Are you liking the coffee?)
Actor 2
¡Ay, sĂ! ¡Amo!
(Oh, yes! I love it!)
3. Me gustĂł
Ok, técnicamente esta es casi igual que “me gusta”. (Ok, technically this one is almost the same as “me gusta”.) () Pero observa. “Me gustó”. Esta esta en pasado. (But observe. “Me gustó”. This is in the past.) And it’s really useful because we use it in the past a lot.
Actor 1
¿Qué te pareció el cafecito
(What did you think of the coffee?)
Actor 2
iMe gustĂł! Tiene un saborcito diferente.
(I liked it! It has a little flavor that’s different.)
Actor 1
Prueba esta salsa.
(Try this salsa.)
¿Qué tal?
(Did you like it?)
Actor 2
SĂ, me gustĂł.
(Yes, I liked it.)
Actor 1
ÂżCĂłmo estuvo Cuba?
(How was Cuba?)
Actor 2
Me gustĂł muchĂsimo.
(I liked it a lot.)
4. Me mama, Me mamĂł
Me mama. Me mamó. (I love it. I loved it.) Este chunk no me gusta mucho. (I don’t like this chunk very much.) Remember that chunks are word combinations that native Spanish speakers use all the time. You can get a free copy of popular Spanish chunk in the link in the description.
“Me mama” y “me mamó” no me gustan porque suenan bastante vulgar. Porque Vienen del verbo mamar, que significa “suck”. (”Me mama” and “me mamó” I don’t like because they sound very vulgar. Because It comes from the verb “mamar”, that means “to suck”.) I was away from Mexico for a decade, and when I came back, I realized that people were using “me mama” to say “me gusta”.
Actor 1
¿Qué onda, cómo estuvo el Oktoberfest?
(What’s up, how was Oktoberfest?)
Actor 2
Me mamĂł.
(I loved it.)
Este chunk es muy informal. (This chunk is very informal.)
Actor 1
¡Güey, prueba esta salsita! La acabo de comprar y me mamó.
(Dude, try this little sauce. I just bought it and I loved it.)
Actor 2
¡No manches! ¡Me mamó también!
(No way! I loved it too!)
Actor 1
Tienes que escuchar el nuevo disco de Bad Bunny. Me mama.
(You have to listen to Bad Bunny’s new album. I love it.)
Actor 2
Ya lo escuché. Me mama su música.
(I heard it already. I love his music.)
5. Me encanta, Me encantĂł
Actor 1
Es que me encantas tanto, si me miras mientras canto..
(It’s just that I like you so much, when you look at me while I sing…)
Check out that song, it’s called “Mon Amour”. Check out how to use songs to learn Spanish in this video. We use “Me encantas” when we really like something. You know that McDonald’s campaign: “I’m loving it”? Well, in Mexico it is “Me encanta”. Y sĂ, la verdad es que a mĂ, McDonald’s me encanta, me encanta, me sĂşper encanta… (And yes, the truth is that I love McDonald’s, love, sĂşper love…)
Actor 1
Pau, Âżte gusta el reggaeton?
(Pau, do you like reggaeton?)
Actor 2
¡Me encanta!
(I love it!)
Let’s learn some variations of “me encanta” as well:
Actor 1
ÂżYa fuiste al nuevo restaurante cerca de tu casa?
(Did you already go to the new restaurant near your house?)
Actor 2
SĂ, ya fui. ¡Me encantĂł!
(Yes, I went already. I loved it!)
Now, if the thing that we love is plural… then we we say me encantan or me encantaron in the past.
Actor 1
ÂżTe gustaron los stickers?
(Did you like the stickers?)
Actor 2
SĂ, mi amor, gracias, me encantaron.
(Yes, my love, thank you, I loved them.)
Actor 1
¿Qué opinas de los marcadores con punta doble?
(What do you think about the dual tip markers?)
Actor 2
FĂjate que a pesar de las malas reviews, a mi me encantaron.
(You see, in spite of the bad reviews, I loved them.)
Ahora ya tienes más opciones y sonarás mejor cuando hables español. (Now you have more options and will sound better when speaking Spanish.)