me gustan esos
/me ɡustan esos/from spelling rules
In Spanish, "I like those" is expressed as me gustan esos.
This phrase is used to express a preference for a group of plural objects.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "to me they are pleasing those" because the verb gustar functions as "to be pleasing to".
Which one should you use?
Use me gustan esos for masculine or mixed-gender groups, and use me gustan esas if the objects are feminine.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb must be in the plural form gustan to agree with the plural objects being liked. Furthermore, you must change the demonstrative pronoun to match the gender of the objects: use esos for masculine/mixed and esas for feminine.
How do you pronounce it?
/me ɡustan esos/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly say yo gusto esos to mean "I like those". Instead, you should use the correct structure me gustan esos.
Did you know?
- Because gustar describes what is pleasing to you rather than what you do, you can use it to express desire for a person by saying me gustas, which means 'I like you' in a romantic sense.
- The word esos is a distant relative of the English word 'itself'. Both words trace their ancestry back to the Latin 'ipse', which was used to emphasize a specific person or thing.
- To add strong emotional emphasis to your preference, you can add a mí to the start of the phrase to say a mí me gustan esos.
Examples in context
- Me gustan esos zapatos.I like those shoes.
- No me gustan esos libros.I do not like those books.
Example conversation
Mateo and Lucía are looking at shirts in a clothing store.
- Mateo¿Qué te parecen estos colores?What do you think of these colors?
- LucíaMe gustan esos.I like those.
- Mateo¿Quieres probarte uno?Do you want to try one on?
- LucíaSí, me encantan.Yes, I love them.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries esos, me, CC BY-SA 4.0.
