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Learn about the formal Spanish "gustar de"
In written Spanish, we sometimes use gustar followed by the preposition "de" to express that someone likes something or doing something. This is a very formal way of expressing likes or dislikes.
Here are some examples:
As you can see, gustar de can be followed by an infinitive which expresses what one likes doing.
It can also be followed by a noun to express what someone likes or dislikes.
For nouns, both singular and plural, the article is optional. For example, these would also be correct:
The main difference between this use of gustar de and the colloquial use of gustar is that the formal "gustar de" follows the general order:
"subject + verb + direct object".
The person who likes is the subject.
For example, in the present tense:
Yo gusto de ...
Tú gustas de ...
Él/ella/usted gusta de
Nosotros/-as gustamos de
Vosotros/-as gustáis de
Ellos/ellas/ustedes gustan de
Remember that you cannot omit "de"
However in the "more normal/informal use" of gustar, it works as an inverted order structure. To review this see:
- Using gustar in Spanish + verb to say like [doing something]
- Using gustar in Spanish to say you like something
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