Category: Education
Date: 4/Dec/2025
The Confusion Everyone Has (Even Advanced Learners!)
In this post I am sharing a recent kind of mistakes I saw in students for IGCSE/IB Spanish.
The Confusion Everyone Has (Even Advanced Learners!) If you’ve ever caught yourself saying something like:
❌ Me encanta visité la India,
…you’re not alone. This is one of the most common mistakes I see — even among Year 12 and 13 students.
And the fix? Simpler than you think.
Today, let’s clear up how to correctly use gustar-type verbs (gustar, encantar, fascinar, etc.) when they’re followed by another verb.
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The Golden Rule
Once you have a conjugated verb, the next one stays in the infinitive.
Verbs like gustar don’t work like regular English verbs (“I like”). Instead, they describe what is pleasing or fascinating — and that “what” is usually a thing, a concept, or an activity (expressed as an infinitive).
So when you talk about liking to do something, the structure is always:
[Indirect object pronoun] + gusta/encanta/fascina + [infinitive]
Examples:
Me gusta leer.
Le encanta cocinar.
Nos fascina viajar.
Notice: It’s always gusta, never gustan, when followed by an infinitive — because the activity itself is treated as a singular idea.
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Pronouns & Agreement: A Quick Refresher These verbs require an indirect object pronoun to show who is experiencing the feeling:
Press enter or click to view image in full size
And remember: the verb (gusta vs. gustan) agrees with the subject that comes after it— not the person who likes it.
Me gusta el cine. (singular subject → gusta)
Me gustan las películas. (plural subject → gustan)
Pero: Me gusta ver películas. (infinitive = singular concept → always gusta)
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Real Student Example: What Went Wrong? During a recent class exercise, a student Answered:
❌ “Me encanta visité la India.”
The prompt was: “¿A dónde fuiste el verano pasado?”
Here’s the issue:
But after “Me encanta…”, you cannot use a conjugated verb. So how do you fix it? Option 1: Talk about the past experience
“El verano pasado visité la India.”
Option 2: Express a general love for the activity
“Me encanta visitar la India.”
Option 3: Say both (but in two sentences!)
“Me encanta visitar la India. El verano pasado, la visité.”
You can’t mix tenses in one clause with gustar-type verbs — because the verb itself isn’t yours to conjugate. It belongs to the thing you like!
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💬 Final Thought Mastering gustar isn’t just about memorizing rules — it’s about shifting your mindset from “I like” to “It pleases me.” Once that clicks, everything else falls into place.
And if you’re still unsure? Try this test:
Can I replace the verb with “to [verb]”?
→ “I love to visit India” → ✅ Use infinitive!
→ “I visited India” → ✅ That’s a full sentence on its own.
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🙏 Thanks for Reading! I write these posts to help students (and self-learners!) avoid the same pitfalls I’ve seen in our oral practice. If this helped you, clap, comment, or share it with someone who’s learning Spanish!
¿Tienes preguntas?
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¡Hasta la próxima! 🌟
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