Gostar (to Like) in Portuguese

In Brief

Portuguese gostar means “to like” and normally requires de before the thing or activity liked: Gosto de café (“I like coffee”) and Gosto de cozinhar (“I like cooking”). It is an ordinary verb: the person who likes something is the subject (the person the sentence is about), so eu gosto, tu gostas, and eles gostam have different endings.

Overview

Gostar de is the basic Portuguese way to talk about tastes and preferences. You can use it with food, music, places, people, and activities. It is introduced at A1 because the core pattern is simple, but using it naturally also involves article contractions, different forms of “you,” and a few useful comparisons.

For an English speaker, the most important difference is the small word de. English puts “like” directly before its object, but Portuguese normally says gostar de: Gosto de livros, not Gosto livros. A preposition is a short linking word such as “of,” “from,” or “to”; here, de belongs to the construction even though it usually disappears from the natural English translation.

Do not confuse Portuguese gostar with Spanish gustar. Portuguese uses the same basic order as English: the liker is the subject, gostar agrees with that person, and the liked item follows de. Portuguese often leaves the subject pronoun unspoken because the verb ending already identifies it: both Eu gosto de jazz and Gosto de jazz mean “I like jazz.”

How It Works

The beginner pattern

Use gostar de + noun or gostar de + infinitive. A noun names a person, thing, place, or idea; an infinitive is the basic verb form, comparable to “to travel” or “to read.”

Pattern	Portuguese	English
gostar de + noun	Gosto de chocolate.	I like chocolate.
gostar de + infinitive	Gostamos de caminhar.	We like walking.
não + gostar de	Ela não gosta de chuva.	She does not like rain.
gostar de + person	Eles gostam da professora.	They like the teacher.

The word after de does not control the verb. Compare Gosto deste livro (“I like this book”) and Gosto destes livros (“I like these books”): gosto remains singular because its subject is eu, not livro or livros.

Present-tense forms

Gostar is a regular -ar verb. Remove -ar from the infinitive and add the regular present-tense endings.

Person	Form	Typical meaning
eu	gosto	I like
tu	gostas	you like (singular, informal)
ele / ela / você	gosta	he / she likes; you like
nós	gostamos	we like
vós	gostais	you like (plural; limited use)
eles / elas / vocês	gostam	they like; you all like

Portuguese has more than one way to address someone. Tu takes gostas. Você takes the third-person form gosta, even though it refers to the person being addressed. In much of Brazil, você and vocês are common; usage of tu and its verb forms varies by region. In Portugal, tu is common informally, while speakers often choose a person’s name, title, or an omitted subject in less familiar situations. Vós survives in restricted regional, religious, or ceremonial use; everyday plural address normally uses vocês gostam.

Negatives and questions

Put não before the verb to make a negative statement:

• Não gosto de acordar cedo. — “I don’t like getting up early.”
• O Rui não gosta de peixe. — “Rui doesn’t like fish.”

A yes/no question can keep the same word order as a statement. Your voice, context, and the question mark show that it is a question:

• Gostas de filmes? — “Do you like movies?”
• Vocês gostam daqui? — “Do you like it here?”

Portuguese does not add an equivalent of English auxiliary “do” in these questions. The single verb form gostas already carries the present tense and agrees with tu.

De and its contractions

When de comes before a definite article (“the”), the two words contract. These contractions are obligatory in normal Portuguese.

Combination	Contraction	Example	English
de + o	do	Gosto do restaurante.	I like the restaurant.
de + a	da	Gosto da ideia.	I like the idea.
de + os	dos	Gosto dos sapatos.	I like the shoes.
de + as	das	Gosto das praias.	I like the beaches.

De also joins demonstratives (words such as “this” and “that”) and some pronouns:

Form	Meaning	Example
deste / desta	of this	Gosto desta cor. — I like this color.
desse / dessa	of that	Gostas dessa música? — Do you like that song?
daquele / daquela	of that over there	Gostamos daquele café. — We like that café.
disto / disso / daquilo	of this / that / that over there	Não gosto disso. — I don’t like that.
dele / dela	of him / her; of it	Gosto muito dela. — I like her a lot.

Do not add an article automatically. With a broad category, Portuguese often uses bare de: Gosto de música means music in general. A contracted article points more readily to something definite or identifiable: Gosto da música can mean “I like the music” currently playing or the particular music under discussion. Article use with general categories also varies somewhat by variety and context, so learn frequent phrases as complete units.

Activities use the infinitive

After de, use the infinitive rather than an English-style -ing form:

• Gosto de nadar. — “I like swimming.”
• Ela gosta de aprender línguas. — “She likes learning languages.”
• Gostamos de sair aos sábados. — “We like going out on Saturdays.”

When the same person both likes and performs the activity, no second subject is needed. More complex clauses are discussed under advanced use below.

Saying how much you like something

Degree words normally modify gostar, not the following noun:

• Gosto muito de café. — “I like coffee very much.”
• Gosto bastante deste bairro. — “I quite like this neighborhood.”
• Não gosto nada de esperar. — “I don’t like waiting at all.”
• Gosto mais de chá. — “I prefer tea / I like tea more.”

The position matters: gostar muito de is the normal pattern. Gosto de muito café instead means “I like a lot of coffee,” where muito describes the amount of coffee.

Examples in Context

Portuguese	English	Note
Gosto de pizza.	I like pizza.	Bare noun; a general preference
Gostas de filmes?	Do you like movies?	Informal singular tu
Ele gosta de viajar.	He likes to travel.	de + infinitive
Não gostamos do frio.	We don’t like the cold.	de + o = do
A Marta gosta desta cidade.	Marta likes this city.	de + esta = desta
Você gosta de comida picante?	Do you like spicy food?	você takes gosta
Os meus pais gostam de jardinagem.	My parents like gardening.	Plural subject: gostam
Gostamos de conversar depois do jantar.	We like talking after dinner.	Activity in the infinitive
Não gosto nada de filas.	I don’t like queues at all.	Strong dislike
Vocês gostam daqui?	Do you like it here?	daqui means “from/of here” in this expression
Gosto muito dela.	I like her a lot.	de + ela = dela
Eles gostam mais de praia do que de montanha.	They like the beach more than the mountains.	Comparison with mais... do que...
Gostei muito do concerto.	I really liked the concert.	Completed reaction in the past
Gostaria de reservar uma mesa.	I would like to reserve a table.	Polite request

Common Mistakes

Leaving out de

• Wrong: Gosto música brasileira.
• Right: Gosto de música brasileira.
• Why: The Portuguese construction is gostar de, even though English “like” has no preposition.

Copying the Spanish structure

• Wrong: Me gosta a pizza.
• Right: Gosto de pizza.
• Why: The person who likes something is the subject in Portuguese. Gosto is the eu form; no pronoun like Spanish me is required.

Making the verb agree with the liked item

• Wrong: Eu gostam dos livros.
• Right: Eu gosto dos livros.
• Why: The verb agrees with eu, not with plural livros. The item after de cannot determine the verb ending.

Using the wrong form with você

• Wrong: Você gostas de café?
• Right: Você gosta de café?
• Why: Você refers to “you” but grammatically takes a third-person-singular verb. Use tu gostas or você gosta, according to the form of address.

Failing to contract de with an article

• Wrong: Gosto de o livro.
• Right: Gosto do livro.
• Why: De + o contracts to do. The same rule gives da, dos, das.

Translating English “like” in every use

• Wrong: Ele é gostar o pai. (intended: “He is like his father.”)
• Right: Ele é como o pai. / Ele parece-se com o pai.
• Why: Gostar de expresses enjoyment, affection, or preference. English “like” meaning “similar to” needs como, parecer-se com, or another comparison.

Usage Notes

Subject pronouns are often omitted when the verb ending and context are clear. Gosto de café is generally more neutral than repeatedly saying Eu gosto de café. State the pronoun for contrast or emphasis: Eu gosto de café, mas ela prefere chá (“I like coffee, but she prefers tea”).

With people, gostar de can express ordinary affection or romantic interest depending on context. Gosto muito da Ana may simply mean “I like Ana very much,” but in the right situation it can suggest “I have feelings for Ana.” For unambiguous romantic love, Portuguese has stronger expressions such as amar (“to love”) or context-specific ways of describing a relationship.

Both European and Brazilian Portuguese use gostar de, but their preferred subject forms and everyday phrasing differ. In colloquial Brazilian Portuguese, a gente gosta is a very common way to say “we like”; a gente has a plural meaning but takes a third-person-singular verb. Standard nós gostamos is understood everywhere. Also note that gostamos can be either present (“we like”) or, in some contexts, a past form (“we liked”); context usually makes the time clear.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these points at A1, but they explain forms you will often meet later.

Past preferences and reactions

The simple past gostei, gostaste, gostou, gostámos/gostamos, gostastes, gostaram presents a completed reaction or experience:

• Gostei do filme. — “I liked the film.”
• Gostaram da viagem? — “Did they like the trip?” or “Did you all like the trip?”

For an ongoing or habitual preference in the past, Portuguese can use the imperfect gostava:

• Quando era criança, gostava de desenhar. — “When I was a child, I liked drawing / used to like drawing.”

The written distinction gostámos (past) versus gostamos (present) is standard in European Portuguese. Brazilian spelling generally uses gostamos for both, with context distinguishing them.

Polite gostaria de

The conditional form gostaria de literally corresponds to “would like” and is useful for polite wishes and requests:

• Gostaria de um café, por favor. — “I’d like a coffee, please.”
• Gostaria de falar com a gerente. — “I’d like to speak with the manager.”

This is not simply a present preference: it softens a request. In everyday service encounters, speakers may also use Queria... (“I wanted...”) as a polite request, but that belongs to the verb querer.

Comparisons

To compare two preferences, use gostar mais de X do que de Y:

• Gosto mais de ler do que de ver televisão. — “I like reading more than watching television.”
• Ela gosta mais do verão do que do inverno. — “She likes summer more than winter.”

The second de is important because each item completes its own gostar de relationship. In natural conversation, Portuguese also often uses preferir (“to prefer”) when the comparison is direct.

A different subject for the following action

When the person doing the second action is different from the person who likes it, Portuguese may use a clause introduced by que and a verb form learned at a later level:

• Gosto que chegues cedo. — “I like you to arrive early / I like it when you arrive early.”

Here chegues is in the subjunctive (a verb form often used for reactions, wishes, and situations viewed through someone’s attitude). This is a later topic. At A1, stay with gostar de + infinitive when the subject remains the same: Gosto de chegar cedo (“I like arriving early”).

Practice Tips

1. Build preference pairs. Choose five familiar topics and say one positive and one negative sentence for each: Gosto de chá; não gosto de café. Then replace eu with tu, nós, or eles so the verb ending changes.
2. Practice contractions as chunks. Make small sets such as de música, do filme, da cidade, dos livros, and das praias. Saying the whole phrase aloud helps prevent de o and de a.
3. Ask real questions. Use Gostas de...? or Você gosta de...? with a partner, then answer with Gosto muito de..., Gosto bastante de..., or Não gosto nada de.... Keep one consistent form of address in each exchange.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Regular -AR Verbs — explains the present-tense endings used in gosto, gostas, gosta, gostamos, gostais, and gostam.