Backward Verbs

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Last Updated: Thursday, 06 February 2025 01:59

Published: Tuesday, 23 April 2024 14:04

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Backward Verbs:

Most of the verbs that we saw are forward verbs, i.e I drink water => Here we conjugate "drink" based on person doing the work. So, translation is => yo bebo agua. However, there are so called "Backward Verbs", where the subject in the English sentence becomes the object in Spanish.  Link => https://www.thoughtco.com/using-encantar-other-than-third-person-3078317

• ex: "I like the house" (subject + verb + object) is reversed as "The house pleases me" (object + verb + subject) in Spanish. Here the verb goes with the object, even though the subject is doing the verb. Since the object is usually 3rd person, we commonly use 3rd person form of the verb in singular or plural form. So, the translation should be 'la casa me gusta" (me is the IOP, so it comes before the verb). However, this is NOT correct, as the order is again changed in Spanish to match what's in English. The subject + verb + object order is still maintained. So, translation is => me gusta la casa. The "house" is the subject/noun here, and NOT "I". Verbs transform based on who's doing it. Here, noun "house" is doing the pleasing work, and it's a 3rd person. So, depending on whether House (noun) is singular/plural we use "Gusta" or "Gustan" conjugation. If we wish to use word "love", then we use encanatar. So, if we wish to say  "I love the house," the phrase would be translated as Me encanta la casa.

Pronoun like it, him/her, them, etc also used instead of noun (i.e I like it). you, he/she etc, where we use him/her, etc. So, we always need to have me/nos, te/os, le/les before the verb.

There are 2 ways to rewrite these sentences having backward verbs. Let's say as an ex: "I like the car". We can transform it in 2 ways (both use the (object + verb + subject) form):

• The car pleases me => el carro me agrada. This is IOP form where IOP (here it's me) comes before the verb (pleases). This is the way we learned in pronoun section. "me" is IOP and not DOP, as verb is being done to someone (question to ask is to whom, and NOT what, so it's an IOP). So, translation is straightforward here. However, we can't use verb "gustar" here, as "gustar" means like This is NOT the way we use "backward verbs" in spanish. We use regular verbs here.
• To me, pleases the car => me gusta el carro. This is the way backward verbs are used. Instead of saying "The car please me", we say "To me, pleases the car". Since car is noun, order doesn't change, so we say "me gusta <noun_object>". The object always needs to have "definite" article => el, la for singular and los/las for plural. If instead of noun, we had pronoun (i.e it), then "it" being a DOP, we have to change order => me le gusta. There are 4 possibilities in the sentence depending on whether subject is noun or pronoun, and whether object is noun or pronoun. See in pronoun section.

TRANSLATION TIP:

• Pronoun (or the person doing the "like") is always "indirect object pronoun" (me, him, etc. so always use le/les, and NOT lo/la),
• The object (noun or pronoun) being liked is put after the verb if it's noun, but before the verb if it's pronoun. See in pronoun section for the rules.
  • Noun object: indirect object pronoun (me, te, le) + verb (gusta, gustan) + object_noun/pronoun (cart) => me gusta la libro. 
  • Pronoun object: indirect object pronoun (me, te, le) + object_pronoun (her, it, etc) + verb (gusta, gustan) => me te gusta. Object pronoun is a DOP here

The following list includes few Spanish backward verbs. Note that most are used to describe opinions or psychological/physical reactions, possession, or involvement.

• aburrir - to bore
• faltar - to lack
• gustar => to like
• encantar => to love
• molestar - to bother
• interesar - to interest
• disgustar - to disgust
• picar - to itch
• fastidiar - to annoy
• importar - to care about something. Looks like similar to important, meaning something important which you care about.
• quedar - to remain

Gustar => To Like: The Spanish verb gustar is an -ar verb usually translated in English as “to like”. It's a backward verb. it’s more about what pleases a person rather than what a person likes.  Here "Book pleases me" rather than "I like books".

The other forms gusto/gustamos, gustas/gustáis are used for the object, when instead of noun, we have pronoun as me/us or you/you_all. However these are less commonly used. I've seen different forms of translations based on these. I've written ones below that seem logical. The same table transformation is followed as shown for present tense of -ar verbs above.

 It's always in this form =>

• Me gusta => I like
• Te Gusta => you like
• le gusta => He/She likes

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAfXpyZlz-I&list=PLv63dFTP4Sjq6knRsZQI-bTnRE38cZZoy&index=134

Encantar => To Love: Similar to verb gustar, it's a backward verb. It means, "to enchant" or "to bewitch." However, it is most often used to express an extreme like or love for an object. 

There's also an adjective "Encantado", which means "delighted" or "pleased". We use that when meeting people. Encantada is a past participle conjugate of encantar, but here it's used as an adjective. Like happy person, delighted person, etc.

ex: encantado, señorita Maria => I (male) am pleased (to meet you)

ex: encantada, señor John => I (female) am pleased (to meet you)