Free-time verb structures + frequency words
Free-time verbs are learned as verb + preposition chunks, not translated word-for-word:
Frequency: todos los días, los fines de semana, a menudo. tocar is only for instruments, jugar for sports — never swapped.
gustar-type verbs agree with the thing liked
gustar, encantar, interesar, aburrir work backwards from English: the thing liked is the subject, and the person is an indirect object pronoun (me/te/le/nos/os/les).
In practice the verb has two forms: singular (gusta) for one thing or an infinitive, plural (gustan) for several. Full pronoun table in the note.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
Conjugating gustar for the person
Candidates conjugate gustar as if the person were the subject, like English "I like":
The pronoun must be the indirect object (me/te/le/nos/os/les), never a subject pronoun.
Digest "gustar / encantar type verbs": malformations me gusto, mi gusta, se gustan, lo gusto and omission of the preceding a named on the Writing common-errors list every sitting.
Writing se encanta not le encanta
Transforming a first-person opinion to third person, the pronoun changes me -> le, never me -> se:
This first-to-third-person transformation is tested across Reading Paper 2.
Digest Paper 2 Reading: le encanta not se encanta (s23 P23 Q4d), under "gustar / encantar type verbs".
gustar verb must match the thing's number
The verb agrees with the thing liked, not the speaker, so its number follows the thing:
Writing me gusta los videojuegos is wrong — the plural los videojuegos needs gustan, even though "I" is singular.
General FL trap (gustar verb agrees with the thing's number, not the speaker).
tocar vs jugar (instrument vs sport)
English "play" covers both, but Spanish never mixes them:
Saying juego la guitarra or toco al fútbol is a first-language-interference error. Learn each activity verb with the right partner.
General FL trap (tocar vs jugar lexical choice; not tied to a specific report question).
ganar vs gastar (earn/win vs spend)
A false-friend pair the digest flags for going-out and money vocabulary:
Candidates confused these in Speaking role plays discussing money for going out — a lexical choice, so items testing it stay examiner-marked.
Digest "False friends / lexical confusions": ganar vs gastar (earn vs spend) — s23 RP6 Q4 Speaking.
Accent flips person and tense: toco/tocó
A missing or misplaced accent changes both the person and the tense — fatal in Reading, penalised in Writing:
Answering about someone else in the past, the accent must land on the final vowel: tocó, jugó, gustó.
Digest "Accents that change person, tense or meaning": pairs such as llevó/llevo, gustó/gusto invalidate the answer (s23 P21 & P23 Key Messages).
Thinking gustar works like English "like"
Many candidates map English "I like it" onto Spanish, assuming gustar conjugates for the person liking — producing me gusto.
The correct model is the opposite: the thing liked is the subject and decides singular vs plural; the person is only an indirect object pronoun. Me gustan los deportes is literally "sports are pleasing to me".
Digest "gustar / encantar type verbs" common-errors list (every sitting) names the malformations that follow from this misconception (me gusto, mi gusta, se gustan, lo gusto).
Pick the indirect object pronoun first
Start every opinion with the correct indirect object pronoun — me/te/le/nos/os/les — never a subject pronoun like yo. Getting le vs se and me vs mi right first prevents the most-cited gustar errors.
Match the verb to the thing liked
Check whether the thing liked is singular or an infinitive (-> gusta / encanta) or plural (-> gustan / encantan). The verb follows the thing, not the speaker: me gustan los deportes, not me gusta los deportes.
Add a mí/a él and a reason
Add a mí / a él / a ella for emphasis or when le is ambiguous (him, her or you-formal), then justify with porque + a reason. Varying the opinion verb across a paragraph — gusta... encanta... prefiero — shows the range the Q3 checklist rewards.
Mix tenses to show range
In an extended answer, mix present (current hobbies), imperfect (jugaba, what you used to do) and near future / conditional (what you would like to try). A range of tenses is one of the clearest ways to move above the Range ceiling.
This topic covers sports and hobbies, music, TV/film and technology for leisure, going out, and giving opinions with gustar-type verbs.
Sports and hobbies:
| Spanish | English | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| jugar al fútbol | to play football | hacer natación | to swim (as a hobby) |
| jugar al tenis | to play tennis | hacer ciclismo | to cycle |
| tocar la guitarra | to play the guitar | montar en bicicleta | to ride a bike |
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