# “Na gustohan” vs "Gusto Ko"



## Henfr01

I was coming out of a movie with my Filipina wife and wanted to say “I like the show”. My attempt was something like “Gusto Ko ang show”.  However, I was corrected to say “Na gustohan…”. I can’t find anything in my Talalog books and resources that explains “Na gustohan” and how if differs from “Gusto Ko”.  Any help in understanding this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!


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## DotterKat

A critical difference between Tagalog and English is that Tagalog verbs, such as gusto (to like), are conjugated according to focus.
The actor-focus verbs emphasize the doer or actor of the action being performed.  The object-focus verbs emphasize the thing or object upon which the action is being performed.

Your sentence _Gusto ko ang show_ is a special case since it utilizes gusto as a pseudo-verb.  In this situation, gusto does not need any affixes to denote an object, which in this sentence is show.

Gusto ko ang show. I like the show.  What do you like? _The show_.

The alternative sentence suggested to you is _Nagustuhan ko ang show_.  In this case, gusto is used as an object-focus verb by the addition of the suffix -han.  The prefix na- renders the sentence in the completed aspect (the equivalent of the past tense in English).

Nagustuhan ko ang show. I liked the show. What did you like?  The show.

Thus, grammatically speaking both forms are correct.  However, in the context of you having already seen the entirety of the show it would be more appropriate to say Nagustuhan ko ang show / I liked the show.  This correctly implies that you have finished seeing the entire show and are now rendering judgement on it.

Gusto ko ang show / I like the show might be something you could say in the middle of the show to imply _I like the show so far / I’m enjoying the show thus far_.  Your final opinion about the show won’t crystallize until you have seen it in its entirety after which you could very well say, after the fact, Nagustuhan ko ang show / I liked the show.


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## mataripis

In my interpretation, I like (gusto ko)  is the usual expression even no one asked. The answer "Nagustuhan ko" is the usual expression in English - I appreciate. The Old Tagalog has  "Naibigan ko" or " Oo naman"(Yes ,really).


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