gosta

Gosta is a common present tense form of the Portuguese verb gostar, meaning to like or to be fond of. It is the third-person singular form, used with ele, ela, or você as the subject. Examples include “Ela gosta de música” and “Você gosta de café?” The verb typically governs a following de phrase or an infinitive, as in “gosta de chocolate” or “gosta de ler.”

As a verb, gostar is regular in its core conjugation, with other forms such as gosto (I like), gostas/gosta (you like), gostamos (we like), and gostam (they like) used in different persons and numbers. In Brazilian Portuguese, você gosta is a common everyday form, while European Portuguese often uses tu gostas for informal second person. The construction gostar de followed by a noun or an infinitive is central to expressing preferences.

Gosta also relates to the noun gosto, which means taste, liking, or preference. The phrase ter bom gosto is used to describe refined taste, while shows of gosto can indicate personal preferences, such as gosto musical (musical taste) or gosto por viagens (taste for travel). The two words are etymologically connected, but they function differently in sentences.

Etymology traces gostar and its forms to Latin gustare, meaning to taste or to sample, with cognates found in other Romance languages such as gustar in Spanish and goûter in French. In Portuguese, gosto and gostar developed a distinct usage pattern to express liking and preference across various contexts.