Gustar II

A Juan no le gusta bailar

In this lesson we are going to reveal some more features that the verb gustar is hiding.

To begin with, try to translate this into English:

Le gusta España

As you can see, without context you never know for sure if le is referred to él, ella or usted. To specify, who the action is directed to, you can add so-called prepositional pronouns: a él, a ella, a usted.

A él le gusta – He likes

A ella le gusta – She likes

A usted le gusta – You (señor) like

Now everything becomes more clear.

The same preposition a is applied when you need to name a particular person.

A Roberto le gusta Madrid

A mi padre le gusta pescar

A mis padres les gusta leer

The a preposition is needed to specify who exactly likes something. Although, in the previous sentences it’s evident who all these people are, the dative pronoun should remain anyway.

A Carla le gusta bailar

Don’t say: A Carla gusta bailar

The use of le might seem excessive, but it’s a strict rule that is always followed by Spanish speakers. That’s why the verb gustar is so special. It requires a dative pronoun no matter what, even if a person’s name is included into the sentence.

Try it yourself:

My mom likes Mexican cuisine

My friends like the party

She likes animals

They like my car

And here comes the trickiest part of all Spanish grammar. The excessive combination of the dative and prepositional pronouns can be used in all persons, at any time, even if there is no need to distinguish one person from another.

a mí me gusta = me gusta

a ti te gusta = te gusta

a él le gusta = le gusta

a ella le gusta = le gusta

a usted le gusta = le gusta

a nosotros nos gusta = nos gusta

a vosotros os gusta = os gusta

a ellos les gusta = les gusta

a ellas les gusta = les gusta

a ustedes les gusta = les gusta

These pairs of expressions are treated by Spanish speakers as similar.

A mí me gusta esta canción

If you ask people, why they say A mí me gusta, instead of just Me gusta, they will reply: Oh, it’s the same thing.

It’s like you were saying: Bring me that book to me, or Tell her your name to her. Sounds strange in English, but in Spanish it’s absolutely fine.

Keep in mind, that in Spanish dative pronouns (me, te, le, etc.) can be followed by their prepositional equivalents (a mí, a ti, a él, etc.), but not viceversa. Dative pronouns are compulsory elements, and prepositional pronouns are optional.

Again, prepositional pronouns come in handy when you need to distinguish people:

A él le gusta el café y a ella le gusta el té

If you say Le gusta el café y le gusta el té, you will not be understood.

Besides, they are useful when there is some contradiction between the preferences of two people:

A mí me gusta cantar y a ti te gusta bailar

If you say Me gusta cantar y te gusta bailar, people will understand you, but they will think that something is missing in this phrase.

Try it yourself:

I like the mountains, and she likes the sea

We like Spain, but you like Portugal (vosotros)

However, it’s quite common to use prepositional pronouns when there is no particular reason to add them into the sentence.

¿Te gusta el invierno a ti?

A nosotros nos gusta el verano

¿Le gusta cocinar a tu abuela? – Sí, a ella le gusta cocinar