Why does me gusta mean

For example, me gusta bailar means "I like to dance. Basically, it just depends on what gustar is followed by. I have been struggling to get this right and Heidita pointed me in the direction of the thread in resources link text I hope that helps. Learn Spanish. Sign in. Read more at thelearninglight. While the most common use is absolutely either gusta or gustan see this Google N-Gram , I omitted valid forms that weren't found so I could fit it all in a single search , the other forms, as you can see, are certainly used.

There is also another way to use gustar that mirrors the English construction a bit more closely and is identical to modern Portuguese , although it will come off very formal in modern Spanish. See the comparison:. To use this structure, you use gustar with the same subject you would in the English statement, and follow it with the preposition de. The thing that is liked is the object of that preposition. The alternate construction may be found mostly in writing, as I highlight below, and in this case, "de" should not be omitted:.

No, it is not correct. At least not grammatically correct. While it may be accepted in casual conversation, gustar is conjugated with either a singular or a plural ending. The person is not doing the action, rather represents a single noun that has an effect on a person.

In this case, the subject pronoun 'you' is not doing the action, therefore the second person tense is not employed. Rather, another item, a singular noun, which happens to be a person, is having an effect on a person. It's comparable to saying that person makes me If you require more explanation, look in verbs. It's a great resource.

Buena suerte. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Is "me gustas" ever correct, e. Ask Question. Asked 9 years, 10 months ago. While I am not Mexican, I have grown up around them, lived in Mexico, taught Spanish in public schools and studied it in college, and I can tell you that "me gusta helado" is not correct, nor does it sound natural.

That being said, you can leave off the "el" for two reasons: 1 people will understand you perfectly well and will overlook the fact that you omitted the article, because you are not a native speaker; and 2 when one pronounces "el helado", it sounds like "el el ado".

The repetitive sound is pronounced so quickly by native speakers that the two "el"s almost merge into one "el", and therefore one is easy to overlook. So in one sense, you are correct that the "el" in this sentence can be left off; but it by no means "optional" and it is not gramatically correct to leave it off. Saludos cordiales. After re-reading your posts in this thread padredeocho, I wanted to suggest a few resources to you. There are a lot of threads in the Grammar forum about gustar, caer, quedar and the related verbs my search -- here -- turned up 14 previous threads.

If you read some of those threads, they might give you a better understanding of this construction. A mi me gusta helado el gazpacho, pero no me gusta el helado. It is sad when somebody tries to make a personal battle out of something. I can only post what I hear people say. Taking issue with what a person has heard is just plain idiotic. I have heard me gustan manzanas, and me gustan las manzanas. It really does not matter what somebody in an ivory tower think is right or wrong.

What matters is what people say. So, let's stop bellyaching over what is right and what is wrong. My point is that I have heard it both ways. Can we move on and stop being so petty and small-minded?

The same stuck ups would have no problem saying this: He talks funny. I have spent years reading grammar books, and I can quote them from here to the moon. Anybody who does not speak to his audience is a fool.

Writing is more formal than speech, and speech gets less and less formal the more you know somebody. I begin this by saying I am a native speaker of Spanish. I did not learn it as a second language. English is my second language. In Spanish, the articles "el, la, los, las" are also used when referring to objects in generic terms, as a whole.

Women often think that way. Like I said, I understand the teaching strategy, but semantically "please" is not exactly the same as "like", neither in Spanish nor in English. I understand your trick, though. If it works for your students, then great.

I leave it because it is useful I think in terms of the use of the article. I don't mean to argue any further. Great forum! I'm sorry to continue this debate, but if I may throw in my opinion, I understand "gustar se " not as "to please" but "to be pleasing". Therefore: te gusto? I like you find you attractive me gusta el helado - ice cream is pleasing to me. I like it nos gusta el helado - ice cream is pleasing to us. They like it me gustan los dulces - sweets are pleasing to me.

I like them I am not a native speaker, but that is how I was taught it, and it makes most sense to me, to explain it as "it is pleasing to me". They like it. How to use Me Gusta and Gusto in Spanish. Written by Diana Luciana. January 22, Because of that, the Spanish verb gustar needs an indirect object pronoun: Me to me Te to you, singular Le to him, to her Nos to us Os to you, plural Les to them Me gusta vs.

Because of that, the verb gustar must match the subject in number : Me gusta el libro. I like the book.