Les gusta patinar.
They like to skate/they like skating.
(To skate is pleasing to them.)If the indirect object is named, it is normally placed at the beginning of the sentence and
must be introduced by a, but the pronoun form is also included in the sentences and
cannot be omitted:
A Juan le gusta el fútbol.
Juan likes football.
(Football is pleasing to Juan.)A mis padres no les gusta la idea.
My parents don’t like the idea.
(The idea is not pleasing to my parents.)This construction can cause some difficulty for English speakers and so needs to be
studied very carefully.
In colloquial Spanish you will come across the verb gustar being used in other ways,
i.e. not only in the third person, for example:
Me gustas mucho.
I like you very much/you are very pleasing to me.Yo le gusto.
He likes me/I am pleasing to him.There are a number of common verbs in Spanish that follow the same pattern as gustar,
for example:
interesar (to interest)Me interesan tus opiniones.
I am interested in your opinions.
(Your opinions are interesting to me.)encantar (to delight/charm)Les encanta la casa.
They are delighted by the house.
(The house is delightful to them.)apetecer (to be appealing)gustar 89