"Gusto" and "gusta"

Question

Why do you say "Me gusta" rather than "Me gusto" to answer the question "Do you like.......?"

Answer 1

because it is the present tense.

Answer 2

I believe that your question is focused on why you would conjugate it in the 3rd person vs 1st person.

The literal translation of the phrase is:

It is pleasing to me

You can see that the subject "it" would require the verb gustar be conjugated in the third person.

If you were to say something like "Me gusta baloncesto" then your subject is baloncesto, and this would require that the verb be conjugated in the third person (i.e. Basketball is pleasing to me/to me basketball is pleasing)

Spanish actually has more than a few verbs that act like this. Try following this link to the reference article regarding Verbs Like Gustar

Answer 3

English speakers are taught it means "I like..." and then I can see why you would think gustar would be conjegated to "gusto". So, actually it is more descriptive of the thing you like "it is pleasing" and is the conjegation of the 3rd person - "gusta". This was very helpful for me too - thank you for askingg this question! Kitty