regarding "A"

Question

While using Facebook, whenever a person likes a status, or a picture (anything basically), it is displayed as (lets say a person named "smalleye" likes your status) , then its is displayed as "A smalleye le gusta esto." I don't understand the purpose of the "A" at the beginning. Why is it used there and what's the meaning of it?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

HI smalleye, we are talking about the indirect object here, which is introduced by a in Spanish.

Escribo una carta a María.

Estoy comprando algo a Pedro.

A Pedro le gusta jugar al tenis.

Answer 2

"A" in spanish is a direct pronoun meaning to it is also used indirectly. SInce the verb "gustar" means to be pleasing to, the sentence "A smalleye le gusta esto" means Smalleye likes this when literally translated it means this is pleasing TO smalleye thaths where the "A" comes in.

For example- Maria likes strawberry jam A Maria le gusta la mermelada de fresa

Answer 3

thanks for the explanation! so does that mean "Me gusta futból" is equivalent to "A mi gusta futból" ?