Me gusta/ me gustan

Question

Me gusta estudiar y leer.

? That's correct, right?

But why isn't it gustan?

estudiar y leer are two different actions, do we just count it as one?

Answer 1

Because you are basically saying:

I like this thing and that thing. (both are staying in a singular form)

whereas if you had put them together you would need gustan.

Estudiar y leer, me gustan los dos.

Hope that helps

"y" seems to be treated as a disjunctive conjunction rather than a copulative conjunction in this context. Why? ¿Quién sabe? I've never heard a satisfactory explanation, beyond "descriptive" usage. - 0074b507, Jun 23, 2010

I still don't really get it. Though they are in singular form, why aren't they counted as plural when they are joined by "and"? - timothychongg, Jun 24, 2010