I'm using rosetta stone and it's giving example sentences such as "a el le gusta nadar"
I'm doing using rosetta stone and it's giving example sentences such as "a el le gusta nadar" This is confusing me. isn't "a" translated into "to" So this literally translates to "to he him he likes to swim"??????? What's going on with this...please help
I suppose my question is about the grammar of spanish. As rosetta stone doesn't quite explain what it's throwing at you except by pictures, I'm having a little trouble understanding the fine points of the language. Could you just say El nino gustes a nadar the boy likes to swim ????? Why is it A el le gusta nadar and is this the way it's commonly spoken, or is this textbook spanish?
12 Answers
It is a él; no a el which would have to be contracted to "al"
"gustar" literally means "to please"
It is transated as "is pleasing to:" which makes it intransitive. " To please" would more likely be used transitively.
If you cannot see the difference between "it pleases him" (transitive) and "It is pleasing to him" (intransitive) then I'm afraid you're going to have a hard time understanding this construction.
To say the boy likes to swim, you would say 'El niño (le) gusta nadar.' Gustar is most often conjugated in the third person form.
Why is that? Gustar can be conjugated just like any other verb? A ella le gusto yo. A Roberto le gustamos nosotros. A María le gustas tú. A nosotros nos gustas tú. The only reason that you see it used in the 3rd person more, is because beginning Spanish students don't understand its construction and don't try anything more difficult that the 3rd person examples that they are normally given.
No, because gustar is a special verb.
The only thing special about gustar is that it is used intransitively for the most part.
It conjugates normally and the subject can either precede or follow the verb as with most verbs in Spanish.
The "a i.o." is a redundant clarifying prepositional phase that clarifies who the i.o.p. pronoun refers to. If there is an "a i.o." prepositional phrase then there must be an i.o.p. The can be an i.o.p. without the clarifying prepositional phase, however.
A Bob le gustamos nosotros. Since the to Bob prepositional phrase exists you must have the i.o.p. (le).
Le gustamos nosotros. We can have the i.o.p. (le) without the prepositional phrase to explain who the le refers to. We have to determine its antecedent from context.
This is correct. When talking about what someone likes, this is normal.
Me gusta. I like. "gustar" literally means "to please" so, me gusta means "it pleases me"
Te gusta, same concept.
Le gusta. "It pleases him."
But, when using the pronoun "le", if you are going to specify to whom you are referring, the personal "a" must be used.
"A la profesora le gusta enseñar." "The teacher likes to teach."
The confusing thing about this is that the verb gustar is most often conjugated in the third person, the direct translation of this is 'Swimming is pleasing to him'.
To say the boy likes to swim, you would say 'El niño (le) gusta nadar.'
Gustar is most often conjugated in the third person form.
I have to agree with philmikki. Rosetta Stone works great in helping to remember words and I learned a lot through my lessons. However there were a lot of things I had to search for online - gustar being one of those things. Rosetta Stone simply does not give you the background info to know WHY the sentences are put together in the way they are. I also suggest using spanishdict alongside Rosetta Stone to get the best of both worlds. It is more work but you'll have a much better understanding of WHY!
Question: "A el le gusta nadar" is correct. Is simply "Le gusta nadar" also correct? (and if not, would it work in a short hand kind of way, like if you were watching the boy swim and knew what you were talking about?)
No, because gustar is a special verb. "A el le gusta nadar" means: "Swimming pleases him". And a more natural way of saying it would simply be "Le gusta nadar". And this verb "gustar" refers to "nadar" (the action), not to "le" - which is only an object pronoun.
"Le gusta nadar" literally means "swimming is pleasing for him". It's a different construction than in English.
"a el le gusta nadar" means "he likes to swim" My wife and I got Rosetta Stone about a moth ago and are using it every day. We enjoy how they introduce words and practice them. Everyting that Rosetta Stone say is true.We got the good software download at http://www.perfectrosettastone.info/
A mí me gusta nadar = Me gusta nadar ( a mí) A tí te gusta nadar = Te gusta nadar ( a tí) A él le gusta nadar = Le gusta nadar ( a él) A nosotros nos gusta nadar = Nos gusta nadar ( a nosotros) A vosotros os gusta nadar = Os gusta nadar ( a vosotros ) A ellos les gusta nadar = Les gusta nadar.( a ellos)
A mí me gusta mucho nadar, pero aún le gusta más a mí prima .Creo que a vosotros no os gusta nadar demasiado. Mi abuela también nadaba bastante bien.Creo que nadar es bueno para la salud . De hecho , hay un refrán español que dice :” El que nada, no se ahoga”. A mí me gusta tanto nadar,que sí pudiese lo haría en mi bañera.¿ No crees que sería divertido el poder nadar en la bañera?. Claro que no hay nada como nadar en el mar.Por eso , para el próximo verano iré a nadar al Mediterráneo.
I hope help you.
We have never asked ourselves why we say things like "I'm on the bus" (in our own language) when we aren't literally "on" the bus, but in the bus. So why is it important that new learners of Spanish know the "whys" of the language (structure, grammar etc) when we probably can't explain much of our own language?
If the people who have posted here are experts and still can't agree on the "why" of the personal "a", maybe it's not that important...
Rosetta Stone teaches you the language in context, and assumes that you can stop asking 'why', get out of your own way, and learn the language.
In spanish, a verb, an action has to go somewhere. That's what the "a" is for. And the other thing that may be confusing you is the direction in which spanish moves. Example. I like that. That's english. That likes me. That's spanish. To him swimming likes him. That's what is comes as in spanish. The "a" connects it all. That's as close to explaining it as I can get. I hope that it can help you in some way, and yes, it's confusing. 
I am also doing Rosetta Stone and I have been taking the lessons on here. If it weren't for Spanishdict.com I believe I would be totally lost. I would suggest taking this course also (at the same time). You will progress much faster.
