Por que le gusta cocinar?

Question

I am still talking about lesson 2.1 and the question was just asked "¿Por qué es cocinero?" and with help from the photo being of a man standing near a stove the translation is "Why is he a cook?"

In Lesson 2.1 the answer to the question is "Por que le gusta cocinar." Because/likes/to cook. Because the man is answering it's in the yo form, "Because I like to cook." The "Ï" is implied because the man is speaking about himself.

I am only talking about this situation with a man standing at a stove; no woman are in this photograph. My question is do I have the correct translation for this example? "Por que le gusta cocinar."

Answer 1

> In Lesson 2.1 the answer to the question is "Por que le gusta cocinar." Because/likes/to cook. Because the man is answering it's in the yo form, "Because I like to cook." The "Ï" is implied because the man is speaking about himself.
> The pronouns in this case would be:

I failed to look at the "le" part of "le gusta"; the pronoun le tells me who is doing the liking, he/she/it/you so le gusta refers to "he likes"; and I know this from the photo of the man.

I also failed to write "because" correctly it is one word: porque
To translate "Por que le gusta cocinar" into English is: "Because he likes to cook."
Did I get it this time?

I'm not following how "le gusta" is "you like", if the photo is of a man? - bandit51jd, Aug 23, 2010

In these lessons it wouldn't be, but in real life if you were talking to the man formally it could be. - KevinB, Aug 23, 2010

thank you - bandit51jd, Aug 23, 2010

Answer 2

Porque le gusta cocinar = Because he likes to cook (if it's a picture of a man)

The pronouns in this case would be:
me = me
te = you (singular informal)
le = he/she/it/you (singular formal)
nos = us
os = you (you plural informal)
les = them/you (plural formal)

Because I like to cook = Porque me gusta cocinar

Notice that porque = because is one word.

porque le gusta cocinar can also mean "because you like to cook" if it is a picture of a man. - 0074b507, Aug 23, 2010

vos is not you plural informal. os is the proper i.o.p. for vosotros(as), however, in LA les would also be used there. Vos is a subject pronoun: 2nd person, singular, informal like tú (not an i.o.p.) - 0074b507, Aug 23, 2010

It can, but with these lessons there's a little speech bubble to tell you the difference, and the tú and ud. pictures would get confusing, so they never have the ud. - KevinB, Aug 23, 2010

And of course you're right about vos. I've never run into it in my travels in the colonies, though I know it exists in pockets. - KevinB, Aug 23, 2010

Answer 3

¿por qué (usted )es cocinero? = why are you a cook?

¿por qué (él) es cocinero? = why is he a cook?

because I like to cook = porque me gusta cocinar.

because he likes to cook = porque le gusta cocinar.

Sometimes dropped pronouns in Spanish are misleading when talking about 2nd or 3rd person.

Answer 4

¿Por qué le gusta cocinar? without the visual cues can mean:

Why does he like to cook?

Why does she like to cook?

Why do you (formal) like to cook?

It here is meaningless. [Why does it like to cook]

The visual clues lead us to believe that "Why do you like to cook?" is the appropriate question.

The corresponding answer would be:

I like to cook because....

Me gusta cocinar porque....

Because the man is answering it's in the yo form

Yes, the subject of the answer is I (in English), but in this case the Spanish answer do not contain a Yo form. Here the "I" is in the form of an i.o.p. (me).