Other Examples Like No me gusta
Are the some other examples like:
No me gusta bailar.
Where the negative (no) comes before the pronoun and verb?
I'm trying to understand when you use this sentence structure rather than (yo) "no verb" to state a negative directly rather than having to put the no directly before the verb as in No como sandia. (I don't eat watermelon.)
Thanks
p.s. I'm beginning to love the logic of Spanish grammer logic, I just want to understand it better. It really seems like it will be simpler to understand than English once I get the hang of it.
11 Answers
"No lo como." means I don't eat it, where lo is referring to a masculine noun, right?
Correct.
"No le veo." means I don't see him, where le is referring to a male person, right?
Not necessarily, since le is also used for females. "No le veo" is short for "No le veo a él" or "No le veo a ella."
"No me lo creo" means I didn't create it? Once again where lo is referring to a masculine noun. Is the "me" necessary? Isn't the "me" implied by using creo which is 1st person singular. i.e. couldn't you just say No lo creo?
The verb is not crear, but creer. When used pronominally, i.e. creerse, it means not just "to believe", but "to believe completely" or "to bring oneself to believe". No me lo creo means "I can't believe it," but note the emphasis on how that something (lo) is so unbelievable, which "No lo creo" doesn't really capture.
As Heidita said, when you deal with "no ...(some) verb and direct/indirect object pronouns (related to the verb) are involved, they are "sandwiched" in between the "no" and the verb. This is, simply a fact of Spanish speech.
Your association of this phenomenon with "gustar" (or "Gustar-like" verbs) is unfortunate. Apparently you have been seduced by those who speak of "gustar-like" verb (as though they were is some sense, unusual). In fact, there are dozens (actually, I think, hundreds of verbs in both English and Spanish that operate in the same way). Simply because the most common translation of "Me gusta X." is "I like X." [with the inversion of subject and object]), that is not the only translation. In the case of many other verbs, the most common translations do, in fact, preserve the subject/object relationship.
Comer is a transitive verb:
Como sandía / No como sandía.
La como / No la como.
Sandía is the direct object in the first pair of sentences.
La is the pronoun for the direct object (la sandía) in the second pair of sentences.
Now, (in this case) gustar is not a transitive verb, but an intransitive one. Vgr.:
Me gusta la sandía / No me gusta la sandía.
Me gusta / No me gusta.
In these four sentences, the pronoun me doesn't represent the direct object, but the indirect object: a mí: (to me).
And the subject in these sentences is... la sandía!
--Te gusta bailar?
--No, no me gusta (a mí). Pero a ellas sí les gusta. A ustedes les gusta bailar?
A mí no, pero a ella, sí.
No precedes object pronouns when the are placed before the verb, but not subject pronouns.
Well, actually if you use a pronoun in the sentence, which precedes the verb as a general rule, the negative "no" always goes before the pronoun.
No lo como.
No le veo.
No me lo creo.
Something explaining why the No has to precede the pronoun would be helpful.
It's quite simple. No serves as the negation of "me gusta" (I like) that's why it precedes the pronoun & the verb.
It is used when the English phrase starts with "I don't", but there are three constructions that you can make:
I don't like to dance:
No me gusta bailar.
A mi no me gusta bailar.
Yo no gusto de bailar.
Maybe that's what is making you doubt, they mean the same thing, but don't use the last one, it is very formal and people don't use it a lot.
btw, could you explain to me how to use the phrase: "once I get the hang of it" please. 
Usaranzo: Thank you for referring me to the link.
However, I could find no examples where the No preceded the pronoun. I am very comfortable with no directly preceding the verb. When does it have to precede a pronoun. For example, I have learned that Me no gusta...is not right, it has to be No me gusta. Something explaining why the No has to precede the pronoun would be helpful.
Thanks Ken
"Well, actually if you use a pronoun in the sentence, which precedes the verb as a general rule, the negative "no" always goes before the pronoun.
No lo como.
No le veo.
No me lo creo.
Thank you, beginning to understand. Please help me understand some of the above sentence structures.
"No lo como." means I don't eat it, where lo is referring to a masculine noun, right?
"No le veo." means I don't see him, where le is referring to a male person, right?
"No me lo creo" means I didn't create it? Once again where lo is referring to a masculine noun. Is the "me" necessary? Isn't the "me" implied by using creo which is 1st person singular. i.e. couldn't you just say No lo creo?
Hi, Kenhuiz,
This may be what is confusing you:
No como sandia. It means, as you say, I don't eat watermelon.
But,
No me gusta. doesn't directly mean "I don't like it"
It really translates as:
It does not (me) please. Or, for the more comfortable translation:
It does not please me.
There are other expressions that don't translate exactly, but maybe one of the
Spanish speaking experts can turn their expertise to mentioning those!
