Why not me instead of le?

Question

In the "word of the day" July 21, 2011 we have: Sospecho que a él no le gusto. - I suspect that he doesn't like me. Why is le used here instead of me? Thanks in advance for your answers!

Answer 1

This is an excellent question! "Gustar" can sometimes be a little tricky for English speakers to understand because it works a little "backwards" from what we are used to.

Don't think of "gustar" as "to like". That will just lead to confusion.

It actually means "to please".

"Gusto" is the yo-form present indicative of "gustar" - "I please".

"Le", in this case, would mean "him".

It literally means, "I suspect that I don't please him."

However, in English, we interpret is as, "I suspect that he doesn't like me."

I just saw this in your profile. So now you understand the construction of this sentence. It actually translates to "Studying new subjects pleases me", but we interpret it as "I like studying new subjects".

For more about "gustar", feel free to read this short answer!

I hope I helped!