gustan plus infinitives
Every time I see an example of a gustar verb in a book or on the internet the person never likes more than two things. example spanishdict gustar page
And here it is in my book (GBE from Difusión):
Cuando el sujecto es una combinación de varios infinitivos, o de infinitivo y substantico, el verbo va en singular. El verbo sólo va en plural si hay un sustantivo plural más cerca del verbo que el infinitivo.
Examples: Me gusta ir al cine y las novelas de misterio. Me gustan las novelas de misterio y ir al cine. Me gusta ir al cine y leer. Me gusta el cine y leer.
Okay here is the problem:
Me apasionan (me gustan) el olor a tierra mojada, pintarme la cara de colores y tu sonrisa.
What I am guessing is that when there are two nouns plus an infinitive you always count the subject as being plural and use gustan?
OR that sentence was a misprint in the book and it should be "me apasiona".
Thanks for your help! Sorry about asking so many questions today, I am cramming.
1 Answer
Hola, Rabbit -
You have an excellent question, and a search on WordReference.com will let you know that you are not alone in asking this!
The general consensus among native Spanish speakers in the Wordreference forum would agree with your conclusion, although there is some mention that native speakers may vary the verb form based on regional preference.
Native speakers on the WordReference forum say that a series of infinitives requires the singular form of "gustar", whereas a series of singular nouns requires the plural form, although there is a sidebar discussion regarding variations of word order.
