Confusing (for me) use of "gustar"
A little while ago, I was trying to help a friend translate the phrase "I can understand liking that tv show...." I couldn't figure out how you would translate that, since, to my knowledge, "gustar" means "to be pleasing" not "to like". My attempt was "Puede ser que a algiuen le guste ese programa de televisión..." Is there a better way to say it, or is there no good way to translate this sentence?
4 Answers
In English, I would translate gustar to mean "like". Often it is taught as "to be pleasing" because it helps us (English speakers and learners of Spanish) to remember that the verb gustar doesn't conjugate according to the person who likes it but rather the thing that is liked. So, saying "to be pleasing" fits the bill so we can "think" the sentence out in Spanish.
You've had your question ably answered by Katy and Franco but just in case you have more questions about gustar or other verbs that work that way here's a wee lesson that might help .
Maxwell, your translation is perfect. Puede ser que a alguien le guste ese programa de TV.
The expression "I can understand", in the sense of maybe, does not have a one-to-one translation in Spanish. So your choice is perfect.
I think maybe another, possibly helpful way of looking at this, and relating it to English, is the opposite Spanish verb -- disgustar, because that one is used similarly in both Spanish and English. .
Me disgusta eso.
.
That disgusts me.
. This seems to me to be an example in English, where the speaker is the object, just like gustar, molestar, interesar.. And what is further interesting (perhaps only to me) is that though 'gustar' seems very foreign to we native English speakers at first, when you take the opposite verb, disgustar/disgust, they are obvious cognates. I've been wondering for a while why this example isn't used to help teach verbs like gustar (at least to native English speakers) Seems like a missed opportunity.
