... si gustas?
Hi all,
So, I'm out with my friend Livia this evening and we decide to grab a bit and practice after the Lila Downs concert (sidebar, it was awwwwwwsome), and she lays the phrase "si gustas" on me, which even after much discussion, I failed to understand.
The context was how to be more polite when asking someone out to some event. (Which I apparently need help on in Spanish, even though the woman had said yes to me). She suggested I could just tack on "si gustas" on the end. As in, if you like, or if you please.. I would have thought that would be "si te gusta" or "si te gustaría"
I don't get this. I'm sure I didn't misunderstand, and found a lot of examples of it surfing around.
Why would this be the case. I now know how to use it, but would prefer to understand it.
Help?
Thanks.
9 Answers
It's not only correct, but common and elegant. Just one of the alternative uses of the verb gustar. Listed on RAE, meaning 5, so Noetol gave the right answer.
You should have answered a polite: "Gusto", Rog (smile) Keep that in mind next time.
My take on this would be that "si gustas" would be, as you said, "if you please".
This is interesting because it is not used as a pronominal form, as is the normal case with gustar. The SD dictionary lists one use for polite forms (number three) as "would you like some", so it doesn't seem much of a stretch to say "si gustas" would mean "if you like", as you mentioned.
In this case "Si gustas" has the same meaning of "if you would like to" In Spanish you can use it instead of "Si quieres"
And you can say "Si (usted) gusta" or "Si (tu) gustas".
and she lays the phrase "si gustas" on me,
That's not correct Spanish because it would mean "If you please it." However, I've noticed that many times native speakers tack on an "s" when it's not necessary.
For example, "¿Me llamastes?" (Did you call me?).
I found several threads online about this additional "S":
I have noticed something about some of the native Spanish speakers at work. Some, not all, will add an "s" at the end of a preterite verb when talking about and directly to someone. For example; my friend Jesus has asked me what I ate. He will ask, "¿Qué comistes?" He doesn't always add the "s", but he does it more often than not. Is this colloquial? Is this a beginner thing that I am oblivious to ? I have now caugth myself adding this "s" as well when I'm talking to someone just because Jesus is the one I primarily talk to in Spanish. What do you all think? Thanks
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The additional 's' in the singular second-person preterite is regional, but that region happens to be all of Latin America (I think). I don't know about Spain.
The second-person conjugations all end in 's' except the singular second-person preterite, so adding a final 's' to the preterite form seems to make perfect sense in some people's minds.
It is considered incorrect in all the Spanish-speaking world, but that doesn't mean it isn't used. Only the less educated tend to use it habitually.
Avoid using it.
I can´t say if the added phrase "si gustas" / "si gustan" etc. is correct or not, but this is quite common and accepted.
The additional S added to 2nd person familiar verbs is a completely different matter, ie: "¿Me llamastes?" This is absolutely incorrect.
It's a short way for asking: would you like to have one?
It's probably not correct Spanish, but it's not unusual. It sounds ancient to me though, but may be local.
Hola. My guess (and it is a guess) is that "if it is pleasing" is just shortening of the phrase "if it is pleasing to yoü."
I've never heard "si gustas", only "gustas?" when someone was offering me a bite of their dinner. But it makes sense that it would mean "if you like"
Thanks to all of you for your help on this. I know I can't hope to understand everything at my level, and thus am willing to gloss over some things, up to a point, but this was so counter to what I'd learned, that I had to investigate a bit. Thanks especially to Cogumela for...
It's not only correct, but common and elegant. Just one of the alternative uses of the verb gustar. Listed on RAE, meaning 5
... as it gives me some reading to go do, along with what I learned from all of you, and from citations in linguee, that it seems to be very common, and apparently even correct.
As such, though I rarely click 'best answer' for fear of alienating any of you other fine answerers, I'm going to click it for cog this time.
Thanks, to All of you.
Roger.
p.s. so, on that note, on the RAE page, what the heck is the second search box exactly? The one labeled "Diccionario panhispánico de dudas"
Otra vez, muchísimas gracias.
