Need help understanding sentence structure
Please provide clarity on why the following sentence is structured the way it is..."A la niña no le gustan los caballos."
Why use "A la niña" instead of just "La niña"?
Other verbs ending with "an" indicate that several people are performing a particular action. Why is gustan used when only one person is performing the action?
Why use "le" when "la niña" already provides insight on who the subject is?
1 Answer
Because the verb gustar actually means 'to please' rather than how we often translate it as 'to like'.
That makes the horses the subject hence 'gustan' in the plural.
The girl on the other hand is the indirect object hence they 'le' and although the 'le'may seem superfluous given the 'a la niña' phrase it is actually the necessary part with the 'a la niña' part being optional but used here as a clarifier.
The sentence therefore reads ..
To the girl not to her are pleasing the horses.
Or
The horses don't please the girl.
Or the usual English translation ...
The girl doesn't like horses.
I hope I covered everything 
