Two subjects with gustar

Question

If I wanted to say "My sister and my mom like pizza and chicken", where would I need the personal "a"?

A mi hermana y a mi madre le gusta la pizza y el pollo.

1) Would I need the "a" before "mi madre"?

2) Would I need the "el" before "pollo"? I looked on some sites and it said to use gusta with two nouns for simplicity because the second "le gusta" is hidden before "el pollo": A mi hermana y a mi madre le gusta la pizza y (le gusta) el pollo", so could I omit the "el" before pollo? A simple yes or no for if I need el or not before pollo will be a good enough answer. I know that I need articles before nouns after gustar. Just looking if omitting an article is grammatically correct or not if I wanted to shorten this sentence.

I know that when I want to say Me and my family like pizza and chicken, I would say: "A mi familia y a mí nos gusta la pizza y el pollo". So does the "a" go before every subject?

See your answers on your second example it is gustan - Mardle, Jun 14, 2016

Oh right! I'll do a quick edit. Thank you Mardle :) - Ramonaspiker, Jun 14, 2016

Answer 1

A mi hermana y a mi madre les gusta la pizza y el pollo.

It must be les- not le, you are talking about two people. Les refers to both your mother and your sister.

Technically, you must put the a before each object- they are not the subject, instead the indirect objects, la pizza and el pollo are the subjects. I have seen the second a dropped, but I don't think that is technically correct and proper.

In this case you are correct in using gusta, not gustan, because even though you have two subjects, each one counts separately.

It would be "les gustan las pizzas y el pollo" but "les gusta el pollo y las pizzas". It goes with whichever subject is first.

Since they are separate subjects, they each need an article.

Mentally les gusta la pizza y les gusta el pollo.

Great answer, bosque. But... - jtaniel, Jun 14, 2016

"Gusta" in place of "gustan" - not clear. "Me gustan ese camisa y ese bolso." http://spanish.about.com/od/usingparticularverbs/qt/gustar_plural.htm - jtaniel, Jun 14, 2016

Good point, I have quoted that before myself. I suppose I tend to go with the common usage rather than the preferred usage, and these nouns are indeed countable, so gustan would be easily justified. Thanks. :) - bosquederoble, Jun 14, 2016

Thank you so much Bosque and Jtaniel! :) - Ramonaspiker, Jun 14, 2016

Gracias astotxua! Great and clear answers guys! I appreciate it a lot :) - Ramonaspiker, Jun 14, 2016

De nada. :) - bosquederoble, Jun 14, 2016

Answer 2

It is the "pizza" ane the "pollo" that are doing the "pleasing" so you need the plural form of the verb--"gustan" You also have two people involved, so you need the personal "a" in each case, plus the indirect pronoun "les"

The correct sentence. "A me hermana y a mi madre les gustan la pizza y el pollo.

You need the articles, because "pizza" and "pollo" are both subjects in the sentence.

(I hope I'm not too late in getting this on. :( )

You're never too late Daniela! I appreciate every answer! None of this is homework or business so I don't have a deadline to learn this. Just trying to improve my personal Spanish knowledge :) Thank you so much! - Ramonaspiker, Jun 14, 2016

Answer 3

A Raúl le gustaba el taco y el helado. A Raúl le gustaban el taco y el helado. Raúl liked the taco and the ice cream.

Not only people who use the language but most who teach it will argue that the first variant is correct (even going against the RAE) because it makes more sense. The verb is next to the first subject, which determines the plurality of the verb. The second subject is an addition and should not affect the verb,

But most people eat more than just one taco, so we would say in this case: A Raúl le gustaban los tacos y el helado. Again, here "el helado" is just an addition.

That is the way I do it, as I noted, even though I am going against the RAE. I think what the majority choose to do trumps the grammarians, well, unless they choose to do things good, which I abhor. :) - bosquederoble, Jun 18, 2016

Thanks Julian and Bosque! - Ramonaspiker, Jun 19, 2016

Answer 4

I just came across the following in a magazine article:

Pareciera que cada vez que oímos hablar de Venezuela tiene que ver con el petróleo o la política. Se nos olvida que con 2800 kilómetros de costa caribeña, Venezuela debe ser un paraíso para quienes nos gusta el mar y la playa.

Note: "...quienes nos gusta el mar y la playa." Not "...quienes nos gustan el mar y la playa." Is the author wrong?

In English we say "the sea and the beach ARE pleasing to us". So yeah the author is wrong, but most people don't care about that little grammar mistake - Ramonaspiker, Jun 19, 2016

Answer 5

@Malbecblend

Note: "...quienes nos gusta el mar y la playa." Not "...quienes nos gustan el mar y la playa." Is the author wrong?

Note that I used gusta not gustan, jtaniel pointed out that that is controversial and left the link below, Daniela picked the grammatically preferable to the academy and I acknowledged that I chose the more commonly spoken variant over the RAE preferred one:

http://spanish.about.com/od/usingparticularverbs/qt/gustar_plural.htm

But the Academy would pluralize the verb if the objects are countable. One of the Academy's examples: En el patio crecían un magnolio y una azalea. A magnolia and an azalea grew in the courtyard..

In real life, however, the singular verb (when it precedes two subjects) is used much more often than the Academy would suggest. In everyday speech, even when verbs such asgustar have two countable subjects, the singular verb is usually used. In the following examples, both sentences might be said by native speakers, but the first is more commonly heard even though the second one is grammatically preferable to the Academy:

• Me duele la cabeza y el estómago. Me duelen la cabeza y el estómago. I have a headache and stomachache.

• Me gusta mi cama y mi almohada. Me gustan mi cama y mi almohada. I like my bed and my pillow.

• A Raúl le gustaba el taco y el helado. A Raúl le gustaban el taco y el helado. Raúl liked the taco and the ice cream.

I remember when I said you can't argue with the RAE, and Daniela said "yes you can". :D - bosquederoble, Jun 18, 2016

bosquederoble, that was really helpful. Excellent explanation. - malbecblend, Jun 18, 2016

Keep in mind, gustan only with countable, not uncountable or infinitives. - bosquederoble, Jun 18, 2016