Help with follow up response after answering a question using a verb like gustar

Question

Would you use a DO pronoun after responding to a question involving a verb like gustar?

For instance: Te gusta el coche? How would you say "I liked it a lot!" ? Would it be Me lo gustó!

or would it just be Me gustó!

Thanks!

Answer 1

The pronoun is not necessary, simply: ¡Me gustó mucho!

Or: ¡Me gustó mucho el coche / El coche me gustó mucho!

Julian: No only is the pronoun "not necessary," it would be wrong to have it, right? - DilKen, May 17, 2017

Answer 2

Julian's answer is 100% correct.

In case you don't understand WHY it is correct, I offer the following.

Me gustó.

"It" is the subject of the sentence. Often in Spanish, the subject can be implicit (included / understood within) in the conjugated verb. That is what is going on here.

Me gustó = It pleased me, or It gave me pleasure. gustó = It pleased

Have you ever seen a little sentence like the following in Spanish?

Me da pena.

Literally, it gives me pity. Once again, "it gives" = da

This has various meanings, ranging from I'm sorry, to I'm embarrassed, but the point is to watch out for all the times when "it" is implicitly incorporated in the conjugated verb.

Unlike he (él) she (ella), they (ellos) and other persons, which have specific subject pronouns, officially "it" does not have a subject pronoun, so when "it" is the subject it is even less likely than the other subjects to show up as a pronoun. I say "officially" because occasionally "eso" or even "ello" are used as subject and might be translated by "it" in English.

Keep in mind that I'm talking Subject pronouns here. Direct and indirect object pronouns are a whole different matter and "it" can show up as lo, la, le etc. Objects of prepositions that can be translated at "it" can also show up as "a él, de ella," etc.