gusta vs. gustas

Question

Hola,

I'm taking a beginning spanish class and am a little confuse about when to use gusta or gustas.

I thought it was gusta for the singular like I, you, he, she and gustas for the plural like we or you all. My book seems to be using gusta even for the plural.

I'd appreciate some clarification.

Thanks, Jennifer

Answer 1

the reason that it is the same is that the tense of the verb ie "like" is not changing becuase of the examples you are looking at. it is pleasing to you "it" being singular or it is pleasing to them, "it" is still singular, therefore
a mi, me gusta jugar al tenis - i like to play tennis.
a ellos, les gusta a jugar al tenis- they like to play tennis.
gusta changes to gustan when the thing that you like is in the plural ie
a mi, me gustan peliculas serias - i like serious films
a ellos, les gustan peliculas serias - they like serious films

Muchas Gracias, that helped very much. - victorynick, OCT 29, 2009

Answer 2

the change in using gustar with we or you all vs I you he she is in the pronoun. I like it is Me gusta, I like those is Me gustan. If i wanted to say We like it, I would say Nos gusta, or say They like you, les gustas. Literally 'Me gusta' means 'it pleases me' so you conjugate gustar for the thing you like, and the pronoun is for who likes it.