Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

How to say you like or dislike someone or something 58.1Creo que le gustará éste.I think he/she will like this one.No les gustó mucho el tuyo.They didn’t like yours much.Les gustaron los míos.They liked mine.In order to focus attention on the thing liked, the noun or pronoun is sometimesplaced in initial position, before the object pronoun.El fútbol no me gusta.I don’t like football.España me gustó mucho.I liked Spain very much.Las playas también nos gustaron.We also liked the beaches.58.1.2Using gustar with an infinitiveTo say whether one or others like or liked doing something, use an infinitive after theappropriate form of gustar.Me gusta jugar al tenis.I like playing tennis.Le gusta hacer deportes.You like or he/she likes playing sports.58.1.3 Use of a + pronoun to avoid ambiguity in the third personTo avoid ambiguity in the third person singular and plural, as in le gusta, ‘you like’ ‘he/she likes’, les gusta, ‘you/they like’, the object pronoun (in this case le/les), is precededby the preposition a followed by the corresponding pronoun, usted, él, ella, ustedes,ellos, or ellas. Often however, this is not necessary, as the context makes it clear towhom one is referring.25.1.1.2 (p. 118); 8.2.1 (p. 36); 8.3 (p. 39)A él le gusta el vino.He likes wine.A ella no le gusta Bilbao.She doesn’t like Bilbao.A ustedes les gusta el hotel, ¿no?You like the hotel, don’t you?A ellos no les gustan los deportes.They don’t like sports.341