158 Comments
the conjugation of gustar, which means "to be pleasing," refers to the thing doing the pleasing, not the person being pleased. In this sentence, esas mujeres is a plural they, so gustar is conjugated appropriately to refer to "those women." Another way of looking at this sentence is that it says "Those women (esas mujeres) were pleasing (gustaron) to me (me)."
Thanks for the info. I hate that verb (gustar), and im not to fond of Estar and Ser either, lol. too bad its impossible to remove them from my vocabulary
The women liked me would be a las mujeres les gusté (i was pleasing to the women. Remember always use le/les for gustar and NOT lo/la/los/los. TO them= indirect object= le/les
That's because it translates to "I liked those women." Just like if you wanted to say "I like them (por ejemplo: fresas)" you would say "me gustan" which doesn't mean they like you, right? You wouldn't say "los gusto."
"those women pleased me." That should be the translation. After reading much of the material below, I still stand with that. I will change it to get through duo but it's a shame to lose the real meaning. I think we ought to be translating this word for word since the concept is more interesting than just liking someone. I think the flavor of a culture should be in the translation. That's my theory so that missing the flavor and uniqueness of a person and their words and culture and thoughts is not watered down. keep the flavor. In French, people say that someone is missing from them, in a way, instead of missing. So it is like this in construction. it's a very touching way to describe the feeling of loss that English is not at all up to. But French is. So why lose it or water it down.
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Thank you for this insightful explanation! You have added a new dimension to my learning Spanish. Muchisimas gracias! (sorry, I don't know how to type accents.)
If you are using a smartphone or tablet, you hold the "key" down and a bunch of options will pop up.
That works on android devices, and it's super-handy, but I'm not sure that iOS has that feature.
> "Those women (esas mujeres) were pleasing (gustaron) to me (me)."
Wouldn't "were pleasing" be "gustaban" not "gustaron"?
Gustaban is imperfect and gustaron is preterite. Certain cases would use certain tenses you just have to know which one to use. But this lesson is preterite so its gustaron
This was the exact issue I had when looking at the sentence. I recognized the root word but the conjugation was unfamiliar.
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"were pleasing" is imperfect tense. "those women *pleased me" should be the translation
still i dont understand why it does not say. ellos/ellas gustaron........ . how can it be yo gustaron, and not yo gusté since gusté is the yo form right?
Just like CGiattino said, the LITERAL translation of this sentence is not "I liked those women," but rather "Those women were pleasing to me." The verb is conjugated for "women," because they are the subject of the sentence. They are the ones performing the action, therefore the verb is conjugated in third-person plural for "ellas."
I see. From my perspect the 'yo' or I is the only one that counts. But in spanish, whether the women realized it or not, they were doing the "action" of being pleasing. Even though its all from my perspective. Confusing but i think i understand.
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ok.. Yeah that is what I was going to ask... So basically it is a deponent verb?
No. Neither English nor Spanish have deponent verbs, i.e. verbs with active meaning taking their form from another voice, usually the passive one. Like and gustar just change subject to object and vice versa. The same is valid for like and please. Therefore, when translating gustar, one can use please as a working hypothesis and change it to like in the final version.
Still; is the subject "Me" or "mujeres"? As it is written ...to me the subject has to be "Me"
The subject is mujeres. The form "gustaron" tells that the Spanish subject is a third person plural: mujeres
Just like CGiattino said, the LITERAL translation of this sentence is not "I liked those women," but rather "Those women were pleasing to me." The verb is conjugated for "women," because they are the subject of the sentence - the ones performing the action - therefore the verb is conjugated in third-person plural for "ellas." The first person pronoun "me" is an object pronoun, and is receiving the action (the first person subject pronoun, "yo," is not used here.)
Gracias! This is one of the anomalies of this particular verb that always throws me
Your reply makes good sense. So may I ask, why is the English "I liked those women." Would it not be better "Those women were pleasing to me"? Why is gustar so often translated 'liked' instead of a form of 'to be pleasing' when the latter is what it actually means?
Because "gustar" is a common word in Spanish, and the closest and most natural approximation in English is "like." In English it sounds weird to say "Playing the guitar is pleasing to me" or "Camels are pleasing to me." The most common way to convey that we enjoy something is to say that we like it.
Could someone clarify this for me, I was always informed in classes not to use gustar to say you liked someone because it actually has a sexual connotation is there a reason that is not the case here or is this a poor use of the gustar?
Thank you for posting this. Agreed. At least in Mexico this sentence would have a sexual connotation.
Ya and duolingo loves using gustarle about people, it supposed to be caerle. duolingo is really good for getting practice in hearing and improving vocab but you have to be careful this could get you in some hot water. por ejemplo i once asked my mexican friend (a guy) te gusta pitbull (the rapper)? he was quick too point out me gusta la musica de pitbull pero no él.
In Mexico, "me gustaron esas mujeres" could be interpreted as 'I fancy those women', but it can also just mean that you liked them. It depends on context and who you're speaking with.
It would be safer to say "me agradaron esas mujeres" to mean you liked them.
Yikes! I visited a little Mexican Spanish church a few weeks ago and said, "Me gusta la iglesia". I thought I got a strange look! I hope I can go back! Should I apologize?
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I learnt that the hard way. In a Spanglish moment, I accidentally said "Quieres coger esta noche para un lección?" They asked for more details. Jejejeje
I asked a cab driver in Juarez, MX "Donde yo cojo un autobús. He replied in perfect English "I don't know, try the tailpipe" and he then explained to me what an idiom was all about. We both were laughing so hard my stomach hurt. He gave me a free ride to where I was going. He said I made his day.
When I was in Mexico City many years ago, I was treated so well and kindly, and warmly. People were not after the buck but sharing real help. One guy asked if he might pay my bus ticket not as a flirt but to appreciate how he was treated in America. That's how people are...people seemed to go out of their way to help...men and women...and not willing to take a tip. That was the rule, tho of course there are exceptions. Truly caring.
No, the English word is actually "codger" and refers to a grumpy old man. I've heard that it's a blending of the phrase 'coffin dodger', meaning he should probably already be dead.
I think here in Mexico it would be better to say "me cayeron bien esas mujeres" for "I (non-sexually) liked those women". And "me cayeron gordas esas mujeres" for "I (non-sexually) didn't like those women".
'caer gordo/a' is an idiom, you would only use it in informal settings. Even 'caer bien o mal' is somewhat informal. In a formal conversation I would use 'me agradaron / desagradaron'
According to wordreference, "gustar" means "attracted by", "delight in", "enjoy", or "please", all of which sound sexual to me. I second the suggestion of "agradar" as a safer alternative.
I always learned "gustar" as the default word to use to say that you liked something (person, place, thing, or idea notwithstanding.)
Reading through these comments, I feel like my life has been a lie! cries to self
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Hmmm, so maybe we could get the "by" out ot "attracted" and say "Those women attracted me." so then we could still satisfy the English constructon of "Those women"-Subject, "attracted"-Verb, "me*"-Direct Object ? I know this would convey a difference in meaning a lttle bit, but would it really? Just my two cents...
I was told the same thing in Costa Rica. The teacher said to use me cae bien for a specific female. It is not the same thing referring to a class or a group of women as this would nor be considered sexual. Una mujer sí. For example I was staying at a Shirley's home. I would say " a Shirley, me cae bien. Totally innocent expression.
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the mouseover lists "tasted" as an alternate translation of "gustaron".
Not an "alternate!" You picked up on a myth and take it as truth. Most commonly the "mouse over" shows translations of a word which are used in different contexts and do not apply to the current situation They are shown for our education so that we can understand how the word has other usages beyond the present. However, sometimes, though rarely, all the shown words can apply to the current usage. This is just another situation in line with Duolingo's inconsistencies.
That's a good summation of my experience and a very good positive take on it...
Thank yiu, Marie. Once one understands how it works it can be extremely helpful.
One other thing. All new words will have the top word as the current translation.
One other thing further. And I mean for this to be a cool learning trick. Whenever I need to do a peek so I can provide an accurate translations, I deliberately spoil it by adding a couple of Xes on the end of the line to intentionally error out. I do this so that I will be given the problem again.
I copy paste the new ones to a list for review but they made them harder to copy without going to the comments page. Seeing a word in various sizes of print seems to help but adverbs, connectors, and some verbs just take reps. I wish the comments section were divided with the tips and tricks for memory and roots of words to help remember at the top. ;)
thanks, I always got confused by this. not sure why you got downvoted enough to be hidden.
My down votes occur because there are a few students who get off by doing that to me. Some day they may grow up. But I wouldn't bet on it.
I don't understand where the "I" comes from in this sentence. I understand that me gusta means I like, but if the verb form is "gustaron" that is plural, not singular. What linguistic subtlety am I not getting, so that I don't continue to make the same mistake?
The literal translation would be: The women were pleasing to me. In English we would say: I liked those women. The sentence construction is completely changed in Spanish. The women (subj) were pleasing (verb) to me (direct object). In English: I (subj) liked (verb) those women (direct object) .
Since subj / verb must agree, gustaron is used so it agrees (in number) with the plural subject, women.
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I do not know why but "gustar" is a bit odd. If it was singular the answer would be "Me gustó esa mujer" = "I liked that woman"
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or me gusto esas mujeres. i liked those women. I don't get why it's it's gustaron. why is not not those women like me since gustaron agrees with the subject?
Because it is in the past those women were pleasing to me. It is using the 3d person plural preterite conjugation.
In reference to how mexicans and spanish (from spain speak).
Cojer is perfectly fine in Spain and "Quieres cojer esta taxi" is perfectly acceptable with no sexual connotation. The same goes with the verb gustar. It is freely used in Spain.
Why does "me" have a hint that says "I had a jacket made"? Is it really that specific lol?
I think "me había una chaqueta hecha" is the translation for "I had a jacket made.(correct me if the syntax is wrong). I think that the translation given for "me" here was supposed to go with the entire sentence. I think we should report it.
So I tried out what I think would be the literal translation just to see if it would be accepted: "those women pleased me" - but duolingo rejected it. I knew it was looking for "I liked those women" but I wanted to experiment. BTW, is my first translation accurate in a literal sense?
Yeah, I don't know the grammar terminology, but "pleased me" is not the same as "were pleasing to me". I think the latter is the literal translation.
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The tip for "gustaron" says "wished, liked, tasted". "I wished" is wrong. Why?
I find it somewhat funny to notice, that with 'gusta' the subject and the object make a total 'looping'. Me gustaron = I like ... BUT there it is;'I (singular)' cannot be the subject in this Spanish sentence, 'cause 'gustaron' is plural. Therefore this sentence should be translated sort of reversed: 'Those women please me.'
Likewise "No nos gusta el pollo." There nosotros (nos) is plural - but gusta is singular! So the subject is not 'nos', but 'el pollo'. So it should be translated accordingly: The chicken does not please us."
Am I right or am I right?
ekihoo Yes you are right. Futhermore in me gustaron me is the objectform of yo and cannot be the subject, likewise in no nos gusta nos is the objectform of nosotros/ as and cannot be the subject.
Someone explain this to me: Me gustaron - gustaron is the past tense verb for (they) not (I) Shouldn't it be Me Guste?
In spanish an object cannot 'like' another, instead an object is 'pleased' by another. So literally this sentence would be translated as "those women were pleasing/pleased to/by me". "Esas mujeres me gustan" - "I like these women" "El gato me gusta" - "I like the cat". It's simply an idiom you have to memorize.
"These women" would be "estas mujeres". "Those women" translates to "esas mujeres."
Because "gustar" technically means "to please" not "to like." You are the object in the sentence, and whatever it is your like is the subject. What you are literally saying is "They please me." German uses similar construction. Du gefehlst mir, you are pleasing to me, is a very direct way of telling someone you like them, as in you want to date them. Spanish uses subject object verb word when using pronouns that are added onto the conjugation (nos vamos= let us go; vamanos= let us go).
English never derivates from subject-verb-object order.
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I'm just reading this thread 3 years after it started. Thanks to all of the users who gave terrific information and helped me understand the issue. I had no idea that gustar was such a land-mine.
My friend's son is now living in Uruguay, and reports that the Spanish language spoken in S. America is fraught with sexual innuendos and idioms that one must really be careful about, and it differs from one country to another.
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Shouldn't it be "me gustaron a esas mujeres"? Isn't "a" used for people?
A is used before an OBJECT if it is a person. Esas mujeres is the Spanish SUBJECT and me is the Spanish object. Gustar is a little bit tricky, it switches the Spanish subject/ object and English object/subject
Good question, good answer. This is what these comment sections are for!
Why suggest wrong words when its the hardest past time, we didnt do imperfect nor past participle yet
I translated this sentence as "Those women liked me" - not accepted. How then would one say that in Spanish ?
I think it would be "esas mujeres me las gusta." (Gusta agrees with the one doing the pleasing, i.e., me.) Please correct me if i am wrong.
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It would be "a esas mujeres les gustaba (yo)", or "... les gusté", depending on the meaning/context (imperfect would be more likely here).
I agree! The way they have it is like they're saying, "the women liked me" in my opinion
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Tell me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't the translation of "esas" be these and not those? and a another thing the translation of "Gustaron " actually means "They liked".
Esas - those. Estas - these. "ESTAS" EN INGLÉS Resultados: 1-21 de 9205 estas {adjetivo} estas {adj.} (también: estos) these {adj.} Estas dos decisiones son fundamentales y espero que el Parlamento las ratifique. These two choices are fundamental and I hope that Parliament will ratify these.
Wouldn't it translate to "Those women like me" because «gustaron» would be "they liked" with the reflexive being "me"?
No. The verb "gustarse" is kind of a tricky one. For example, if you were to say "I like apples" you would say in Spanish "me gustan manzanas". It actually means essentially "apples bring pleasure to me" which is why the conjugation of "gustar" is the plural (to match with the plural apples) and "se" is conjugated to "me" (to say you are the one they bring pleasure to). Or if you were to say "I like you" you'd translate it to "me gustas". Make sense? I hope that helps.
Isaiah otherwise OK only that GUSTAR IS NOT REFLEXIVE BUT HAS DATIVE OBJECT: me, te, LE, nos, os, LES
Gustaron is "they liked", so why is "me" being used which would mean I like? Is "me" being used as a direct or indirect object pronoun?
"they liked" if you use "gustar" is conjugated according to what they liked. not according to they.This "what" is the Spanish subject
they liked me/ LES GUSTÉ yo
they liked you/ LES GUSTASTE tú
they liked the cat/ LES GUSTÓ el gato
they liked us/ LES GUSTAMOS nosotros
they liked you (in Spain and pl.) / LES GUSTASTEIS vosotros
they liked the dogs / LES GUSTARON los perros
I wish Duolingo would change the meaning for the drop down suggestions because I always forget. Lolbs.
Actually, because this is the preterite and not the imperfect, this implies "I used to like those women" but whoever's speaking doesn't now.
I imagine them as women that he/she met once, perhaps on vacation or at a salsa class or at a concert, and have not seen since. It's assumed that you can't really continue liking someone you met once long ago, but you still wouldn't use the phrase "used to" because that implies that you liked them for a while, then stopped.
I think, to imply that you liked them for a while and no longer do, you would use "gustaban." Hopefully someone else can weigh in to confirm or correct, in the interest of certainty.
??? But I was taught that the imperfect implied an action continuing in the past without a set start or end date.
Pretérito means past. Gustaron, Pretérito Perfecto Simple, is for an action which took place and was perfected (ended) in the past. An action with indefinite ending or beginning is imperfect in the past and Spanish uses Pretérito Imperfecto for this gustaban. Duo and others recommend us to use used to do for Spanish Imperfect, maybe to stress that it is used for habitual actions.
- I didn't learn Spanish from Duolingo, I learned it from school, and 2. what you're saying doesn't change my question. If the perfect is used for something definitely in the past, couldn't its use in this case imply that whoever's speaking doesn't like the women anymore?
autopsybllue! That is exaxtly what I say: perfect "gustaron" for something starting and ending in the past.
wouldn't "those women pleased me" be an acceptable translation of this?
I answered "I did like those women." This was considered wrong. Did anyone else try this? Should it be considered wrong?
Because the verb is past tense, not present tense. Also, gustar is translated better as "to like." There are other verbs for love.
So big comments get likes and lingots. Well.
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This will get tons of dislikes
Um, no. Helpful comments get upvotes and lingots. Comments like yours make us wish we could take lingots away from people, leave multiple downvotes on a single comment, and report you to the mods just for being a dick.
I was joking when i did this and look at the bottom of the text (THIS WILL GET TONS OF DISLIKES) read before posting!
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Thanks so much, Kirakraka! Now I understand. That was a great explanation.
I agree with the comment below, the session I was doing still reported it as incorrect. Not flexible enough
preterite 3:rd pers: pl, me gustaron esas mujeres/ sing, me gustó esa mujera
imperfect 3:rd pers: pl, me gustaban esas mujeres/ sing, me gustaba esa mujera
both = I liked those women/ that woman, pret. just liked/ imperf. a prolonged action
I used ladies instead of women. Duolingo shows ladies as a definition in their pull down, but I got it wrong. My culture in America taught me that you show more respect when you refer to "ladies ", as in "ladies and gentlemen ", so as a habit I prefer to use the respectful language. Is this not a respectable way to speak of women in the Spanish cultures? Or is it just an oversight by Duolingo? Maybe it has something to do with "gustar"? I'm really curious.
These women and those women, apparently aren't the same in terms of accepted answers.....
Well, no, because they're different words with different meanings in both English and Spanish.
