Lesson XI. Expressions with "me duele", "me gusta", "me interesa"...

In Spanish there are some expressions that have a particular structure: expressing pain, appealing, preference, interest, and so on.

The structure is like the one we used talking about pain: First the "prepositional phrase", then the "indirect complement"... ok, don't be scared yet. Let see the chart and a little explanation afterwards.

Frase preposicional	Complemento indirecto	Verbo	Sujeto
A mí	me	gusta, gustan
A ti	te	gusta, gustan
A él, a ella, a Usted	le	gusta, gustan
A nosotros	nos	gusta, gustan
A vosotros	os	gusta, gustan
A ustedes	les	gusta, gustan
A ellos, a ellas	les	gusta, gustan

In Spanish, when you say "I like something", instead of me liking the thing, you have to express that this particular object is appealing to you. That is why we begin these phrases or sentences with "To me" (a mí) and then say "me gusta" (it's appealing) and then the object of my liking.

When you say "a mí me gusta el fútbol", what you are saying is that Soccer is appealing to you.

Or "a mí me duele el estómago", what you are saying is that the stomach is causing pain to you.

Now, if you have to ask someone about his or her pains or preferences, you would say:

¿A ti te gusta el fútbol? (Is Soccer appealing to you?).

¿A ti te duele el estómago? (Is your stomach hurting?).

Notice that when I am talking about myself I begin the sentence with "A mí me...", but when I am talking to you (the second person), I begin the sentence with "A ti te..."

If we go further and talk about the third person (he or she), we will begin the sentence with "A él le..." or "A ella le..."

A ella le gusta ver la televisión. (She likes watching TV).

A él le duele la cabeza. (His head is hurting).

"A nosotros" means "to us",
"A vosotros" means "to you" (talking to a group of people) (this is used only in Spain, in the classical literature and in the Bible).
"A ustedes" means "to you" (talking to a group of people. Used in Latin America).
"A ellos" means "to them" (all male or mixed male and female).
"A ellas" means "to them (all female).

After this part, you have to use the Indirect Complement:

me (for me) (Remember that the Spanish "me" is pronounced "meh")
te (for you)
le (for him or her)
nos (for us)
os (for "you all", in Spain)
les (for "you all", in Latin America)
les (for them).

Do we have to use both? Generally not. You can say "A mí me gusta la pizza", or only "me gusta la pizza", and it will be clear enough. Sometimes you need to clarify, and then is when you use both.

Then we have the verb. In this case is easy, because it´s only either singular or plural.

"Me gusta", if the object of my appealing is only one: "la pizza".
"Me gustan,  if the object of my appealing is more than one: "las hamburguesas".