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Questions & Answers about Elas gostam de música.
What does Elas mean?
Elas is the third-person feminine plural subject pronoun in European Portuguese. It corresponds to they when referring exclusively to a group of females.
Why is the verb gostam used here?
Gostam is the present indicative, third-person plural form of the verb gostar (to like). Since the subject Elas is plural, the verb must also be in the plural form.
Why is there a de after gostam?
In Portuguese, the verb gostar always takes the preposition de before its object. So gostar de means “to like something.”
Why isn’t there an article before música?
When expressing a general preference (liking music as a concept), European Portuguese typically omits the article. If you wanted to refer to specific music, you would say Elas gostam da música, where da is the contraction of de + a (the feminine singular article).
What is the difference between música and músicas?
Música (singular) is treated as a mass noun meaning “music” in general.
Músicas (plural) refers to individual “songs.”
How would I make this sentence negative?
You insert não before the verb:
Elas não gostam de música.
How can I turn this into a question?
You simply add a question mark and use rising intonation:
Elas gostam de música?
Less commonly, you can invert the order: Gostam elas de música?