Me gusta el rock.

In Spanish, gustar doesn’t work like to like in English.
Literally, me gusta el rock means “rock pleases me”, not “I like rock.”

• el rock is the grammatical subject (the thing doing the pleasing)
• me is an indirect object pronoun (the person who is pleased)
• gusta agrees with el rock (third person singular)

So yo gusto el rock would sound wrong to native speakers. You almost never use gustar like to like with a normal subject-verb-object order.

me is an indirect object pronoun meaning “to me” or “for me.”

• me gusta el rock → “rock is pleasing to me”
• te gusta el rock → “rock is pleasing to you” (informal singular)
• le gusta el rock → “rock is pleasing to him/her/you-formal”

So me tells you who likes it, even though grammatically it’s “who is pleased by it.”

Grammatically, el rock is the subject of the verb gusta.

• el rock → subject (the thing that pleases)
• gusta → verb
• me → indirect object (the person who is pleased)

So even though in English I is the subject in I like rock, in Spanish the thing liked becomes the subject with gustar.

The verb form matches the subject, which is el rock (he/it).

• el rock → third person singular → gusta
• yo → first person singular → gusto (but you don’t use it this way with gustar)

So you use gusta because the thing that “does the pleasing” (el rock) is singular and third person.

Use gusta with one thing or with verbs; use gustan with plural things.

• Singular:
  • Me gusta el rock. – I like rock.
  • Me gusta esta canción. – I like this song.
  • Me gusta bailar. – I like to dance.
• Plural:
  • Me gustan las canciones de rock. – I like rock songs.
  • Me gustan los perros. – I like dogs.

The verb agrees in number with what is liked, not with the person who likes it.

In Spanish, general likes and dislikes with nouns usually use the definite article (el, la, los, las).

• Me gusta el rock. – I like rock (as a genre in general).
• Me gusta la música clásica. – I like classical music.
• Me gustan los perros. – I like dogs.

Leaving out el here (Me gusta rock) sounds unnatural or incomplete in standard Spanish.

Normally no for a full sentence. Standard Spanish prefers:

• Me gusta el rock.

You might see rock without article in:

• titles: Música rock, Rock en español
• some casual, telegraphic contexts: Rock, pop, salsa… me gusta de todo.

But as a normal sentence about liking a genre, use the article: Me gusta el rock.

Yes, but the meaning changes in nuance:

• Me gusta el rock. – Neutral: I like rock.
• El rock me gusta. – Often contrastive: Rock, I like (it). (implied contrast with other things you maybe don’t like as much)

El rock me gusta is grammatically correct but sounds more marked/emphatic. The normal, default order is Me gusta el rock.

Put mucho after gusta (or after the thing liked, but still near the verb):

• Most common:
  • Me gusta mucho el rock. – I like rock a lot.
• Also possible:
  • El rock me gusta mucho. – Rock, I like it a lot. (more emphatic/contrastive)

Avoid putting mucho before gusta:

• ✗ Me mucho gusta el rock. – incorrect.

Questions:

• ¿Te gusta el rock? – Do you like rock? (informal tú)
• ¿Le gusta el rock? – Do you like rock? (formal usted or Does he/she like rock? depending on context)

Negative:

• No me gusta el rock. – I don’t like rock.
• Structure: no + indirect object pronoun + gusta(n) + noun
  • No me gusta el rock.
  • No te gustan los gatos. – You don’t like cats.

Both mean “I like rock.”
The second is more emphatic or contrastive:

• Me gusta el rock. – I like rock. (neutral)
• A mí me gusta el rock. – I like rock (maybe others don’t / in contrast to someone else)

You can use the full phrase with other pronouns for emphasis or contrast:

• A ti te gusta el rock. – You like rock.
• A él le gusta el rock. – He likes rock.

You can use gustar for almost anything you like:

• Me gusta el rock. – I like rock.
• Me gustan las películas de acción. – I like action movies.
• Me gusta viajar. – I like to travel.
• Me gusta esta ciudad. – I like this city.

The same pattern always applies: [indirect object pronoun] + gusta/gustan + [thing or activity you like]

Approximate pronunciations:

• gusta → GOOS-tah

  • gu like goo in good (but shorter)
  • s always like English s, never like z
  • stress on the first syllable: GUS-ta

• rock → usually something like rok

  • the r is a single tapped r (like very quick d in ladder in American English)
  • vowel like o in not (depending on accent)
  • final ck becomes a simple k sound

Many speakers will say it with a Spanish accent: [rok], not the English [rɑk].