Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Durante la noche, me gusta escuchar música en mi cuarto. - During the night, I like to listen to music in my room.

In Spanish, gustar works differently than in English. The form me gusta literally means "it is pleasing to me." The subject is the thing being liked (in this case, listening to music), so the verb remains in a 3rd-person form (gusta). If you said me gusto, that would mean "I please myself," which doesn’t reflect the idea that the activity (listening to music) is what's pleasing you.

Why is it "escuchar música" and not "escuchar a la música"?

Spanish typically doesn’t use the personal a with an inanimate object like música. Since música isn’t a person or a specific, animate being, you just say escuchar música. However, if you were talking about listening to a person, such as a friend singing, you might say escuchar a mi amigo.

What’s the difference between "durante la noche" and "por la noche"?

Durante la noche suggests something that happens throughout the night, emphasizing a duration or span of time. Por la noche is more general and can simply mean "at night," typically suggesting a routine or a general time frame rather than the entire duration.

Why "en mi cuarto" and not "a mi cuarto" or "de mi cuarto"?

When indicating location in Spanish, en is most often used to mean "inside" or "within." Saying en mi cuarto shows the activity is taking place in your room. Using a would imply motion towards the room, like going "to" the room, and de would imply coming "from" the room.

Where would an adverb like "normalmente" go if we wanted to include it?

In Spanish, you can place adverbs such as normalmente at the beginning of the sentence, or before or after the verb. For instance, you could say Normalmente, durante la noche, me gusta escuchar música en mi cuarto, or Durante la noche, normalmente me gusta escuchar música en mi cuarto. Both placements are correct.