Breakdown of Me gusta leer en la plaza con mis amigos.
el amigo
the friend
yo
I
gustar
to like
en
in
leer
to read
con
with
mis
my
la plaza
the square
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Questions & Answers about Me gusta leer en la plaza con mis amigos.
Why is me gusta used instead of yo gusto?
Because in Spanish gustar doesn’t mean “to like” in the same way as English. It literally means “to be pleasing to.” The thing you like is the grammatical subject and the person who likes it is an indirect object. So you say me (to me) gusta (it pleases) leer. If you tried yo gusto, you’d be saying “I please,” which sounds odd in Spanish.
Why is leer in the infinitive and why is gusta singular?
When you like doing an action, you always use the infinitive after gustar (as in Me gusta nadar, Te gusta bailar). The subject of gusta here is leer, which is a single action (an infinitive is treated like a noun). Since it’s singular, the verb stays third-person singular: gusta.
Why don’t we need the subject pronoun yo in Me gusta leer…?
Spanish is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns are optional when the verb form or another pronoun makes the person clear. Here me already tells you it’s first person, so adding yo would be redundant (unless you want extra emphasis).
Why is the preposition en used before la plaza, and why is there a definite article la?
En indicates location (“in” or “at”). If you were describing movement toward the square, you’d use a (Voy a la plaza). Spanish normally requires a definite article with common nouns, so you need la plaza even if you’re speaking generally—you can’t drop la here.
Can you add a mí for emphasis (as in A mí me gusta leer…)? When would you do that?
Yes. You can say A mí me gusta leer en la plaza con mis amigos to stress that it’s you who likes it. This construction is common when you want to contrast opinions—e.g., A mí me gusta, pero a él no le gusta.
Why do we say mis amigos? What if it’s one friend or an all-female group? Could you omit the possessive?
Mis is the plural form of mi (“my”), so mis amigos = “my friends.” If it’s one male friend: mi amigo. One female friend: mi amiga. Several female friends: mis amigas. You can say con amigos (“with friends” in general, no possessive) if you don’t mean your own specific friends.
Can we change the word order to Me gusta leer con mis amigos en la plaza? Is that correct?
Absolutely. Spanish word order is flexible. Placing con mis amigos before en la plaza is fine. The meaning stays the same, though slight shifts in emphasis can occur depending on the order.