Breakdown of A mi hermana le encantan los vaqueros lisos, pero a mí me gustan con rayas.
Questions & Answers about A mi hermana le encantan los vaqueros lisos, pero a mí me gustan con rayas.
In Spanish, encantar works like gustar, not like English to love grammatically.
- Literal structure: A mi hermana le encantan los vaqueros.
- los vaqueros = the subject (the thing that “enchants”).
- a mi hermana = the person affected (indirect object).
- le = indirect object pronoun referring to mi hermana.
So the idea is: “The jeans enchant my sister”, not “My sister enchants the jeans”.
That’s why you need:
- A mi hermana (indirect object phrase with a)
- le (indirect object pronoun)
- Verb agreeing with the thing liked: encantan (plural, because los vaqueros is plural)
The verb encantar/gustar agrees with the thing that is liked, not with the person who likes it.
- Le encantan los vaqueros → los vaqueros = plural → verb encantan (3rd person plural).
- Me gustan (los vaqueros) con rayas → (los vaqueros) con rayas = plural → verb gustan.
Compare:
- Me gusta el vaquero liso. (singular: one pair / one item)
- Me gustan los vaqueros lisos. (plural: more than one)
Le and me are indirect object pronouns.
- Le encantan los vaqueros lisos.
- le = to her / to him (here: to my sister).
- A mí me gustan con rayas.
- me = to me.
With verbs like gustar and encantar, you must use these pronouns:
- You cannot say “A mi hermana encantan los vaqueros” (incorrect).
- You must say “A mi hermana le encantan los vaqueros.”
The a introduces the indirect object: the person who experiences the liking/loving.
- A mi hermana le encantan… → a mi hermana = to my sister.
- A mí me gustan… → a mí = to me.
With gustar/encantar, this a + person structure is very common:
- A Juan le gusta el café.
- A nosotros nos encantan los perros.
It often serves both:
- To specify who we’re talking about.
- To emphasize or contrast, especially with a mí, a ti, a él, etc.
They are two different words:
- mi (no accent) = my → possessive adjective
- mi hermana = my sister
- mí (with accent) = me (after prepositions) → prepositional pronoun
- a mí = to me, as for me
So:
- A mi hermana = to my sister
- A mí me gustan… = As for me, I like…
Partly, yes:
Le encantan los vaqueros lisos.
Grammatically correct, but we don’t know who “le” is from this sentence alone.Me gustan con rayas.
Also correct, and often enough in context if it’s clear who “me” is.
However:
- A mi hermana and a mí are used to clarify or emphasize/contrast:
- Here it’s contrast: A mi hermana… pero a mí…
My sister (likes X)… but I (like Y)…
- Here it’s contrast: A mi hermana… pero a mí…
So you can drop them in many contexts, but then you lose clarity or emphasis.
In Spanish, when you talk about general likes/dislikes with countable nouns, you almost always use the definite article:
- Me gustan los perros. = I like dogs (dogs in general).
- Le encanta el chocolate. = She loves chocolate (in general).
- Le encantan los vaqueros lisos. = She loves plain jeans (as a type, in general).
Saying “Le encantan vaqueros lisos” without los sounds incomplete or off in standard Spanish.
In Spain, vaqueros very commonly means jeans (denim trousers).
- unos vaqueros = a pair of jeans
Literally, vaquero can mean:
- cowboy (person), or
- related to cattle / cowboys.
But in everyday Peninsular Spanish, vaqueros is the standard word for jeans.
In much of Latin America, you’ll more often hear jeans, pantalones de mezclilla, pantalones vaqueros, etc.
In Spanish, the default position of most adjectives is after the noun:
- vaqueros lisos = plain jeans
- casa grande = big house
- camisa roja = red shirt
Putting adjectives before the noun often sounds poetic, emotional, or changes the meaning.
Lisos vaqueros would sound strange and unnatural here.
Also, lisos has to agree in gender and number with vaqueros:
- singular masculine: vaquero liso
- plural masculine: vaqueros lisos
- singular feminine: falda lisa
- plural feminine: faldas lisas
Both express liking, but encantar is stronger:
- gustar ≈ to like
- encantar ≈ to love / to really like a lot
So:
- A mi hermana le encantan los vaqueros lisos.
→ She really loves / is crazy about plain jeans. - A mí me gustan con rayas.
→ I (just) like striped ones.
In everyday speech, encantar is used quite a lot for strong positive feelings, not only for very intense “love”.
Yes. With gustar/encantar, several orders are possible:
- A mi hermana le encantan los vaqueros lisos. (very common)
- Los vaqueros lisos le encantan a mi hermana. (also correct)
- Le encantan los vaqueros lisos a mi hermana. (less common, but possible)
The meaning is the same; the differences are mostly about emphasis:
- Starting with A mi hermana… highlights the person.
- Starting with Los vaqueros lisos… highlights the thing she loves.
The original sentence uses parallelism:
- A mi hermana le encantan… pero a mí me gustan…
You could say “pero me gustan con rayas” if context is clear.
However, “pero a mí me gustan…” does two things:
- Maintains parallel structure:
- A mi hermana le encantan… pero a mí me gustan…
- Adds contrast and emphasis:
- a mí = as for me, I, on the other hand.
So the a mí makes the contrast with a mi hermana much stronger.
Con rayas literally means “with stripes” → striped.
- Me gustan (los vaqueros) con rayas. = I like jeans that have stripes.
You could also say:
- Me gustan los vaqueros rayados.
Both are understandable. Nuance:
- con rayas = more neutral, describes the pattern (“with stripes on them”).
- rayados = striped as an adjective; in some contexts it can sound slightly more descriptive or informal depending on the region.
In Spain, con rayas for clothes is very natural.
The comma marks a pause and separates two independent clauses:
- A mi hermana le encantan los vaqueros lisos,
- pero a mí me gustan con rayas.
In Spanish, pero (but) usually takes a comma before it when joining two full clauses, similar to English:
- Estudio mucho, pero estoy cansado.
- Quiero ir, pero no puedo.