A mi hermana no le gustan las bromas pesadas; respeta mucho su identidad y prefiere que usen su nombre real, no un apodo.

With verbs like gustar, Spanish structures the sentence differently from English:

• In Spanish, the thing that is liked is the grammatical subject.
• The person who likes it is an indirect object, usually introduced by a.

So:

• A mi hermana no le gustan las bromas pesadas.
  Literally: To my sister, heavy jokes are not pleasing.

Here:

• las bromas pesadas = subject of gustan
• a mi hermana = indirect object
• le = indirect object pronoun that refers back to a mi hermana

You can drop a mi hermana if it’s clear from context (No le gustan las bromas pesadas), but you still need le.
You cannot simply say Mi hermana no gustan las bromas pesadas; that breaks the gustar pattern.

In A mi hermana no le gustan las bromas pesadas:

• le = “to her” / “to him” / “to you (formal)” – it’s an indirect object pronoun.
• It refers to mi hermana (my sister).

We use:

• le for indirect objects (to/for someone):
  
  • Le doy el libro a Ana. – I give the book to her.
• lo / la for direct objects (I see her / I have it, etc.):
  
  • La veo. – I see her.
  • Lo tengo. – I have it.

Because gustar works like “to be pleasing to someone”, the person is indirect, so Spanish uses le, not la/lo.

The form of gustar agrees with what is liked, not with the person who likes it.

• Gusta – when the thing liked is singular or an infinitive:

  • Le gusta la broma. – She likes the joke.
  • Le gusta bromear. – She likes joking.

• Gustan – when the thing liked is plural:

  • Le gustan las bromas pesadas. – She likes heavy/practical jokes.

Here, las bromas pesadas is plural, so the verb must be gustan.

No, that sounds wrong to native speakers.

The correct options are:

• A mi hermana no le gustan las bromas pesadas. ✅
• A ella no le gustan las bromas pesadas. ✅
• No le gustan las bromas pesadas. (if context is clear) ✅

You can’t put mi hermana directly as a normal subject with gustar; it needs to appear as an indirect object with a:

• ❌ Mi hermana no le gustan las bromas pesadas. (ungrammatical)
• ✅ A mi hermana no le gustan las bromas pesadas.

Broma in general means joke or prank.

Broma pesada literally means “heavy joke” and in Spain usually implies:

• a mean, offensive, or over-the-line joke, or
• a practical joke / prank that goes too far (causes discomfort, embarrassment, etc.)

So:

• broma – any joke or light prank.
• broma pesada – a prank or joke that feels harsh, cruel, or too much.

Also useful:

• chiste = a verbal joke (a funny story or one-liner).
• tomar el pelo a alguien = to tease / to wind someone up.

So the sentence says she doesn’t like nasty / heavy pranks, not just any harmless joke.

The normal order with no and object pronouns in Spanish is:

no + (indirect/direct object pronoun) + verb

So:

• No le gustan las bromas. – She doesn’t like jokes.
• No lo quiero. – I don’t want it.
• No me hablan. – They don’t talk to me.

Le no gustan is not possible. The negation no must come before the pronoun.

Here mucho is an adverb that modifies the verb respeta:

• respeta mucho = “respects a lot / greatly respects”

In Spanish:

• mucho modifies verbs and nouns:

  • Trabaja mucho. – He works a lot.
  • Tiene mucho dinero. – He has a lot of money.

• muy modifies adjectives and adverbs:

  • Es muy respetuosa. – She is very respectful.
  • Habla muy rápido. – He speaks very fast.

So:

• ✅ respeta mucho su identidad
• ❌ respeta muy su identidad (ungrammatical)

Prefiere que usen uses the subjunctive (usen), which is required after certain verbs like querer, preferir, esperar when:

1. They are followed by que,
2. There is a change of subject in the second clause.

Structure:

• [Subject 1] + prefiere que + [Subject 2] + verb (subjunctive)

In the sentence:

• Subject 1: mi hermana
• Verb: prefiere
• Subject 2: (they / other people)
• Verb in subjunctive: usen

So:

• Prefiere que usen su nombre real. – She prefers (that they) use her real name.

Prefiere que usan is incorrect; after prefiere que with a change of subject, you must use the subjunctive (usen, not usan).

Use prefiere usar su nombre real when the subject is the same in both actions:

• Ella prefiere usar su nombre real.
  = She prefers to use her real name.
  (Only she is acting.)

Use prefiere que usen su nombre real when other people are the ones doing the second action:

• Ella prefiere que (los demás) usen su nombre real.
  = She prefers (other people) to use her real name.

So:

• Same subject → infinitive: prefiere usar
• Different subject → que + subjunctive: prefiere que usen

In the sentence:

• …prefiere que usen su nombre real, no un apodo.

this works like a simple correction or contrast in English:

• “She prefers they use her real name, not a nickname.”

No here is just “not”.

Sino is used when the first part is directly negated, and the second part is the true alternative:

• No quiere un apodo, sino su nombre real.
  = She doesn’t want a nickname, but rather / but instead her real name.

So you could rephrase the original with sino by changing the structure:

• No quiere que usen un apodo, sino su nombre real. ✅

But with the pattern prefiere X, no Y, using just no is natural and correct.

The sentence is:

• A mi hermana no le gustan las bromas pesadas; respeta mucho su identidad y prefiere que usen su nombre real, no un apodo.

The semicolon (;) links two closely related but complete sentences:

1. A mi hermana no le gustan las bromas pesadas.
2. Respeta mucho su identidad y prefiere que usen su nombre real, no un apodo.

In Spanish, you could also write:

• With a period:
  A mi hermana no le gustan las bromas pesadas. Respeta mucho su identidad… ✅
• With y and a comma (more informal):
  A mi hermana no le gustan las bromas pesadas, y respeta mucho su identidad… ✅

So the semicolon is not strictly necessary; it’s a stylistic choice to show a strong link while keeping them as two independent clauses.