Me gusta hacer ejercicio en el parque.

I like to exercise in the park.

Breakdown of Me gusta hacer ejercicio en el parque.

• yo: I
• gustar: to like
• en: in
• el parque: the park

Questions & Answers about Me gusta hacer ejercicio en el parque.

Why is it “Me gusta” and not “Yo gusto”?

In Spanish, gustar doesn’t work like “to like” in English.

• Literally, gustar means “to be pleasing”.
• The thing that pleases is the grammatical subject.
• The person who likes it is an indirect object, shown with a pronoun.

So:

• Me gusta hacer ejercicio.
  = Doing exercise is pleasing to me.
  
  • me = to me (indirect object)
  • gusta = is pleasing (3rd person singular)
  • hacer ejercicio = subject of the verb

Using “Yo gusto” would mean “I please (someone)”, which is not what you want here.

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When do I say “me gusta” vs “me gustan”?

Use me gusta when the thing that pleases you is:

• Singular:
  
  • Me gusta el parque. – I like the park.
• An infinitive verb (or several infinitives treated as a unit):
  
  • Me gusta hacer ejercicio. – I like to exercise.
  • Me gusta leer y escribir. – I like reading and writing.

Use me gustan when the thing that pleases you is plural:

• Me gustan los parques. – I like parks.
• Me gustan tus ideas. – I like your ideas.

In Me gusta hacer ejercicio en el parque, the subject is the whole phrase “hacer ejercicio en el parque”, treated as one activity, so it’s me gusta (singular).

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