Questions & Answers about Aprender español me cuesta menos cada día.
Why do we use me cuesta here? It literally means “it costs me”, so how does it mean “it’s hard for me”?
In Spanish, costar is very commonly used figuratively to mean “to be difficult / to take effort” for someone.
- Literal: Esta casa cuesta mucho dinero. – This house costs a lot of money.
- Figurative: Esto me cuesta mucho. – This is very hard for me / This takes a lot out of me.
So Aprender español me cuesta = Learning Spanish is hard for me / takes effort for me.
Adding menos cada día gives the idea: it’s less hard every day → it’s getting easier every day.
Why is it me cuesta and not me cuesto? Shouldn’t the verb agree with “me / yo”?
The verb costar does not agree with the person; it agrees with the thing that is difficult.
Structure:
[Subject: the difficult thing] + costar + [indirect object pronoun: person]
- Aprender español me cuesta.
- Subject: Aprender español (singular)
- Verb: cuesta (3rd person singular)
- Indirect object: me (to/for me)
Compare:
- Me cuesta el trabajo. – The job is hard for me.
- Me cuestan los trabajos. – The jobs are hard for me. (plural → cuestan)
So it’s me cuesta because the subject (aprender español) is singular.
Can I also say Me cuesta aprender español? Is there any difference?