A mi padre le gusta el ajo, pero no quiere demasiada pimienta.

My father likes garlic, but he does not want too much pepper.

Breakdown of A mi padre le gusta el ajo, pero no quiere demasiada pimienta.

• querer: to want
• gustar: to like
• mi: my
• pero: but

Questions & Answers about A mi padre le gusta el ajo, pero no quiere demasiada pimienta.

Why does the sentence use both a mi padre and le? Don’t they both mean to my father?

Yes, they both point to the same person, but this is normal in Spanish.

This is called indirect object doubling:

• a mi padre names the person clearly
• le repeats that person with an indirect object pronoun

So:

• A mi padre le gusta el ajo = literally something like Garlic is pleasing to my father

In Spanish, with gustar, using le is standard, even when you also say a mi padre.

Without a mi padre, Le gusta el ajo is still correct, but it just means He/She likes garlic and depends on context.

Why is it gusta and not gustan?

Because the verb agrees with el ajo, which is singular.

With gustar, the thing being liked is the grammatical subject:

• el ajo = singular, so gusta
• las manzanas = plural, so gustan

Compare:

• A mi padre le gusta el ajo = My father likes garlic
• A mi padre le gustan los ajos = My father likes garlic cloves / kinds of garlic

So the verb does not agree with mi padre. It agrees with what causes the pleasure.