Me gusta saludar a la panadera cuando paso por su tienda.

Because gustar works differently from to like in English.

In Spanish, gustar literally works more like to be pleasing to. So:

• Me gusta saludar... = Greeting... is pleasing to me
• Natural English: I like greeting...

So:

• me = to me
• gusta = is pleasing

You usually do not say yo gusto to mean I like.
In fact, yo gusto would mean something more like I am pleasing / I am liked, which is a different idea.

Because the thing being liked is treated as one single action: saludar a la panadera cuando paso por su tienda.

An infinitive phrase like saludar... counts as singular, so Spanish uses gusta:

• Me gusta nadar.
• Me gusta leer.
• Me gusta saludar a la panadera...

You use gustan when the thing liked is plural:

• Me gustan los libros.
• Me gustan las panaderías tradicionales.

Me is an indirect object pronoun meaning to me.

So:

• Me gusta... = ...is pleasing to me
• Te gusta... = ...is pleasing to you
• Le gusta... = ...is pleasing to him / her / you (formal)

In this sentence, me shows who likes the action.

This is the personal a.

In Spanish, when the direct object is a specific person (or sometimes a pet), you usually put a before it.

So:

• Saludo a la panadera. = I greet the baker.
• Veo a María. = I see María.

But with things, you normally do not use this a:

• Veo la tienda. = I see the shop.

Here, la panadera is a specific person, so a is required.

Because they mean different things:

• la panadera = the baker or the female baker/shop worker
• la panadería = the bakery or bread shop

So in this sentence:

• saludar a la panadera = to greet the baker
• paso por su tienda = I pass by her shop

The sentence is about greeting the person, not the building.

Yes. Panadera is feminine, so it refers to a female baker.

Compare:

• el panadero = the male baker
• la panadera = the female baker

If the baker were a man, the sentence would be:

• Me gusta saludar al panadero cuando paso por su tienda.

Notice that a + el = al.

Because the present tense in Spanish is often used for habitual actions, just like in English.

So cuando paso por su tienda means:

• when I pass by her shop
• whenever I go past her shop

It does not have to mean only right now. It can describe a routine or something that happens from time to time.

Pasar por here means to pass by or to go past a place.

So:

• paso por su tienda = I pass by her shop

It suggests movement past the location, not necessarily entering it.

Examples:

• Paso por el parque cada mañana. = I go past the park every morning.
• Paso por tu casa luego. = I’ll stop by / go by your house later.

In this sentence, the most natural meaning is when I pass by her shop.

Because por is often used for movement through, along, or past a place.

Here, pasar por is a set expression meaning to pass by / go past.

So:

• paso por su tienda = I pass by her shop

Para would not work here for this meaning.

A useful contrast:

• por = through, by, along, because of, in exchange for, etc.
• para = for, in order to, intended for, toward a goal/deadline

Yes. Su can mean:

• his
• her
• your (formal)
• their

So by itself, su tienda could mean:

• his shop
• her shop
• your shop
• their shop

In this sentence, because of la panadera, we understand it as her shop.

If you needed to make it clearer, Spanish can add extra words:

• su tienda de ella = her shop
• su tienda de él = his shop

But normally context is enough.

Because in Spanish, a possessive adjective like mi, tu, su, nuestro normally replaces the article.

So you say:

• su tienda = her shop
• not la su tienda

More examples:

• mi casa = my house
• tu coche = your car
• nuestra calle = our street

No, that would sound wrong in standard Spanish.

Because la panadera is a specific person, you need the personal a:

• Me gusta saludar a la panadera.

Without a, it would be ungrammatical or at least very unnatural.

Yes, definitely.

In this sentence, cuando can mean:

• when
• whenever

Because the sentence describes a repeated situation, whenever is often a very natural English translation:

• I like greeting the baker whenever I pass by her shop.

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things.

• tienda = shop/store in a general sense
• panadería = bakery, specifically the bread shop

So:

• paso por su tienda = I pass by her shop
• paso por la panadería = I pass by the bakery

If you want to focus on the fact that it is specifically a bakery, panadería is more precise.
If you just want a general word for the place where she works or sells bread, tienda is fine.

Yes, if you want a stronger meaning.

Compare:

• Me gusta saludar a la panadera... = I like greeting the baker...
• Me encanta saludar a la panadera... = I love greeting the baker...

So encanta expresses more enthusiasm than gusta.

A helpful way to break it down is:

• Me gusta = I like
• saludar a la panadera = greeting the baker / to greet the baker
• cuando paso por su tienda = when / whenever I pass by her shop

So the structure is basically:

[indirect object pronoun] + [gustar] + [infinitive phrase] + [time clause]

That pattern is very common in Spanish:

• Me gusta estudiar cuando tengo tiempo.
• Nos gusta pasear cuando hace buen tiempo.
• Le gusta leer antes de dormir.