A mi hermano le cuesta madrugar porque es perezoso por la mañana.

to be

Breakdown of A mi hermano le cuesta madrugar porque es perezoso por la mañana.

• la mañana: the morning
• mi: my
• a: to

Questions & Answers about A mi hermano le cuesta madrugar porque es perezoso por la mañana.

Why does the sentence start with A mi hermano?

A mi hermano marks the person affected by the action: my brother.

With verbs like costar, Spanish often uses this pattern:

• A + person + indirect object pronoun + verb

So:

• A mi hermano le cuesta...
• literally something like: To my brother, it is difficult...

This structure is very common in Spanish with verbs such as gustar, interesar, molestar, costar, etc.

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Why is there also le if A mi hermano is already there?

This is called indirect object doubling, and it is very common in Spanish.

In this sentence:

• A mi hermano = clarifies who we are talking about
• le = the indirect object pronoun that the verb normally uses

So Spanish prefers:

• A mi hermano le cuesta madrugar

rather than just:

• A mi hermano cuesta madrugar ✘

The le is not optional here in normal Spanish.

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What does costar mean in this sentence?