Word
A mi amigo le cuesta acordarse de la contraseña.
Meaning
My friend has trouble remembering the password.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of A mi amigo le cuesta acordarse de la contraseña.
el amigo
the friend
mi
my
a
to
la contraseña
the password
Questions & Answers about A mi amigo le cuesta acordarse de la contraseña.
Why are both a mi amigo and le used? Don’t they both mean to my friend?
Yes, they both point to the same person, but Spanish often uses this double marking with indirect objects.
- le = the indirect object pronoun: to him / to her
- a mi amigo = a fuller phrase that clarifies who le refers to
So:
- Le cuesta... = It’s difficult for him...
- A mi amigo le cuesta... = As for my friend, it’s difficult for him...
In Spanish, this kind of indirect object doubling is very common, and often sounds more natural than leaving out le.
What exactly is the grammar of costar in this sentence?
Here costar does not mean only to cost money. It also means to be difficult / to take effort.
The pattern is:
- A alguien le cuesta + infinitive
Examples:
- Me cuesta levantarme temprano. = Getting up early is hard for me.
- Le cuesta entenderlo. = It’s hard for him/her to understand it.
So in your sentence:
- A mi amigo = for my friend
- le cuesta = it is hard for him
- acordarse de la contraseña = to remember the password
Why is it cuesta and not cuestan?