Question 1

Why does the sentence start with A?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, verbs like gustar work backwards compared to English. Literally, this sentence means 'To my brother, fruit is not pleasing.' The A translates to 'To', and it is used to specify exactly who is experiencing the feeling, pointing to 'my brother'.

Question 2

The lesson is about gustan with plural nouns, so why is it gusta here?

Accepted Answer

The verb gustar changes based on what is being liked, not who is doing the liking. Because la fruta (the fruit) is a singular noun, we use the singular form gusta. If the sentence was about him not liking apples (las manzanas), we would have to use the plural form gustan.

Question 3

Why do we need le if we already said A mi hermano?

Accepted Answer

Spanish requires the indirect object pronoun (le here, meaning 'to him') when using verbs like gustar. You must always include this pronoun, even if you just clearly named the person with A mi hermano. The phrase A mi hermano is for clarification or emphasis, but le is the mandatory grammar piece.

Question 4

Why do we say la fruta when the English translation just says 'fruit'?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, when you talk about your general likes or dislikes, you must include the definite article (el, la, los, or las) before the noun. Because you are talking about fruit in a general sense, it must be la fruta.

Question 5

Where exactly does the word no go in this kind of sentence?

Accepted Answer

To make a gustar sentence negative, the no must go directly before the pronoun (in this case, le). You cannot put it right before the verb. It is always no le gusta, never le no gusta.

A mi hermano no le gusta la fruta.

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