Learn Spanish (Latin America): A mi amigo le gusta el juego nuevo.

In this lesson, you are learning about gustan, which is used when the things you like are plural. However, in this sentence, the thing being liked is el juego nuevo (the new game), which is singular. The verb gustar always matches the thing that is liked, not how many people like it!

Why is there an A at the very beginning of the sentence?

With verbs like gustar, if you want to specifically name the person who likes the thing, you must put an a (to) in front of them. You can think of this sentence as literally saying, "To my friend, the new game is pleasing."

If we already said A mi amigo (To my friend), why do we still need the word le?

Spanish is perfectly happy to double up on these details! With gustar, you must include the pronoun le (to him/to her/to it), even if you already stated who the person is. The phrase A mi amigo is just there to clarify exactly who le refers to.

Why is it juego nuevo instead of nuevo juego?