Learn Spanish (Latin America): ¿Te molesta mi perro?

¿Te molesta mi perro?

Does my dog bother you?

Breakdown of ¿Te molesta mi perro?

el perro

the dog

to you / you (direct object)

molestar

to bother

Questions & Answers about ¿Te molesta mi perro?

Why is the verb molesta instead of molestas if I am asking "you"?

Because molestar works exactly like gustar. In this sentence, "you" are not doing the action; the dog is. The true subject of the sentence is mi perro (my dog). Because the dog is an "it," we use the singular third-person verb form, molesta.

What is the purpose of Te at the beginning of the sentence?

Te means "to you." With "gustar-like" verbs, the person experiencing the feeling is the receiver of the action. Literally, the sentence is structured as "Is my dog a bother to you?"

Is molestar a "false friend"?

Yes, a very important one! While it looks like a severe English word, in Spanish molestar is an everyday, harmless verb that simply means "to bother," "to annoy," or "to disturb."

Can I put mi perro at the beginning of the sentence instead of the end?

Yes, you can absolutely say ¿Mi perro te molesta?. However, it is a very strong habit in Spanish to place the subject at the end of the sentence when using verbs like gustar and molestar, which is why the example puts it there.