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. Learn ¿Te molesta mi perro and more in Spanish
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