Learn Spanish (Latin America): Me gustan las naranjas.

Me gustan las naranjas.

I like oranges.

Breakdown of Me gustan las naranjas.

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching Spanish (Latin America) grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Spanish (Latin America) now

Questions & Answers about Me gustan las naranjas.

Why is it gustan instead of gusta?

In Spanish, the verb gustar actually means 'to be pleasing to'. So, this sentence literally translates to 'The oranges are pleasing to me.' Because naranjas (oranges) is plural, the verb must also be plural (gustan).

Why do we use me at the beginning instead of yo?

Because of how gustar works, you are not the one doing the action; the oranges are! Yo means 'I', but me means 'to me'. You use me to show who the oranges are pleasing to.

Why is there a las before naranjas? In English we just say 'I like oranges', not 'I like the oranges.'

When you talk about things in a general sense in Spanish, like expressing a preference for all oranges, you must use a definite article (el, la, los, or las). Since naranjas is feminine and plural, we use las.

How is the 'j' pronounced in naranjas?

In Latin American Spanish, the letter 'j' makes a soft, breathy 'h' sound. So, naranjas sounds a bit like 'nah-rahn-has'.