Learn Spanish (Spain): Nos gusta nadar en la playa.

Nos gusta nadar en la playa.

We like to swim at the beach.

Breakdown of Nos gusta nadar en la playa.

in / on / by (means of transport) / about (after pensar)

Questions & Answers about Nos gusta nadar en la playa.

Why do we use nos here instead of nosotros?

In Spanish, the verb gustar works differently than "to like" in English. Instead of saying "we like", the sentence literally translates closer to "swimming is pleasing to us". The word nos is a pronoun that means "to us".

Since nos refers to "us" (plural), why is the verb gusta singular instead of gustan?

With gustar, the verb matches the thing that is pleasing, not the people who like it. Here, the thing we like is the action of swimming, nadar. Because an action is treated as a single thing, we use the singular form gusta.

If I want to emphasize that "we" like it, how would I add nosotros to this sentence?

You can add a nosotros to the very beginning of the sentence for emphasis, making it: a nosotros nos gusta nadar en la playa. Notice that you must still keep the nos right before the verb.

Why is the verb nadar not conjugated here?

When you want to say you like doing a specific action, you always follow gusta with the dictionary form of the verb, also known as the infinitive. Here, nadar simply means "to swim".

Why does the sentence use en for "at" the beach?