Question 1

Why do we use les instead of ellos for 'they'?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, the verb gustar doesn't exactly mean 'to like'. It works more like 'to be pleasing to'. So instead of saying 'They like to sleep late', Spanish speakers are essentially saying 'To sleep late is pleasing to them'. That is why we use the indirect object pronoun les (to them) instead of the subject pronoun ellos (they).

Question 2

Since 'they' is plural, why is the verb gusta singular instead of gustan?

Accepted Answer

With gustar, the verb matches the thing that is pleasing, not the person who likes it. Here, the thing that is pleasing is the action of sleeping (dormir). When you talk about liking an action (a verb in its infinitive form), you always use the singular form gusta.

Question 3

How do we know les means 'they' here? Couldn't it also mean 'you all'?

Accepted Answer

Yes, les can mean 'to them' or 'to you all' (when speaking formally). Without any other context, this sentence could just as easily mean 'You all like to sleep late'. Usually, the conversation makes it clear who you are talking about. If you needed to be completely specific, you could add A ellos, A ellas, or A ustedes at the beginning of the sentence.

Question 4

I previously learned that tarde means 'afternoon'. Can it also mean 'late'?

Accepted Answer

Yes! tarde is a noun meaning 'afternoon' (as in Buenas tardes), but it is also an adverb meaning 'late'. Because it is describing the verb dormir (to sleep) in this sentence, it translates to 'late'.

Les gusta dormir tarde.

Breakdown of Les gusta dormir tarde.

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