Learn Spanish (Spain): Me gustan los deportes.

Me gustan los deportes.

I like sports.

Breakdown of Me gustan los deportes.

to me / myself (reflexive) / me (direct object)

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Questions & Answers about Me gustan los deportes.

Why is it gustan with an 'n' instead of gusta?

In Spanish, the verb gustar works differently than the English verb 'to like'. It literally means 'to be pleasing to'. Because you are saying that sports (los deportes) are pleasing to you, the thing doing the pleasing is plural. Therefore, you must use the plural form of the verb, which is gustan.

Why do we use the word los here? The translation just says 'sports', not 'the sports'.

When talking about things in general in Spanish, you must use a definite article (el, la, los, or las). So, whenever you talk about liking sports as a whole category, you have to include los and say los deportes.

What exactly is the Me doing in this sentence?

Me means 'to me'. Since the sentence literally translates as 'Sports are pleasing to me', the Me is required to show who is experiencing the feeling. It always goes directly in front of the verb gustan.

Can I put los deportes at the beginning, like Los deportes me gustan?

Yes, Los deportes me gustan is grammatically correct. However, with verbs like gustar, native Spanish speakers usually prefer to put the thing that is pleasing at the very end of the sentence.