Learn Spanish (Spain): A las chicas les gustan los caballos y los tigres.

A las chicas les gustan los caballos y los tigres.

The girls like horses and tigers.

Breakdown of A las chicas les gustan los caballos y los tigres.

Questions & Answers about A las chicas les gustan los caballos y los tigres.

Why is the verb "gustan" plural here?

In Spanish, gustar works differently than "to like" in English. It literally means that something is "pleasing to" someone. The things that are pleasing here are los caballos y los tigres (horses and tigers). Because they are plural, the verb must be the plural form gustan.

Why does the sentence start with "A las chicas" instead of just "Las chicas"?

Because of how gustar works, the animals are "pleasing to" the girls. The word A means "to", so A las chicas translates literally to "To the girls".

We already said "A las chicas", so why do we also need "les"?

It might seem repetitive, but it is required in Spanish! Even when you specifically name who you are talking about (a las chicas), you must still include the matching "to them" pronoun (les) right before the verb.

Why do we say "los caballos y los tigres" when the English translation just says "horses and tigers"?

In English, we drop the word "the" when talking about things in general, like "I like horses". In Spanish, when you talk about a whole category of things you like or dislike, you must always include the definite article (el, la, los, or las).