Answers
Apr 25, 2014 - 11:22 AM
I used to get this wrong a lot until I finally learned that following "gusta" usually the article is used. In part it may be because "la comida dulce" is actually the subject of the sentence. I hacked around a bit on line, and all I could find was basically you have to use the article after "gusta". Maybe Sonia explained this somewhere, but I don't recall. Actually, in the second sentence, I think, just like English, you could include the article if you meant some specific food, i.e., if there were two plates of food, one sweet and one not, and you can't eat THE sweet food (but you could eat the other food that is not sweet).
Apr 29, 2014 - 10:12 AM
Hallo @Banjolover47
@James got it absolutely right. After the verb "gustar" you always use an article, because what you like is the subject of the sentence in Spanish. So it’s:
Me gusta LA comida dulce
Remember that with this verb we normally use this structure: indirect pronoun + verb + object liked (subject)
Me gusta la comida dulce
But you can also place the subject at the beginning:
LA comida dulce me gusta.
What’s important is that you need the article here. So you can't say "Comida dulce me gusta”
Now, in the phrase:
No puedo comer comida muy dulce
“Comida muy dulce" is not the subject, it's the direct object, so it works like in English. Again, @James is right: you could include the article when referring to some specific food:
No puedo comer la comida dulce, pero la otra sí.
I can’t eat the sweet food (dish) but the other (one) yes.
So, the difference here is that in English we don't use the article with "to like" when speaking in general:
I like cars (any car, cars in general)
While in Spanish you always use the article with "gustar" even when speaking in general:
Me gustan los autos
I hope this helps!
@James got it absolutely right. After the verb "gustar" you always use an article, because what you like is the subject of the sentence in Spanish. So it’s:
Me gusta LA comida dulce
Remember that with this verb we normally use this structure: indirect pronoun + verb + object liked (subject)
Me gusta la comida dulce
But you can also place the subject at the beginning:
LA comida dulce me gusta.
What’s important is that you need the article here. So you can't say "Comida dulce me gusta”
Now, in the phrase:
No puedo comer comida muy dulce
“Comida muy dulce" is not the subject, it's the direct object, so it works like in English. Again, @James is right: you could include the article when referring to some specific food:
No puedo comer la comida dulce, pero la otra sí.
I can’t eat the sweet food (dish) but the other (one) yes.
So, the difference here is that in English we don't use the article with "to like" when speaking in general:
I like cars (any car, cars in general)
While in Spanish you always use the article with "gustar" even when speaking in general:
Me gustan los autos
I hope this helps!
Apr 29, 2014 - 06:55 PM
Wow! Amazingly thorough and thoughtful explanation. You people at Fluenz are the best! I am so happy that I made the decision to fly with Fluenz. Muchas gracias por todo.