# Me gustas tú



## Trasasa

Hello everyone, I have a question about the subject in "Me gustas tú." I know it literally translates to "You are pleasing to me" in English, and it is "tú" which decides the form of "gustar" in the sentence. Does it make "tú" the subject of this sentence? If so, why is it placed after the verb? Thank you so much for your help! ¡Gracias!


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## gato radioso

Tú is the subject.
The word order is due to the rethorical nuance of the sentence.
If you want to say this leaving out that connotation, you would have said: Tú me gustas, which is more neutral.


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## User With No Name

If by chance you are referring to the Manu Chao song, there are also metrical reasons to put a stressed syllable at the end.


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## CuervoGold

Yes, you can say "Tú me gustas" o "Me gustas tú". In fact, in Spanish you can play with the subject position: 

- ¿*Ellos *vendrán a la fiesta?
- ¿Vendrán *ellos *a la fiesta?

Same meaning.


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## Trasasa

User With No Name said:


> If by chance you are referring to the Manu Chao song, there are also metrical reasons to put a stressed syllable at the end.



Hello, so is it normally "Tú me gustas"?
.


CuervoGold said:


> Yes, you can say "Tú me gustas" o "Me gustas tú". In fact, in Spanish you can play with the subject position:
> 
> - ¿*Ellos *vendrán a la fiesta?
> - ¿Vendrán *ellos *a la fiesta?
> 
> Same meaning.



Thanks, I see how the subject in a Spanish sentence can move around sometimes now.


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## User With No Name

Trasasa said:


> Hello, so is it normally "Tú me gustas"?


I'm not a native speaker, but I'm not sure you can say that one is more "normal" than the other. I do think that with the verb gustar in particular there is more of a tendency to put the subject at the end than with other verbs.

Also, it seems to me that in Spanish the new information often comes toward the end of the sentence of the sentence.


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## Trasasa

User With No Name said:


> I'm not a native speaker, but I'm not sure you can say that one is more "normal" than the other. I do think that with the verb gustar in particular there is more of a tendency to put the subject at the end than with other verbs.
> 
> Also, it seems to me that in Spanish the new information often comes toward the end of the sentence of the sentence.




Thanks. I got it now.


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## aparraud

There is a slight difference between "Tú me gustas" and "Me gustas tú" in Spanish. The first one would be like "I like you", but the second one can be taken as "I like you among all the others", or something like that. The "tú" is emphasized here


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## User With No Name

EppurSiMuove said:


> The first one would be like "I like you", but the second one can be taken as "I like you among all the others", or something like that. The "tú" is emphasized here


That's what I was trying to say about the new information tending to come toward the end of the sentence.

Would I be right to say that "Me gustas tú" would make more sense as the answer to "¿Quién te gusta?", while "Tú me gustas" might be a more logical answer to "¿Qué piensas de mí?"?


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## aparraud

Yes, you are right. "Tú me gustas" means, "I like you", but "Me gustas tú" means that I have a crush on you.


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## Trasasa

EppurSiMuove said:


> Yes, you are right. "Tú me gustas" means, "I like you", but "Me gustas tú" means that I have a crush on you.



Thanks. I need to pay attention to these nuances.


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## wolfram_beta

EppurSiMuove said:


> "Tú me gustas" means, "I like you"


What do you mean by "I like you"? Do you mean in the sense of "me caes bien"? I was under the (apparently mistaken) impression that "me gustas" was only used in the romantic sense of "liking".


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## aparraud

Depends on the context. It could be "me caes bien" or "quiero tener algo contigo"... Is a little ambiguous.


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## gato radioso

wolfram_beta said:


> What do you mean by "I like you"? Do you mean in the sense of "me caes bien"? I was under the (apparently mistaken) impression that "me gustas" was only used in the romantic sense of "liking".



Context is everything in this type of expressions.
You can perfectly say that you like a friend or someone without a romantic connotation, and probably nobody would get it wrong. But, in Spain at least, we tend to say "caer bien". If you use this form, you´ll always be on the safe side.
On the other hand, using "me gustas" usually have a sort of romantic connotation, and that´s the prevalent meaning it has.
But, as I said, we don´t often confuse both meanings, unless the situation or context is ambigous.


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## User With No Name

gato radioso said:


> If you use this form, you´ll always be on the safe side.


Again, I'm not a native speaker, but the standard advice given to learners of Spanish is to avoid "gustar" with people unless you want to express romantic attraction (unless it's completely obvious: Me gusta Lope de Vega). I think that's pretty good advice.

And personally, I'm not sure when you would say "me gustas" specifically without meaning to express attraction. Maybe the native speakers can give us an example.


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## MiguelitOOO

User With No Name said:


> Again, I'm not a native speaker, but the standard advice given to learners of Spanish is to avoid "gustar" with people unless you want to express romantic attraction


Yes. If someone says "me gustas" to you, that person is flirting with you.
You can say "_me gusta tu estilo_", or "_me gusta tu personalidad_", but not "_me gusta_*s*".


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## gato radioso

User With No Name said:


> Again, I'm not a native speaker, but the standard advice given to learners of Spanish is to avoid "gustar" with people unless you want to express romantic attraction (unless it's completely obvious: Me gusta Lope de Vega). I think that's pretty good advice.
> 
> And personally, I'm not sure when you would say "me gustas" specifically without meaning to express attraction. Maybe the native speakers can give us an example.



_Me gusta tu abuelo. Va siempre por la calle como un antiguo caballero, tan erguido, bien vestido y con su bastón...
Me gusta el nuevo alcalde. Al menos no es tan arrogante como el anterior._


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## aparraud

_


User With No Name said:



			Again, I'm not a native speaker, but the standard advice given to learners of Spanish is to avoid "gustar" with people unless you want to express romantic attraction (unless it's completely obvious: Me gusta Lope de Vega). I think that's pretty good advice.
		
Click to expand...


"Me gustas, creo que eres una buena persona" is something that anyone can say without any romantic meaning..._


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## User With No Name

MiguelitOOO said:


> Yes. If someone says "me gustas" to you, that person is flirting with you.
> You can say "_me gusta tu estilo_", or "_me gusta tu personalidad_", but not "_me gusta_*s*".





EppurSiMuove said:


> "Me gustas, creo que eres una buena persona" is something that anyone can say without any romantic meaning...



Interesting.


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## MiguelitOOO

EppurSiMuove said:


> _
> "Me gustas, creo que eres una buena persona" is something that anyone can say without any romantic meaning..._


Not here in México. Maybe in a movie or a novel, but not in real life.


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## gato radioso

MiguelitOOO said:


> Not here in México. Maybe in a movie or a novel, but not in real life.


Como seria sería en México?


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## macame

> gustar
> 3. intr. Agradar, parecer bien.
> 
> 4. intr. Dicho de una persona: Resultar atractiva a otra.
> 
> Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados


Entonces en México, ¿nunca se usa gustar con la acepción de agradar, solamente con la de atraer?


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## CuervoGold

EppurSiMuove said:


> The first one would be like "I like you", but the second one can be taken as "I like you among all the others", or something like that. The "tú" is emphasized here


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## Amapolas

Trasasa said:


> Hello, so is it normally "Tú me gustas"?


I wouldn't say it's more normal, but more neutral. It's the difference between 'I like you' and 'It's you I like'.



EppurSiMuove said:


> Depends on the context. It could be "me caes bien" or "quiero tener algo contigo"... Is a little ambiguous.


Exactly. It's totally context-dependent. There are many ways to like someone. The situation, the tone of my voice, my eyes... will most likely clarify my intention. 



User With No Name said:


> Again, I'm not a native speaker, but the standard advice given to learners of Spanish is to avoid "gustar" with people unless you want to express romantic attraction (unless it's completely obvious: Me gusta Lope de Vega). I think that's pretty good advice.


It's good advice for beginners, I agree. Once you're more familiar with the language and become comfortable around possible nuances, you can move ahead and beyond this maxim.


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## User With No Name

Amapolas said:


> It's good advice for beginners, I agree. Once you're more familiar with the language and become comfortable around possible nuances, you can move ahead and beyond this maxim.


Maybe there's a bit of a regional difference here. (I see the Mexican member of this conversation is less comfortable with gustar for people than others.)

But if a male college professor wanted to express that one of his female (or male) students was friendly and cooperative in class (and nothing more), would "Me gusta María" really be an acceptable way to do it?


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## aparraud

Context, context, context. If a professor says just "Me gusta María" would be expressing a romantic or sexual "gustar". But if he says "Me gusta María, participa en clase y presta atención" would be another thing completely different... Or if "Me gusta María" was the answer to a question like: "Who you recommend to work with me?" for example.


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## MiguelitOOO

Well, if a professor says "Me gusta maría" or "Me gusta Juan, I think all their students will laugh at that because they  would have thought it was a mistake. One professor must says "_Me gusta *cómo *María hace/dice/piensa,etc._"
But this is in my zone, my city. I don´t kow if in other mexican places people can say "Me gustas" with a neutral meaning.
We say: "Me caes bien" mostly 95% of time.


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## Nipnip

MiguelitOOO said:


> Well, if a professor says "Me gusta maría" or "Me gusta Juan, I think all their students will laugh at that because they  would have *thought it was a mistake.* One professor must says "_Me gusta *cómo *María hace/dice/piensa,etc._"
> But this is in my zone, my city. I don´t kow if in other mexican places people can say "Me gustas" with a neutral meaning.
> We say: "Me caes bien" mostly 95% of time.



That's how it sounds to Mexican ears. In fact small children are usually corrected because they don't see a difference in meaning between _me gusta el dulce, me gusta la caricatura _o _me gusta mi tía Juana porque me consiente.
_
I would advise to refrain from using this verb for non-romantic or sexual intentions when directly referring to the person you are speaking to.

We only use this sense of "gustar" under very specific contexts when it is clear that we talk about the person's actions, style or way to do things, rather than the person himself. This tends to only be used when talking about public figures whose actions are well known by every one.

No me gusta Donald Trumo como presidente, siento que le falta diplomacia.

No me gusta Karina, siempre llega tarde a clase y no trae la tarea.

The latter sentence would be better expressed in the following way: _No me gusta (tener a) Karina (como estudiante), siempre llega tarde a clase y no trae la tarea.
_
In the above sentence, the words in brackets would need to be explicitly stated to make it clear that what we do not like are Karina's actions, rather than that we lack a romantic or sexual interest in Karina.


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## User With No Name

Nipnip said:


> That's how it sounds to Mexican ears.


Gracias. Esa era mi impresión también, por lo menos en el español que escucho por aquí (español mexicano, principalmente).


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## Ash Schwein

CuervoGold said:


> Yes, you can say "Tú me gustas" o "Me gustas tú". In fact, in Spanish you can play with the subject position:
> 
> - ¿*Ellos *vendrán a la fiesta?
> - ¿Vendrán *ellos *a la fiesta?
> 
> Same meaning.



Incluso:

_¿Vendrán a la fiesta *ellos*?_


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## Rocko!

Nipnip said:


> No me gusta Karina, siempre llega tarde a clase y no trae la tarea.


Estoy de acuerdo. Lo normal por aquí sería "no me gusta *que *Karina siempre llega tarde a clase y ..."


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