Today’s Vine comes from Diego Villalba.  Visit his Vine, Twitter, or website.  He’s from Cádiz, Spain, and you’ll notice the characters in this Vine have a distinct accent native to the region of Andalusia.

The Vine

Transcript

• Guy: uh, qué guapa la camiseta, ¿no?
• Girl: sí, ¿te gusta?
• Guy: me gusta más así, ¿no?

Explanation

• Guy: ooh, that’s a pretty t-shirt, eh?  (literal translation: how pretty the shirt, no?)
• Girl: yeah, do you like it?
• Guy: I like it more like this!
• I love this Vine because they pulled off a cool and creative editing trick.
• Note: Be aware of the accents.  The girl says “¿te gusta?” (do you like it?) but it sounds like “te gutsa” or even “te gucha” …and then when the guy responds he says “me gusta más así” (I like it more like this) but it sounds like “me guhta mah hasí.”  They are speaking in the Andaluz accent which can be harder to understand, but also really fun to listen to.  One noticeable feature of this accent is “eating your s” and replacing it with an h-like sound.  Another feature is dropping any “d” sounds: e.g. “cuidado” (be careful) becomes “cuidao.”
• FUN FACT #1: The famous Latin singer Alejandro Sanz has a song with flamenco singer Niña Pastori called “Cai” where they sing about the city of Cádiz, which they pronounce, “Cai.”
  • FUN FACT #1 part II: Niña Pastori is from Cádiz.  A lot of flamenco singers are from the south of Spain, and you’ll often hear the Andaluz accent in flamenco music.  (here is one of my favorite songs from Niña)
  • FUN FACT #1 part III: you’ll hear Niña sing something like “entre tus brazos” (between your arms/in your arms), but it sounds like “entre tu brazo” (between your arm) because she doesn’t pronounce the “s.”
• FUN FACT #2: here is a Spanish vlogger making a video about the Andaluz accent.

Slow-Mo Version

Accent note: I did my slo-mo version without the Andaluz accent so you can hear how you would say these words in conversation.

Pronunciation note: the “g” in “guapa” is very gentle.  Make it sound more like “wapa” than “GGGuapa.”  In fact, many Spaniards will just say “wapa” and ditch the “g” altogether. 

Useful Phrases

• ¿Te gusta? = do you like it?
• ¡Me gusta! = I like it!
• Me gusta ______ = I like ______
• ¡Qué guapa! (feminine), ¡Qué guapo! (masculine) = how pretty! how handsome!
  • guapa/guapo is primarily used in Spain, but understood in other countries as well.  More common in Latin America is linda/lindo.
• así = like this / like that.
  • Note: if you learn one word in Spanish, learn this word. 😉  You can use it in so many situations.  You can combine it with a gesture when you don’t know a word.  If you are trying to show someone something, you can say así again and again.  Así is also a part of many useful phrases.  Here’s just one example:
    • así está bien = that’s good/that will do (literal translation: it’s good like that)
    • ¿así está bien? = is that good?  is that ok?

Going Deeper

 SENTENCE BREAKDOWN

• “qué guapa” = “how pretty”
  • Pronunciation: “keh GWAH-pah”
• “la camiseta” = “the t-shirt”
  • Pronunciation: “la cah-mee-SEH-tah”
• “¿te gusta?” = “do you like it?”
  • Pronunciation: “teh GOO-stah”
• “me gusta” = “I like it”
  • Pronunciation: “meh GOO-stah”
• “más” = “more
  • Pronunciation: “maaahhs”
• “así” = “like this” (or “like that,” depending on context)
  • Pronunciation: “ah-SEE”

THE MECHANICS OF LIKING SOMETHING

In English, to say you like something, you make yourself the subject of the sentence, saying “I like x.”  In Spanish, you make yourself the object, saying “x pleases me.”

• “I like x” = “x me gusta” or “me gusta x”
•  The verb gustar means “to please.”
  • When we say me gusta or te gusta, we are conjugating gustar into the 3rd person: that thing (3rd person) pleases me or you.

Check out all the conjugations of gustar.  Let’s look at it two ways:

• If you’re on the receiving end:
  • me gusta x = x pleases me = I like x
  • te gusta x = x pleases you = you like x
  • le gusta x = x pleases him/her = He/she likes x
  • nos gusta x = x pleases us = We like x
  • os gusta x = x pleases you guys = You guys like x (Spain only)
  • les gusta x = x pleases them / you guys = They like x/you guys like x 

• If you’re on the giving end:
  • gusto = I please / I am pleasing
  • gustas = you please / you are pleasing
  • gusta = he/she/it pleases
  • gustamos = we please
  • gustáis = you guys please (Spain only)
  • gustan = they / you guys please

Now, we can mix and match these conjugations like an outfit.  Examples! Ejemplos!

• te gusto = I please you = You like me

Whooooaaa!  Understanding sentences with gustar can feel like deciphering a code, since the structure is so different from the English way of saying we like stuff.  But it’s worth the effort, ’cause once you know the code, you have a huge arsenal of phrases you can say.  More examples:

• me gustas = you please me = I like you

• nos gustas = you please us = we like you

• te gustamos = we please you = you like us

• me gusto = I please myself = I like myself

YES OR NO QUESTIONS

Parting thought: asking a yes or no question in Spanish is easy.  You just say it like a statement, but with different intonation.

That’s why:

Te gusta.  =  You like it.

¿Te gusta? =  Do you like it?

No need to add an extra helping word.

VOCABULARY

See if you can identify these words/phrases in English.

• gustar
• la camiseta
• me gustan las camisetas
• nos gusta la camiseta
• guapa/guapo
• así
• más

If you’re still reading this, watch the Vine again!  Then try to speak the words of the Vine out loud again, as slowly as you need to.