Tu Me Gustas

[Whatever]

I just heard the song "Tu Me Gustas" on Muppet Central Radio. It goes "Tu me gustas- that means I like you." But I am pretty sure that "Tu me gustas" means "You like me." "Me te gusto" would mean "I like you." How did such a huge blooper show up in Sesame Street? I'm just taking my second semester of Spanish in college, but I am sure that the song is wrong.

 

[AndyWan Kenobi]

I don't actually speak Spanish at all, but I have a bunch of French and a year of Italian under my belt. I'm guessing that "Tu me gustas" would mean (literally) "You are liked by me" or "You are pleasing to me." So, in a more conversational English, it would be "I like you."

Is this right? Somebody who speaks Spanish--am I on the right track?

 

[Pino]

You can compare Tu me Gustas with.. It´s You I like!

 

[Whatever]

But "gustas" is the you form. It means "you like." If you said that "I like" something, it would use the I form, gusto, so it would be "Me gusto" to say "I like."
I asked my professor today and she said that was right, plus the verb "gustar" has connotations when applied to humans, it means more than liking. Elmo and Luis, who would've guessed it? And people are always picking on Ernie and Bert.

 

[AndyWan Kenobi]

So, if it's "You are liked by me" or "You please me," the verb would still be conjugated in the "you" form, right? "You" becomes the subject, while "me" is the object.

 

[Hays]

Funny how nobody posting to this thread is a native Spanish speaker! Where are you guys?

Maybe it's just a misspelling or misunderstanding? The other forms of "gusta" are not that far off. It could also be idiomatically correct for whatever form of Spanish the show is using that day (Mexican, Puerto Rican...remember, there's lots of them.)

I know that Sonia Manzano (Maria) has admitted that she rarely speaks Spanish and struggles with correct words and grammar - and that all the Spanish spoken on the show is carefully scripted. I don't know if the same is true for Emilio Delgado.

http://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/advice/article.php?contentId=111302

 

[BeckyDR]

"Tu me gustas" and "Me gustas tu" both mean "I like you". Also, the verb "gustar" does not have any romantic connotations, or any meaning bigger than "I like...", as do the verbs "amar (to love)" and "querer (to want)"

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Isn't The Count from Puerto Rico??? Where is he at now?

 

[Splurge]

Isn't The Count from Puerto Rico??? Where is he at now?

Er... He's from Transylvania, I believe?

 

[Infinity Sirius]

Hmm...

I have been speaking Spanish for about four years now and I have a decent knowlegde of grammar, so let me see...

"Tu me gustas"

Grammatically speaking the word me is referring to the direct object of the sentence which is "I", while the conjugated form of the verb gustar means "you like". So the person talking in the sentence is referring to themselves as the direct object when they are speaking directly to the person.

So it means: You like me

Yeah, the Count is from Transylvania. Also if you look in some really old Golden Books they have pictures of the Count's family.