Spanish verb Costar vs Costar a alguien algo

The verb costar in Spanish

The verb "costar" can have different meanings depending on how it is used. The literal meaning is "to cost" as in costing money. But it can also be used to express "someone finds something difficult".

COSTAR (dinero)

If you want to say "whom" it costs, you need an indirect object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les) to reflect this. For example:

COSTAR A ALGUIEN HACER ALGO

To express that "someone finds it difficult to do something" we use it like this:

The person who finds it difficult is expressed with the indirect object pronoun (me cuesta, te cuesta..., les ha costado...)

"What" is difficult is expressed with an infinitive (me cuesta creer..., te cuesta relacionarte..., les ha costado adaptarse...)

You can also use costar without a pronoun if you want to express that "people in general" find something difficult or "one" finds something difficult. For example:

In negative sentences, the meaning often turns into "someone doesn't mind doing something/it is not a problem to do something". For example:

But it could still mean "someone doesn't find something difficult" when we are talking about skills:

Costar with an indirect object pronoun works like the verb gustar.

Here is a list of the most common "inverted" verbs.