Spanish language Q&A Forum

I think that the concept of "verbs like gustar" might become clearer by seeing a literal translation as well as the English interpretation/translation. 

Is this the correct sentence construction for "verbs like gustar"?

Indirect Object + verb like gustar + subject ?

Le entristece la mala noticia = The bad news saddens her.

Could the literal translation be: For her, the news is saddening OR should it be To her, the news saddens? Neither really make sense in English! “Her, the news saddens = The news saddens her” and makes the verb transitive, no? And “her” becomes the Direct Object “la” instead of the Indirect Object “le”. Can “entristecer” be used as a transitive verb AND as a “verb like gustar”?

But surely the more correct Spanish would be: 

Las malas noticias la entristecen OR la entristecen las malas noticias

Are both forms acceptable?

How then can I reconcile la in that last version with the le in the lesson version? "La" is a Direct Object while "le" is an Indirect Object, no?

So, again, can “entristecer” be both transitive and a “verb like gustar”? OR is either version incorrect?

 Phew! HELP?

The test question "I always wanted to be a dentist." I answered "he querido" but correct answer was "quise" 

Isn't that a past action that continues into the present? - perfecto?

Anyway this particular topic seems to be all over the place. The goal of these questions shouldn't be trickery IMHO. We're learning to speak a language - not to be a textbook scholar - or at least that's my goal. I asked one of the many Spanish speakers where I work what they thought and they said "it could be either and I'd understand you."

En la frase "me quedo comtemplándola por horas", debería ser "contemplándola".

If there were already influencers of all kinds on the networks, athleisure was not going to be an exception.

I am struggling to understand the meaning of this sentence.  Is it talking about a hypothetical or real situation?

The best answer is given as:

Si ya había influencers de todo tipo en las redes,

 Why is it not hubiera?

Gracias

It seems as if porque would convey the same idea and is probably more often used in conversation.  So is de tanto more formal, literary or is it used in the street?

I continue to have exactly the same problem as the users below.  Your team really needs to fix this.

Why: que había muchas opciones rather than: que hay muchas opciones or even subjunctively: que haya muchas opciones?

I believe the accent is on the wrong syllable in the word basándose.