Hi Line, Your teacher is right. "Gustar" is used like a reflexive verb. One of the most common misconceptions among spanish students is that "Gustar" means "to like". I does not. There is no english word like Gustar. And there is no spanish verb that means "to like". That's why they are often confused. It means: "to be pleasing to", and it must be accompanied by "me", "te", "le", "nos" or "os". "Me gusta." = "To me it is pleasing". "Te gusta" = "To you it is pleasing". Example sentence: "Me gustan las hamburguesas". The INTERPRETATION would be: "I like hamburgers". The TRANSLATION would be: "To me they are pleasing the hamburgers". In English, the Subject does the liking. The Subject likes the Object. In Spanish, the Object does the pleasing. The Object is pleasing to the Subject. So here are some example conjugations. Me gusta. = To me it is pleasing (I like it). Te gusta. = To you it is pleasing (You like it). Le gusta. = To him/her/it it is pleasing (He likes it). Nos gusta. = To us it is pleasing (We like it). Me gustas (Tu me gustas) = You are pleasing to me (I like you). Nos gustamos = We are pleasing to us (We like each other). Te gustamos = We are pleasing to you (You like us). Does this help? If not, please contact me.

It is also worth explaining that "gustar" takes on a slightly different meaning when a person is the Object of the sentence. *** In english, if you say, "I like her", it's usually a platonic (non-romantic) like. You like your friends. But if you use Gustar to subsitute "to like" with a person, you are implying a romantic interest or physical atraction. Here is the interpretation (not a literal translation): Tu me gustas = You are physically or romantically attractive to m. Ella me gusta = She is physically or romantically attractive to me. Nos gustamos = We are physically or romantically attractive to each other. If you want to convey the English meaning of "I like you", as a friend or as a good person, it is better to use the reflexive phrase "Caerse bien". I like you. = Tu me caes bien. He likes me = Yo le caigo bien. We like each other. = Nos caemos bien. I like her. = Ella me cae bien. *** This is true in most spanish-speaking countries, but not all.

Yo gusto a los niños = The children like me Tú gustas a los niños = The children like you. Él gusta a los niños = The children like him. Ella gusta a los niños = The children like her. Nosotros gustamos a los niños = The children like us Vosotros gustáis a los niños = The children like you. Ellos gustan a los niños = The children like them.

In the sentence "I like apples", "apples" is the direct object, "I" is the subject, and "like" is a transitive verb. In the sentence "me gustan las manzanas", "las manzanas" is the subject, "me" is the indirect object, and "gustan" is an intransitive verb. In the sentence "me gusta esta manzana", the verb is singular because the subject "esta manzana" is singular In the sentence "me gustan estas manzanas", the verb is plural because the subject "estas manzanas" is plural. Me gusta, te gusta, le gusta, nos gusta, os gusta, les gusta ESTA MANZANA. Me gustan, te gustan, le gustan, nos gustan, os gustan, les gustan ESTAS MANZANAS.