Subject in Gustar sentence

In 7.4 the subject of the sentence is always placed at the end

me gusta el gato. 

el gato is at the end. This is true of every sentence in the  lesson except when then make a person the subject

Miguel me gusta.

Then the subject (miguel) is placed at the front. This doesn't seem to be discussed anywhere. Are there any rules for this? Can the subject always be placed in front as well?

el gato me gusta?

me gusta Miguel?

¡Hola mmmatt!

Thanks for getting in touch with your question!

Indeed, as the lesson explains in the section “GUSTAR ‘To Be Pleasing / To Like,’” the subject of a backward verb like gustar usually comes after the verb. This is the most natural and most common phrasing, and the standard way of putting these sentences together. 

When it comes to using the backward expression caer bien to talk about liking people, however, some native Spanish speakers do find that putting the person first sounds more natural, and the sentence with gustar seems to be reflecting this word order for a better comparison.

I will check in with the Spanish team about clarifying this section and will get this updated! In the meantime, the best rule of thumb to follow is to always put the subject of a backward verb (e.g. gustar) after the verb, like in the rest of the examples. (Thus, always use Me gusta el gato and not El gato me gusta.)

Saludos,

Liss

¡Hola mmmatt!

Our Spanish team has updated the explanation in the section “Liking People” to explain the word order here (which is natural for both caer bien and gustar). Please do let us know if you still have any confusion over this after you've had a chance to check it out!

Saludos,

Liss