How to say “I like”: Italian grammar lesson 13

Start here

You’ll receive my free resources together with my best offers! Opt out at any time.

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lesson and other resources.

I’ll take you to your shiny new student dashboard.

What is the meaning of piace in Italian?

Knowing how to say you like something is very useful in all languages. In this lesson, you’re going to learn how to say I like and how to use it in context.

Before we go into detail, we’ll give you some examples:

Tu mi piaci.

I like you.

Ci piace andare al cinema.

We like going to the cinema.

A Gianluca piacciono le macchine.

Gianluca likes cars.

Vi piace il caffè?

Do you like coffee?

Piacere explained

How to use piacere in Italian?

In Italian, we use the verb piacere to say to like but it doesn’t quite behave like the verb to like. The structure is very different. To be more precise, in Italian it behaves backward.

Let’s take the first sentence as an example to analyze.

Tu mi piaci.

I like you.

In Italian, the subject of the sentence is who is liked, in this case is tu. The person who likes is the indirect object pronoun mi. As you can see, the verb agrees with the subject and not with the indirect object pronoun. In English, the verb agrees with the subject too, but the subject is I, unlike in Italian.

To like in Italian

How to conjugate piacere?

We’re going to give you very literal translations so that you get the concept. Instead of to like, we’re going to use the concept of to be pleasing to someone, which sounds very odd but will give you an idea of how this verb works.

Let’s have a look at the conjugation of the verb piacere.

  • Io piaccio (I’m pleasing)
  • Tu piaci (You’re pleasing)
  • Lui/Lei piace (He/She’s pleasing)
  • Noi piacciamo (We’re pleasing)
  • Voi piacete (You’re pleasing)
  • Loro piacciono (They’re pleasing)

Piacere to like explained Italian

How to use mi piace?

The phrases above are not complete since you cannot just say, I’m pleasing. You need a complement to that. In Italian, we need an indirect object pronoun.

Let’s have a look at all of them:

  • mi (to me)
  • ti (to you)
  • gli/le (to him/her)
  • ci (to us)
  • vi (to you)
  • gli (to them)

You don’t always need an indirect object pronoun, though. You might also find the name of someone. In this case, you’ll notice the presence of the word a, which means to.

For example:

A Laura.

To Laura.

A Enrico e Riccardo.

To Enrico and Riccardo.

I like piacere

Practice with Quizlet

Here's a set of flashcards and quizzes to practice this grammar topic.

Piacere: examples

Now that you know about the difference between English and Italian and about the importance of indirect object pronouns, it’ll be easier to understand the complete structure.

Free Guide
How to Learn Languages Fast

Let’s have a look at some examples. We’ll give you literal translations together with translations that make more sense.

Mi piace andare in montagna.

Going to the mountain is pleasing to me. = I like going to the mountain.

I film stranieri gli piacciono tanto.

Foreign films are very pleasing to him. = He likes foreign films a lot.

A Laura piacciono i tatuaggi.

Tattoos are pleasing to Laura. = Laura likes tattoos.

Ti piace la pizza?

Is pizza pleasing to you? = Do you like pizza?

You probably noticed the most common forms of the verb piacere are piace and piacciono since we usually like one thing or person or many things or people.

Also, you might find the subject before or after the verb.

To like piacere

Still translating in your head? Wanna speak Italian for real? Check out Stefano's courses to think directly in Italian and become fluent fast!

FAQs on How to say “I like”: Italian grammar lesson 13

Stefano

Italian language tutor, course author, and polyglot. After learning 12 languages, I can tell you that we all master languages by listening and mimicking. With my method, you'll be speaking Italian from Lesson 1.

Follow me to fluency​

Receive my free resources once a week together with my best offers! 

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lesson and other resources.

I’ll take you to your shiny new student dashboard.

Leave a Reply

Share:

Still translating in your head?

Wanna speak Italian for real? Check out Stefano’s courses to think directly in Italian and become fluent fast!
[mwai_chatbot_v2 id="support"]
Try my courses
for free​
ripeti con me mockup sm

Let me show you around

How long to fluency?

Find out how long it will take you to master Italian!
Get on the right track in 3 minutes.

dolce vita logo

We're already friends!

Coming from Luca and Marina?
Here's a special deal for you!
Just tell me where I should send the coupon.

50% OFF
all language resources

We're already friends!

Coming from All Language Resources?
Here's a special deal for you!
Just tell me where I should send the coupon.

50% OFF
GRAB A COUPON NOW, REDEEM IT LATER
50% OFF

To receive free resources once a week together with my best offers, just tell me where to send everything. Opt out at any time.

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lesson and other resources.

I’ll take you to your shiny new student dashboard.