“Piacere” in Italian
Meaning
Piacere is translated in English as “to like”. In both languages, it is used to express preferences and tastes, but their structure is quite different.
Let’s have a look at 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.
Conjugation
Piacere is an irregular second-conjugation verb. This means that its conjugation is quite different from that of other regular second-conjugation verbs like credere (to believe), prendere (to take), or scrivere (to write).
Although it can follow a standard paradigm – it can grammatically be conjugated in all the persons – it is typically used in the third person singular and plural only. Let me show it to you in the present tense:
- 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 is an intransitive verb. This means that it requires an indirect object in order for its meaning to be fulfilled. In this sense, its conjugation is very similar to that of servire, sembrare and mancare.
Let me remind you what Italian indirect objects look like:
- mi: (to) me
- ti: (to) you
- gli/le: (to) him/ her
- ci: (to) us
- vi: (to) you
- gli: (to) them
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.
It is important that you remember the placement of Italian pronouns!
As you can see, in Italian the subject of the sentence is the item, person, object that is liked by someone, and the person experiencing the feeling of liking is expressed by the indirect pronoun.
This is why it is almost always used in the third person singular or plural: because you can either like an item, person, or doing something, or you can like a plurality of items.
- Lui/lei piace
- Loropiacciono
Of course, if you want to specify that a person likes something, you do not need an indirect object pronoun, but you can use the name of that person. In this case, the indirect object is introduced by the preposition a.
For example:
A Laura piacciono i cani.
To Laura dogs are pleasant = Laura likes dogs.
A Enrico e Riccardo piace ballare.
To Enrico and Riccardo dancing is pleasant = Enrico and Riccardo like dancing.
Ti Piace?
Now you know everything you need to express likes and dislikes in Italian. Whether you’re ordering food at a restaurant or discussing your hobbies with new friends, being able to communicate your preferences is crucial for proper communication.
Now that you’ve learned some Italian phrases and expressions for expressing likes and dislikes, it’s time to practice!
