THE VERB PIACERE

The verb piacere behaves a li.le differently than the other verbs and
needs the indirect pronouns. A8er all, we say mi piace and not io piace.

Why is PIACERE so weird?

The verb piacere can seem a little weird, but actually it’s not that crazy.
You just have to understand how exactly this verb is built from
a grammatical perspective:

The subject is not the person, but what it’s liked. That is why piacere is
usually in the 3rd person singular or plural. The person who likes
something represents the indirect object, which in Italian is expressed
by the preposition A or an indirect pronoun. The indirect object answers
the question to whom?

Ai miei genitori piace l’albergo

A CHI? – OGGETTO INDIRETTO VERBO SOGGETTO

Who is Liking Who

Think of piacere as meaning something gives pleasure to someone, or,
something is pleasing to someone (piacere is intransitive and always
conjugated with the auxiliary essere). When you conjugate it in a sentence,
you reverse who is doing the liking and what is liked or doing the pleasing:
the subject pronoun becomes an indirect object pronoun and the verb is
conjugated according to what is liked rather than who, in English, is doing
the liking.

1. I like the house.

2. The house is pleasing to me (or, the house to me is pleasing).
3. A me piace la casa, or, la casa mi piace (or, mi piace la casa).
For a plural object:

1. I like the houses.

2. The houses are pleasing to me (or, the houses to me are pleasing).
3. A me piacciono le case, or, le case mi piacciono (or, mi piacciono le
case).

The verb PIACERE and the indirect pronouns

1. A Fiona piace il gelato.
2a. Le piace il gelato.
2b. A lei piace il gelato.
Basically, with piacere you always have to use 1) A + name/noun or 2) the
indirect pronouns.

1) A Fiona piace
Important to learn is that when you have piacere with a name or
noun, you should always add the preposition A. If necessary, you must
combine it with the article. For the combination, see articulated
prepositions.

A Fiona piace il mare. Fiona likes the sea.

Al mio amico non piacciono le spiagge
affollate.
Ai miei genitori piace visitare le grandi
ci.à.
My friend doesn’t like crowded
beaches.
My parents like to visit big ci?es.

2) Le piace • A lei piace

If we want to replace A Fiona with a pronoun, we need the indirect
pronouns.

A Fiona piace > LE piace

 OTHER VERBS LIKE PIACERE
In the chart you will find a short list of other verbs that work just
like piacere. They are very common too, and familiarizing yourself with
them will help you become more fluent in Italian:

VERB EXAMPLE TRANSLATION

INTERESSARE I tuoi problemi non Your problems don’t interest

TO INTEREST mi interessano. me.

INTERESSARE A Claudia interessa molto la storia Claudia is very interested in

TO INTEREST dell’arte. art history.

MANCARE
Mi mancano i miei genitori. I miss my parents.
TO MISS

MANCARE
Ti sono mancato? Did you miss me?
TO MISS

BASTARE Is one slice of pizza enough

Ti basta una fe@a di pizza?
TO BE ENOUGH for you?

BASTARE Qua@ro corsi al semestre Four courses a semester are

TO BE ENOUGH mi bastano! enough for me!

SERVIRE
TO NEED, TO BE Vi serve un passaggio? Can you all use a ride?
OF USE

SERVIRE I’m done with these books.

TO NEED, TO BE QuesF libri non mi servono più. (I’m not using them any
OF USE more.)

RESTARE I got 100 dollars from my

Ho ricevuto 100 dollari da mia
TO BE LEFT, TO grandmother and I’ve only
nonna e me ne restano solo 10.
REMAIN got 10 leT.
 RESTARE
Ti resta molto tempo prima degli Do you have much Ume leT
TO BE LEFT, TO
esami? before the exams?
REMAIN

OCCORRERE
Ci occorre più tempo per We need more Ume to
TO BE
prepararci per l’esame. prepare for the exam.
NECESSARY

OCCORRERE
Mi occorrono altre tre ore per I need three more hours to
TO BE
finire il lavoro. finish the job.
NECESSARY

A Dialogue

Pensavo ti piacesse il cinema I thought you liked Italian

Lucio Italiano! cinema!

Sì, mi piace. Ma preferisco i I do. But I prefer films from

Marina film del secolo scorso. last century.

Wow, hai dei gusti raffinati. A Wow, you have a refined

me invece piacciono solo i taste. I only like Hollywood
Lucio film di Hollywood. films.

Sì, non avevo dubbi. Non ti I had no doubt about that.

piacerebbe guardare degli Wouldn’t you like to watch
altri tipi di film con me? Ti other kinds of films with me? I
posso dare delle lezioni di can give you some cinema
Marina cinema! lessons!

Certo, molto volentieri. Se I would love to. If it’s not a

Lucio non ti scoccia. problem for you.

Marina Io lo farei con piacere! I would do it with pleasure!