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1.11: Il verbo "piacere"

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    120335
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    The verb to like

    The verb piacere is analogous to the verb to like in English, but it really means to be pleasing.

    In English one says: I like risotto. In Italian one says: Mi piace il risotto, which literally means Risotto is pleasing to me. It is a different way of expressing the same idea.

    • The two most common forms of the verb piacere in the present tense are piace and piacciono.
    piace + singular noun Mi piace la pasta.
    piace+ one or more infinitives Mi piace mangiare bene.
    piacciono + plural noun Mi piacciono le linguine.
    • When using the verb piacere, you must use the following pronouns to express the person(s) to whom a thing is pleasing:
    mi or a me = to me ci or a noi = to us
    ti or a te = to you (informal) vi or a voi = to you (plural)
    gli or a lui = to him gli or a loro = to them
    le or a lei = to her  
    Le or a Lei = to you (formal)  
    • When using the name of the person, you must use a + person’s name, i.e. A Paolo piace la carne [Paolo likes meat]. Later in the course we will also learn to express more complex ideas such as My parents like…
    • Unlike in English, you must use definite articles when speaking of things you like or don’t like, i.e. Mi piace la pasta [I like pasta] or Ti piace il caffè? [Do you like coffee?]
    • To make a negative statement, simply place non before the pronoun, i.e. Non mi piace la carne or Non ci piacciono le linguine. BUT: A me non piace la carne and A noi non piacciono le linguine.
    • To say “I like it,” you simply say Mi piace. To say “I like them,” you simply say Mi piacciono.
     

    This page titled 1.11: Il verbo "piacere" is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Daniel Leisawitz & Daniela Viale via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.