Piacere and Similar Verbs

How Piacere Works — The Key Difference

Piacere is one of the most important verbs in Italian, but it works very differently from 'to like' in English. In English you say 'I like music' — the person who likes is the subject. In Italian you say 'Mi piace la musica' — literally 'Music is pleasing to me'. The thing that is liked becomes the grammatical subject, and the person who likes it is expressed with an indirect object pronoun. This means piacere agrees with the thing that is liked, not the person.

The Rule: Piace or Piacciono?

Use PIACE (singular) when what is liked is: (1) a singular noun — 'Mi piace il mare', (2) an infinitive verb — 'Mi piace leggere', (3) a clause — 'Mi piace quando fa caldo'. Use PIACCIONO (plural) when what is liked is a plural noun — 'Mi piacciono le passeggiate'. The indirect object pronoun (mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi, gli) never changes — it always refers to the person who likes or dislikes something.

Similar Verbs That Work Like Piacere

Several Italian verbs follow the same pattern as piacere: the thing (subject) comes after the verb, and the person uses an indirect object pronoun. The most common ones are: DISPIACERE (to be sorry / to mind / to not like) — 'Mi dispiace!' means 'I'm sorry!' or 'It bothers me'; MANCARE (to miss / to be missing) — 'Mi manca la famiglia' means 'I miss my family' (literally 'My family is missing to me'); SERVIRE (to need) — 'Mi serve un dizionario' means 'I need a dictionary'; BASTARE (to be enough) — 'Mi basta una parola' means 'One word is enough for me'; SEMBRARE (to seem) — 'Mi sembra difficile' means 'It seems difficult to me'.

Passato Prossimo of Piacere — Agreement Rules

In the passato prossimo, piacere always uses ESSERE as the auxiliary. This means the past participle must agree in gender and number with the grammatical subject (the thing that was liked). The past participle PIACIUTO changes: piaciuto (m. sing.), piaciuta (f. sing.), piaciuti (m. pl.), piaciute (f. pl.). Examples: 'Mi è piaciuto il film' (the film pleased me — masculine singular). 'Mi è piaciuta la pizza' (I liked the pizza — feminine singular). 'Mi sono piaciuti i concerti' (I liked the concerts — masculine plural). 'Mi sono piaciute le vacanze' (I liked the holidays — feminine plural). With infinitives the participle is always masculine singular: 'Mi è piaciuto nuotare'.

• — Ti piace il jazz? — Sì, mi piace molto!
• — Vi piacciono i film d'azione? — No, ci annoiano.
• — Com'era il ristorante? — Mi è piaciuto tantissimo!
• — Mi dispiace, non posso venire. — I'm sorry, I can't come.
• — Mi manca Roma. — I miss Rome.
• — Mi serve aiuto. — I need help.
• — Non mi importa. — I don't care.
• — Mi fa male la schiena. — My back hurts.
• — Mi fa piacere conoscerti. — I'm pleased to meet you.