The verb piacere — usually translated as "to like" — is one of the classic stumbling blocks for English speakers, because it doesn't work the way "like" does in English. Literally, piacere means "to be pleasing to," and the Italian structure inverts the English one: what you like becomes the subject of the verb, and you become the indirect object. So I like pizza is Mi piace la pizza, which literally reads "pizza is pleasing to me." I like books is Mi piacciono i libri — "books are pleasing to me." The verb agrees with the thing being liked, not with the person doing the liking.
This means piacere almost always appears in just two forms: piace (singular thing, or when followed by an infinitive) and piacciono (plural things). The person doing the liking is expressed through indirect object pronouns: mi piace (I like), ti piace (you like), gli piace (he likes / they like), le piace (she likes / you formal like), ci piace (we like), vi piace (you all like). So Ti piace il caffè? (Do you like coffee?), Gli piacciono le lingue (He likes languages), Ci piace viaggiare (We like to travel — infinitive triggers singular piace). In the passato prossimo, piacere uses essere, and the participle agrees with the thing liked: Mi è piaciuta la pizza, Mi sono piaciuti i film.
Several other important verbs work the same way: mancare (to miss — Mi manchi means "You are missed by me" — I miss you), servire (to need — Mi serve un cellulare, I need a phone), bastare (to be enough — Mi bastano dieci euro, ten euros are enough for me), interessare (to be interesting to — Ti interessa l'arte?), importare (to matter to — Non mi importa), sembrare (to seem to), restare/rimanere (to be left for — Mi rimangono due biscotti). All of them flip subject and object compared to English, all of them use indirect object pronouns, and all of them agree with the thing not the person. The exercises below will drill piacere thoroughly, then expand into the broader family of similar verbs, with singular and plural subjects, infinitives, and past-tense forms. Once you internalize the "reverse" structure, a huge piece of conversational Italian falls into place.
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.
| Italian | Literal meaning | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Mi piace la musica. | Music is pleasing to me. | I like music. |
| Mi piacciono i film. | Films are pleasing to me. | I like films. |
| Mi piace cantare. | Singing is pleasing to me. | I like singing. |
| Ti piace il caffè? | Is coffee pleasing to you? | Do you like coffee? |
| Gli piacciono i gatti. | Cats are pleasing to him. | He likes cats. |
| Ci piace viaggiare. | Travelling is pleasing to us. | We like travelling. |
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.
| Pronoun | Piace (singular) | Piacciono (plural) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| mi | Mi piace il cinema. | Mi piacciono i concerti. | I like... |
| ti | Ti piace la lettura? | Ti piacciono i musei? | You like... |
| gli | Gli piace il calcio. | Gli piacciono i viaggi all'estero. | He likes... |
| le | Le piace la danza. | Le piacciono le mostre d'arte. | She likes... |
| ci | Ci piace cucinare. | Ci piacciono le feste. | We like... |
| vi | Vi piace il teatro? | Vi piacciono le serie tv? | You (pl.) like... |
| gli | Gli piace studiare. | Gli piacciono i documentari. | They like... |
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'.
| Verb | Meaning | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| interessare | to interest | Mi interessa la storia. | I'm interested in history. |
| annoiare | to bore | Mi annoia la matematica. | Maths bores me. |
| importare | to matter | Non mi importa. | I don't care / It doesn't matter to me. |
| fare male | to hurt | Mi fa male la testa. | My head hurts. |
| fare piacere | to be glad / to please | Mi fa piacere vederti. | I'm glad to see you. |
| stufare | to tire/bore | Mi stufano le riunioni. | Meetings bore me. |
| piacere (neg.) | to dislike | Non mi piace l'opera. | I don't like opera. |
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'.
| Subject (what was liked) | Gender/Number | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| il film, il concerto | Masculine singular | mi è piaciuto | Mi è piaciuto il film. |
| la pizza, la mostra | Feminine singular | mi è piaciuta | Mi è piaciuta la mostra. |
| i concerti, i libri | Masculine plural | mi sono piaciuti | Mi sono piaciuti i libri. |
| le vacanze, le feste | Feminine plural | mi sono piaciute | Mi sono piaciute le feste. |
| (infinitive) | Always m. sing. | mi è piaciuto | Mi è piaciuto viaggiare. |
Both piacere and amare can express liking, but they differ in intensity and register. 'Mi piace la musica' (I like music) is neutral and very common. 'Amo la musica' (I love music) expresses a deeper passion. For people, 'Ti voglio bene' (I love you — family/friends) and 'Ti amo' (I love you — romantic) are used rather than 'Mi piaci' which specifically means 'I find you attractive'. Be careful: 'Gli piace Maria' = 'He likes Maria (romantically)', whereas 'Gli vuole bene' = 'He cares for Maria (as a friend/family member)'.
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Piace or Piacciono? — Singular Nouns
10 questions
Piace or Piacciono? — Plural Nouns
10 questions
Piace with Infinitives
10 questions
Fill in: Piace or Piacciono?
10 questions
Choosing the Right Subject
10 questions
Complete with PIACE or PIACCIONO — Mixed
10 questions
Piacere with Names — Using 'a + name'
10 questions
Complete Sentences with the Right Form
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Negative Sentences with Non Mi Piace
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Translation Challenge — Piace/Piacciono
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Indirect Pronouns — Mi and Ti
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Indirect Pronouns — Gli (him) and Le (her)
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Indirect Pronouns — Ci (us) and Vi (you pl.)
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Gli for 'They' — Plural Third Person
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Fill in the Indirect Pronoun
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Full Paradigm — All Pronouns Review
10 questions
Question Forms with Piacere
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Answering Questions About Preferences
10 questions
Correct the Pronoun
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Pronoun + Piacere — Complete Sentences
10 questions
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Dispiacere — I'm Sorry / I Mind
10 questions
Mancare — To Miss / To Be Missing
10 questions
Servire — To Need
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Bastare — To Be Enough
10 questions
Sembrare — To Seem
10 questions
Similar Verbs — Fill in the Verb
10 questions
Choosing the Right Similar Verb
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Mancare, Servire, Bastare — Singular vs Plural
10 questions
Translation: Similar Verbs
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Group 3 Review — All Similar Verbs
10 questions
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Interessare — To Interest
10 questions
Annoiare & Importare — To Bore / To Matter
10 questions
Fare Male — To Hurt
10 questions
Passato Prossimo of Piacere — Introduction
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Passato Prossimo — Agreement Practice
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Passato Prossimo — È or Sono?
10 questions
Passato Prossimo — Full Form
10 questions
Passato Prossimo — Identifying the Subject
10 questions
Passato Prossimo — Mixed Pronouns and Agreement
10 questions
Group 4 Review — Interessare, Annoiare, Fare Male, Passato Prossimo
10 questions
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Piacere vs Amare — Liking vs Loving
10 questions
Expressing Opinions with Piacere-type Verbs
10 questions
Dialogue — Talking About Preferences
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Comprehensive — All Verbs Mixed
10 questions
Negation with Piacere-type Verbs
10 questions
Complete Dialogues — Choose the Right Response
10 questions
Comprehensive Fill-in — All Verb Types
10 questions
Error Correction — Spot the Mistake
10 questions
Real-Life Situations — What Would You Say?
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Final Review — Everything
10 questions
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Piacere works inversely from the English "to like". Literally it means "to be pleasing to". The thing liked is the subject, and the person who likes it is an indirect object: "Mi piace la pizza" = "Pizza is pleasing to me".
Mancare (to be missing to), servire (to be needed by), bastare (to be enough for), sembrare (to seem to), interessare (to interest), dispiacere (to displease) — all use indirect object pronouns the same way.
Match the verb to the subject (the thing liked): "Mi piacciono i gatti" (I like cats — plural verb), "Ci piace il caffè" (We like coffee — singular verb). The pronoun mi/ti/ci changes for the person, but the verb agrees with what is liked.
A2 Topics