{"id":16226,"date":"2018-05-07T12:12:47","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T10:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=16226"},"modified":"2018-05-14T11:00:15","modified_gmt":"2018-05-14T09:00:15","slug":"mi-piace-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/mi-piace-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Mi Piace! – Part 1."},"content":{"rendered":"

In my last couple of articles we’ve been focusing on pronomi personali indiretti<\/strong> (indirect personal pronouns). Today, we’ll put what we’ve learnt into practice with the important verb piacere<\/strong> (to please).<\/span><\/p>\n

You won’t get far in Italy without the verb piacere<\/strong>: Ti piace l’Italia?<\/strong> (Do you like Italy?) you’ll be asked, and hopefully you’ll reply: S\u00ec, l’Italia mi piace!<\/strong> (Yes, I like Italy). But isn’t it frustrating that one of the most common and important verbs should be so back to front and complicated?<\/p>\n

Well, perhaps it’s not as complicated as it seems. Let’s take a look.<\/p>\n

The fundamental thing to accept about using piacere<\/strong> with the meaning of ‘to like’ is that from the perspective of an English speaker it really is back to front. In Italian it’s not the person that does the liking, but the thing that pleases the person. Let’s take another look at that common question, but this time with a literal translation: Ti piace l’Italia?<\/strong> (Does Italy please you?) S\u00ec, l’Italia mi piace!<\/strong> (Yes, Italy pleases me!).<\/p>\n

So, if you want to get to grips with piacere<\/strong> you’ll need to stop liking things and start being pleased by them!<\/p>\n

This will become more apparent once we move beyond the simple mi piace<\/strong> that we learn as beginners and get into the complicated conjugations.
\nBut let’s begin at the beginning by revising the basic use of piacere<\/strong> with the forme atone<\/strong> of the indirect personal pronouns.
\nN.B. Understanding how indirect personal pronouns work is a prerequisite for the correct use of piacere<\/strong>. So if you’re not clear about this then you’ll need to go over my article: Italian Indirect Personal Pronouns<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Piacere Level 1. Present Tense Singular.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

mi piace<\/strong> = it pleases me (I like it)
\nti piace<\/strong> = it pleases you singular <\/em>informal<\/em><\/span> (you like it)
\ngli piace<\/strong> = it pleases him (he likes it)
\nle piace<\/strong> = it pleases her (she likes it)
\nci piace<\/strong> = it pleases us (we like it)
\nvi piace<\/strong> = it pleases you plural<\/span> <\/em>(you like it)
\ngli piace<\/strong> = it pleases them (they like it)<\/p>\n

N.B. to transform the above into questions simply add a question mark or change your tone of voice: gli piace?<\/strong> = does it please him? (does he like it?), and so on.<\/p>\n

Examples:
\nmi piace sentire dai lettori<\/strong> = it pleases me to hear from the readers (I like hearing from the readers)
\nti piace la mia casa?<\/strong> = does my house please you? (do you like my house?)
\ngli piace guidare<\/strong> = driving pleases him (he likes driving)
\nle piace andare al mare<\/strong> = going to the sea pleases her (she likes going to the sea)
\nci piace molto il vostro regalo<\/strong> = your present really pleases us (we really like your present)
\nvi piace camminare?<\/strong> = does walking please you? (do you like walking?)
\ngli piace Pontremoli?<\/strong> = does Pontremoli please them? (do they like Pontremoli?)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Gli piacciono la pace e la tranquillit\u00e0 della Lunigiana. Photo by Serena.<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Piacere Level 2. Present Tense Plural.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

mi piacciono<\/strong> = they please me (I like them)
\nti piacciono<\/strong> = they please you singular <\/em>informal<\/em><\/span> (you like them)
\ngli piacciono<\/strong> = they please him (he likes them)
\nle piacciono<\/strong> = they please her (she likes them)
\nci piacciono<\/strong> = they please us (we like them)
\nvi piacciono<\/strong> = they please you plural<\/em> <\/span>(you like them)
\ngli piacciono<\/strong> = they please them (they like them)<\/p>\n

Examples:
\nmi piacciono i gatti<\/strong> = cats please me (I like cats)
\nti piacciono le scarpe?<\/strong> = do the shoes please you? (you like the shoes?)
\ngli piacciono le macchine d’epoca<\/strong> = vintage cars please him (he likes vintage cars)
\nle piacciono i film di Fellini<\/strong> = Fellini’s films please her (she likes Fellini’s films)
\nci piacciono i sentieri sperduti<\/strong> = out of the way footpaths please us (we like out of the way footpaths)
\nvi piacciono questi biscotti?<\/strong> = do these biscuits please you? (do you like these biscuits?)
\ngli piacciono la pace e la tranquillit\u00e0 della Lunigiana<\/strong> = the peace and quiet of Lunigiana pleases them (they like the peace and quiet of Lunigiana)<\/p>\n

Coming up next: Mi Piace!<\/strong> – Part 2. With some tricky conjugations.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

In my last couple of articles we’ve been focusing on pronomi personali indiretti (indirect personal pronouns). Today, we’ll put what we’ve learnt into practice with the important verb piacere (to please). You won’t get far in Italy without the verb piacere: Ti piace l’Italia? (Do you like Italy?) you’ll be asked, and hopefully you’ll reply…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":16234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[474376],"class_list":["post-16226","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-i-like-italian-translation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t