Italiano

Il verbo piacere

What’s the deal with piacere?

In English, when we express an opinion about something, we often say that we like or dislike something.

Ex:

I like pizza. He doesn’t like books.

We like to sleep. I don’t like to study.

They like soccer. She doesn’t like kids.

Getting fancy

Another way to indicate “like” or “dislike” is “to be pleasing” and “to be displeasing.”

Ex:

Pizza is pleasing to me.

Kids are displeasing to her.

Soccer is pleasing to Mario.

This is where piacere comes in!

Piacere: to be pleasing, to like

piaccio

piaci

piace*

piacciamo

piacete

piacciono*The most frequently used form of piacere is the 3rd person singular.

Piacere requires….Indirect Object Pronouns!!!!

mi - to/for me

ti – to/for you

gli – to/for him, her, you

ci – to/for us

vi – to/for you (all)

gli – to/for you/themTo use piacere with the pronouns requires thinking outside of the box!!

Examples:

I like pizza.

Pizza is pleasing to me.

Mi piace la pizza.

I don’t like to read.

Reading is not pleasing to me.

Non mi piace leggere.

Notice that the indirect object pronoun comes BEFORE the conjugation of piacere!!!!

Things to remember:

1) Piacere is conjugated in agreement with the direct object (whatever is pleasing or displeasing)

2)Piacere requires the use of an Indirect Object Pronoun (I.O.P.)

3) Your I.O.P. must indicate who your recipient is (who finds the noun or activity pleasing or displeasing?)

**Very rarely do your I.O.P. and your conjugation of piacere agree. Ex: Mi piaccio/ Ti piaci / Ci piacciamo, etc.

More examples:

Che cosa ti piace fare?

Mi piace nuotare.

Mi piace l’acqua.

Mi piacciono gli sport.

Mi piacciono gli animali!

More examples #2:

Che cosa non ti piace fare?

Non mi piace studiare.

Non mi piace lavorare.

Non mi piace fare la spesa!!!

Examples #2:

We like ice cream.

Ice cream is pleasing to us.

Ci piace il gelatto.

Do you like to watch tv?

Is watching tv pleasing to you?

Ti piace guardare la televisione?

Did you notice….

• that every conjugation of piacere is paired with an Indrect Object pronoun?

• That the indirect object pronoun matches who the recipient is?

• that piacere is conjugated to agree in NUMBER (singular or plural) with the direct object?

If you didn’t notice one or more of these, GO BACK AND LOOK FOR THEM in the previous slides!!!!!