If you’ve ever tried to say “I like pizza” in Italian, you probably started with “Io…” and then ground to a halt. Your teacher or a friendly local likely corrected you with a mysterious-sounding phrase: “Mi piace la pizza.”
Wait a minute. Where is the “I”? What is this “mi”? And why is the verb conjugated for “it” (piace) and not for “I” (piaccio)?
Welcome to the wonderful world of verbs like piacere. These verbs are often called ‘backward’ or ‘indirect’ verbs because they require a complete shift in your grammatical thinking. They force you to flip your English-speaking brain around. But here’s the good news: once you grasp the core concept, it’s not just easy—it’s logical. And we’re going to break it down for you.
The Fundamental Flip: It’s Not About You
In English, when we express a preference, the person feeling the emotion is the star of the show. The sentence revolves around them.
English Structure: Subject (The Liker) + Verb + Object (The Liked Thing)
I like the book.
In Italian, the sentence structure for these verbs is flipped. The thing being liked becomes the grammatical subject, and the person who likes it becomes the indirect object. The focus shifts from the person doing the liking to the thing that is causing the feeling of pleasure.
Italian Structure: Indirect Object (To The Liker) + Verb + Subject (The Liked Thing)
A me piace il libro. → To me, the book is pleasing.
So, when an Italian says “Mi piace la pizza,” they aren’t saying “I like the pizza.” They are literally saying, “To me, the pizza is pleasing.”
This is the single most important mental flip you need to make. The thing being liked is the subject, and it controls the verb.
Deconstructing Piacere Step-by-Step
Once you accept the “it is pleasing to me” structure, the grammar becomes simple. You only need to ask two questions.
Step 1: What is the Subject? (The Thing Being Liked)
Look at the thing or things being liked. Is it singular or plural? This will determine the verb form. For 99% of everyday conversations, you will only need two forms of piacere:
- piace (if the thing liked is singular)
- piacciono (if the thing liked is plural)
Let’s see it in action:
Mi piace il gelato. (I like the ice cream.)
Literally: The ice cream is pleasing to me. (gelato is singular → piace)
Mi piacciono gli spaghetti. (I like the spaghetti.)
Literally: The spaghetti are pleasing to me. (spaghetti is plural → piacciono)
What if you like doing something? When the subject is an action (an infinitive verb), it’s always treated as singular.
Le piace leggere. (She likes to read.)
Literally: To read is pleasing to her. (leggere is a singular concept → piace)
Step 2: Who is the Liker? (The Indirect Object)
The person who feels the pleasure is represented by an indirect object pronoun. These little words are essential and tell you to whom the subject is pleasing.
- mi – to me
- ti – to you (singular, informal)
- gli – to him
- le – to her
- Le – to you (singular, formal)
- ci – to us
- vi – to you (plural)
- gli – to them (used for all genders, very common in spoken Italian)
Now, let’s combine the pronoun with the correct verb form:
Ti piace questo film? (Do you like this movie?)
Literally: Is this movie pleasing to you?
Gli piacciono le macchine sportive. (He likes sports cars.)
Literally: Sports cars are pleasing to him.
Ci piace viaggiare. (We like to travel.)
Literally: To travel is pleasing to us.
The “A” Team: Emphasizing the Liker
What if you want to use a person’s name instead of a pronoun? You simply add the preposition a (to) before the name. The logic remains the same.
A Marco piace la musica rock.
Literally: To Marco, rock music is pleasing.
You can also use this structure to add emphasis to a pronoun. This is where you might see that “A me” from our earlier example.
A: Non mi piace il pesce. (I don't like fish.)
B: Davvero? A me piace molto! (Really? *I* like it a lot!)
Using “A me” puts a strong emphasis on “me”, as a contrast to the other person. You may hear people say “A me mi piace…” which is very common in speech but is grammatically redundant (it means “To me to me it is pleasing”). It’s best to avoid it in writing!
It’s Not Just Piacere! Meet the Family
The best part is that once you’ve mastered piacere, you’ve automatically learned how to use a whole family of useful verbs. They all follow the same “backward” logic.
Mancare (to be missing, to miss)
This is perhaps the most poetic of the group. Instead of saying “I miss you”, an Italian says “You are missing to me.”
Mi manchi. (I miss you.)
Literally: You are missing to me.
A mia madre mancano i suoi amici. (My mother misses her friends.)
Literally: To my mother, her friends are missing.
Servire (to need, to be of use)
Instead of “I need a pen”, you say “A pen is necessary to me.”
Mi serve una penna. (I need a pen.)
Literally: A pen is of use/necessary to me.
Vi servono altre sedie? (Do you all need more chairs?)
Literally: Are more chairs of use/necessary to you all?
Bastare (to be enough, to suffice)
Non ci basta il tempo. (We don’t have enough time.)
Literally: The time is not enough for us.
Interessare (to be interesting to)
La politica non mi interessa. (I’m not interested in politics.)
Literally: Politics is not interesting to me.
A Quick Look at Tenses: The Passato Prossimo
This structure even holds up in the past tense. Verbs like piacere always use the auxiliary verb essere. This means the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject (the thing that was liked!).
This is fantastic proof of the “backward” concept. The verb agrees with the thing, not the person!
Mi è piaciuta la festa. (I liked the party.)
La festa (fem. sing.) is the subject, so the participle is piaciuta.
Mi sono piaciuti i regali. (I liked the gifts.)
I regali (masc. plur.) is the subject, so the participle is piaciuti.
Ci è mancato nostro padre. (We missed our father.)
Nostro padre (masc. sing.) is the subject, so the participle is mancato.
The Simple Trick: Your Two-Step Mantra
It can feel like a lot to remember, but it all boils down to a simple, two-step process. When you want to use one of these verbs, stop and ask yourself:
- What’s the subject? Find the thing/person/action that is causing the feeling. Is it singular (piace, manca, serve) or plural (piacciono, mancano, servono)?
- Who’s the object? Find the person experiencing the feeling and choose the right indirect object pronoun (mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi, gli).
Forget “I like it.” Start thinking, “It is pleasing to me.”
Flipping your brain to accommodate verbs like piacere is a rite of passage for every Italian learner. It’s a challenge, but when it finally clicks, it’s a huge “aha!” moment. You’re not just learning a new grammatical rule; you’re learning to frame the world from a slightly different, and beautifully Italian, perspective.