#121: Why does piacere take essere in compound tenses?
Someone asked me recently in an email: Why does piacere take essere in compound tenses?
I hope that this explanation helps:
- In English, when we like something, we say:
I like apples.
He likes spaghetti.In the English examples above, the object being liked is the direct object.
- In Italian, the verb, piacere, means:to be pleasing to
to likeIt is the equivalent of the English, to like.
- However, there is one important difference between the English verb, to like, and the Italian verb, piacere.While they may both mean the same thing, they function very differently.
Piacere is considered an intransitive verb, meaning it does not take a direct object.
Whereas in English, the object being liked is the direct object, in Italian the object being liked is the subject of the sentence. It is important to understand this distinction between English and Italian, and this is one of the grammar areas where you will have to try hard ‘to think in Italian’:
Mi piacciono le mele. (subjecjt of the sentence = le mele)
I like apples. (subject of the sentence = I)
Here are some more examples:A Giovanni non è mai piaciuto giocare a tennis.
John never liked to play tennis.Non gli sono piaciuti i regali.
They didn’t like the gifts.Gli spinaci piacevano a Luisa.
Luisa used to like spinach.Le piace guardare la tv.
She likes to watch TV.Non mi piacciono i cani.
I don’t like dogs! - When piacere is used in compound tenses, essere is used. REMEMBER: Intransitive verbs take essere in compound tenses.
The past participle agrees with the subject of the sentence and not with the indirect object (that is, the person/thing doing the liking — the indirect object):
A Giovanni non è mai piaciuto giocare a tennis.
John never liked to play tennis.Non gli sono piaciuti i regali.
They didn’t like the gifts. - If using piacere is confusing, try thinking of the verb as means: ‘to be pleasing to…’ when forming your sentences:Mi piacciono le mele.
The apples are pleasing to me.
or
I like apples. - When the person or thing doing the liking is not a pronoun, but an actual named person or thing, then the preposition, a, precedes the proper noun. The preposition, a, is used to precede the indirect object. Note that word order is flexible, too, as seen below:A Giovanni piacciono le mele.
John likes apples.
(literally: The apples are pleasing to John)Gli spinaci piacevano a Luisa.
Luisa used to like spinach.
(literally: The spinach used to be pleasing to Luisa.)
- Here are some other articles on our blog about piacere:Lesson 88: Understanding verbs — piacere (revisisted)
Lesson 31: Understanding verbs — piacere
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Hello.
Have a good time.
Thank You very very very much for your lessons.
Thank you for your comment! You’re welcome
“5. If using piacere is confusing, try thinking of the verb as means: ‘to be pleasing to…’ when forming your sentences:
Mi piacciono le mele.
The apples are pleasing to me.
or
I like apples.”
As a new learner to Italian trying to get my head around piacere being an intransitive verb, this is without doubt one of, if not the most useful tip I have come across so far. Grazie mila!
Hello, I am still in the beginnig of learning Italian. I would like to thank you for all the great job you have done for us.
About the verb "piacere". Yes, it seems to be transitive, but in my oppinion we should pay more attention on the way we use it – most of the time we say "mi piaccio, ti piacci..ecc."Which, in my oppinion, makes it kind of reflective verb.
There is something I would like to ask – I thought that Passato prossimo is more related to Present Perfect tens in English. How come the translations are not in that tens, but in Past simple one? I am sorry, I maybe am wrong, but would really like to know. Thank you
Hi there!
Thank for the kind remarks!
I think it is important to remember that as we learn Italian, there are going to be instances where there are not direct correlations between the two grammars.
In English, the present perfect is used when we want "to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc." (source: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfect.html)
In Italian, the passato prossimo is more versatile but also works with the imperfect to address instances of "indefinite time", which, in Italian, are more often expressed with adverbs. English is more exact in this regard.
The passato prossimo can be translated with the present perfect in English or the simple past in Italian, depending on the context.
Piacere is intransitive in Italian, not transitive as you wrote in your comment.
Also, piacere when used to say that you like things/person is not reflexive. A reflexive in Italian is when the action is directed back to the subject. (Example: I bought myself a new car. | Mi sono comprato una nuova macchina) "Mi piaccio" means "I like myself" and is used in the context of self-esteem and self image.
Remember that the subject of a sentence with piacere is the person/thing being liked, not the person doing the like. Also, when you use piacere to say that you like someone (mi piaci = I like you), it has a romantic connotation.
My advice would be to focus more on how it works in Italian than how it compares to subtleties of English grammar. Also, please keep in mind that it's hard to create a proper context with just a sentence. The examples are meant to show how the verb is used mechanically and not so much Italian-English translation.
I hope that I've answered your question!
Hello Keith,
Thank you for your comprehensive answer. I appreciate that.
Yes, you are right about everything. It was my fault to write transitive but intransitive instead. I am sorry. Thanks once again for the efforts you put to give us such a nice and really well done lessons.
I wish you all the best. Grazie mille.
hey Keith, where did these blogs go???
Lesson 88: Understanding verbs — piacere (revisisted)
Lesson 31: Understanding verbs — piacer
#31: http://ilgur.com/2006/09/04/lesson-31-understanding-verbs-piacere/
#88 will be back soon!