ILGUR: Italian Language, Grammar and Usage Resource

Someone asked me recently in an email: Why does piacere take essere in compound tenses?

I hope that this explanation helps:

1. 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.

    

2. In Italian, the verb, piacere, means:to be pleasing to
   to like

   It is the equivalent of the English, to like.

3. 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!

    

4. 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.

    

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.

    

6. 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.)
   
   

7. Here are some other articles on our blog about piacere:Lesson 88: Understanding verbs — piacere (revisisted)
   Lesson 31: Understanding verbs — piacere

[IN PROGRESS=this article is in progress] The verb, piacere, can be tricky to use in Italian as it has an indirect construction. Remember that piacere uses follows this construction:

mi = I
I like apples. = Mi piacciono le mele.

ti = you
You like musica. = Ti piace la musica.

gli = he

le = she

Le = you (formal)

ci = we

vi = you (familiar, plural)

gli = they

In the above phrases, remember that the indirect object pronoun can be replaced with a person/persons by using the preposition a + noun:

Ai suoi cugini piacciono gli spaghetti.
Her cousins like spaghetti.
Literally: Spaghetti is pleasing to her cousins.

John likes to watch television.
A Giovanni piace guardare la television.
Literally: Watching television is pleasing to John.
Below is the verb conjugated in various tenses. Using piacere in compound tenses can be confusing. Below is piacere conjugated throughout:

Present/Presente:

• Mi piace…
• Mi piacciono…
• Ti piace…
• Ti piacciono…

Passato Prossimo:
Remember that the past participle must agree with the subject

• Mi è piaciuto/a…
• Mi sono piaciuti/e…
• Ti è piaciuto/a…
• Ti sono piaciuti/e…

Imperfect/Imperfetto:

• Mi piaceva
• Mi piacevano
• Ti piaceva
• Ti piacevano

The verb, piacere, means “to like” or “to be pleasing to”.

It has an indirect construction which can be confusing to many English speakers. In English, when we say we like something, we say:

I like the song.

or

I like swimming.

In Italian, the construction is different. With the verb, piacere, you construct your sentences in this way:

Mi piace la canzone.
I like the song.
literally: The song is pleasing to me

A helpful way to understand this better might be to read the Italian sentence backwards:

La canzone mi piace.
The song pleases (or is pleasing) to me.

When the thing/object that you like is in the plural, then the verb changes to agree:

Mi piacciono le mele.
I like apples.

As you can see in indirect constructions, the verb agrees in number with the thing that is pleasing, not with the person that it pleases. Remember, that the ‘thing’ being liked can be a noun, a number of nouns or an infinitive/infinitive phrase.

Below is a sample of conjugations using the verb, piacere:

Mi piace/piacciono
I like

Mi è/sono piaciuto/a/i/e…
I liked^*

Mi piaceva/piacevano
I used to like, I liked^*

Mi piacerà/piaceranno
I will like^*

….and in the present tense:

Ti piace/piacciono
You like

Gli piace/piacciono
He likes

Le piace/piacciono
She likes

Ci piace/piacciono
We like

Vi piace/piacciono
You like (plural)

Gli piace/piaccono
They like**

Remember: The verb agrees with the thing/person that is liked — not with the person/thing doing the liking. The thing/person that is liked is really the subject of the sentence and determines the choice of verb form:

Non le piacciamo.
She does not like us.

literally: We are not pleasing to her.

Non mi piacciono.
I do not like them.
literally: They are not pleasing to me.

Piaccio a Maria.
Mary likes me.
literally: I am pleasing to Maria.

In compound tenses, do not forget that the past participle must agree with the subject:

Mi è piaciuta la mela ieri sera.
I liked the apple last night.

What can be confusing is when a pronoun is not doing the liking, but a person, as seen above. In constructions like that, the preposition, a, plus the name is used:

A Giovanni piacciono gli spaghetti.
John likes spaghetti.

A Giovanni e Giovanna piace viaggiare.
John and Jane like to travel.

I tuoi amici piacciono ai miei cugini.
My cousins like your friends.

In Italian, there is no verb that means to dislike. To convey a dislike, use piacere in the negative:

Mi piacciono le mele.
I like apples.

Non mi piacciono le mele.
I dislike apples or I do not like apples.

Object pronoun + conjugation of piacere in the appropriate number + subject

Remember that the subject of the sentence is the thing/person being liked and not the person doing the liking.

**To distinguish between he or they, the use of the preposition a + stressed pronoun, loro, might help to avoid ambiguity of the object pronoun, gli:

A loro piace la canzone.
They like the song.
literally: To them the song is pleasing.