Piacere and Similar Verbs

The verb piacere (to be pleasing / to like) is one of the trickiest verbs for English speakers learning Italian. This is because the sentence structure is essentially reversed compared to English. Instead of "I like pizza", Italian says "Pizza is pleasing to me" (La pizza mi piace).

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How Piacere Works

In English: Subject (the person who likes) + likes + object (the thing liked)

• I like pizza.

In Italian: Indirect object (the person who likes) + piace/piacciono + subject (the thing liked)

• Mi piace la pizza. (Literally: Pizza is pleasing to me.)

The verb piacere agrees with the thing that is liked (the grammatical subject), NOT with the person who likes it.

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Piace vs Piacciono

You mainly need two forms:

Form	When to Use	Example
piace	The liked thing is singular or an infinitive	Mi piace il gelato. / Mi piace leggere.
piacciono	The liked things are plural	Mi piacciono i gatti.