Can you explain the difference between “mi piace” and “mi piacciono” in Italian?
Last Updated: 18.06.2025 08:39
The endings of verbs indicate person and number in Italian and subject pronouns may therefore be omitted except when necessary for clearness or emphasis. In the case of “it" and “they" (referring to things) they are almost never used.
Contrary to English “I like it", “mi piace” is not a personal expression with “I" as the subject. In Italian the subject and object are transposed — “mi piace" literally means “it pleases me". The verb is third person singular.
Le scarpe mi piacciono. - I like the shoes. (The shoes please me.)
How do you deal with neighbors who are always telling you what to do?
The direct object pronoun “mi" is the object of the verb “piacere" (to please). Also known as conjunctive, such pronouns generally precede the verb that governs them. The expression “mi piace", employing third person singular format, translates literally to English as “it (understood) pleases me", i.e. I like it.
La veste mi piace. - I like the dress. (The dress pleases me).
A couple of examples:
My son is possessed, now he has psychosis. Can someone help me?
From discussion thus far you might already have understood that “mi piacciono" employs the third person plural form of the verb and translates as “they (understood) please me”, i.e. I like them.
Thank you for your question.