“Piacere” Conjugation: All You Need to Know, and a Bit More

Knowing how to conjugate the verb piacere faultlessly is a must if you want to learn the Italian language. Be careful, though! It is also one of the most tricky to learn for English speakers. Before getting started on the piacere conjugation and all its secrets, though, we will have a look at its meaning and usage in Italian.

Piacere is usually translated as the verb ‘to like’ in English, and it can also be used as a noun: il piacere, which means ‘pleasure.

• Ti piace il cioccolato fondente?
  Do you like dark chocolate?
• È stato un piacere aiutarti.
  It was a pleasure to help you.

Easy enough. What is so tricky about it, then?

Do not worry, we will explain it all in this article and, once you’re done reading it you will never make a mistake in the piacere conjugation again!

Are you ready?

Let’s look at how to use the Italian verb piacere, how to conjugate it, and when to use it in context with examples and dialogues.

Piacere: What Kind of Verb Is It?

Piacere is an irregular verb, which means it doesn’t follow the regular pattern of other verbs of the -ERE conjugation. It is employed to talk about tastes and preferences,as you do with the verb ‘to like’.

You might have noticed, however, that piacere needs to be conjugated using personal pronouns (mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi, gli)…

This is because the object and subject are reversed when you use the verb piacere. Thus, the Italian equivalent of ‘I like’ is not io piaccio, but mi piace.

• Mi piace Greta.
  I like Greta.
• Le piace il riso in bianco.
  She likes white rice.

Piacere Conjugation: Who Likes Who?

A lot of learners consider this verb tricky because it does not follow a ‘normal’ conjugation. In fact, the subject of the verb piacere is the object we like.

Thus, the ‘liked object’ becomes the subject of the sentence and agrees with the verb, and you (or whoever ‘likes’) becomes an indirect object.

• Mi piace il cioccolato fondente. – A me piace il cioccolato fondente.

If we translate this sentence literally, for example, it would be: ‘dark chocolate is pleasing to me’.

This is often cause for distress in many students, but if you think about it, it actually makes things easier!

If you think about it, when you conjugate the verb piacere, you only need to know the personal pronouns and two forms of the verb itself: piace for a singular ‘liked object and piacciono for the plural.

First, let’s revise the indirect personal pronouns:

	Indirect pronouns (weak)	Indirect pronouns (strong)
To me	mi	A me
To you	ti	A te
To him/her	gli/le	A lui/lei
To us	ci	A noi
To you	vi	A voi
To them	gli	A loro

If you want to emphasize ‘who’ likes something in a sentence, you can use these. Let’s see some examples:

• Viene anche Giacomo a cena. A lui piacciono i fagiolini?
  Giacomo is coming for dinner as well. Does he like green beans?
• – Ti piacciono i musical?
  – A me piacciono, ma a lui no.
  – Do you like musicals?
  – I do, but he doesn’t.

Piacere Conjugation: The Basics

And now let’s look at the conjugation itself, with the singular and plural forms you will need in most occasions when using piacere.

To like	Piacere
I like	Mi piace / piacciono
You	Ti piace / piacciono
He/she	Gli/le piace / piacciono
We	Ci piace / piacciono
You	Vi piace / piacciono
They	Gli piace / piacciono

As we just mentioned, if the ‘liked object’ is singular, you will use ‘piace’. If, on the other hand, it is plural, you will use ‘piacciono’.

• Ci piace andare al cinema nel weekend.
  We like going to the cinema on the weekend.
• Vi piacciono le serie televisive?
  Do you like TV series?
• Lo so che ti piace mangiare dolci, ma stai esagenrando.
  I know you like eating sweets, but you’re exaggerating now.
• Mi piacciono le fragole, ma preferisco i lamponi.
  I like strawberries, but I prefer raspberries.

When turning a sentence into the negative, you just add the usual non before the verb (non mi piace). Be careful though, if you are using the ‘strong’ indirect pronouns, the non will be placed in between the personal pronoun and the verb (a me non piace).

• Non ti piace lo yogurt?
  Don’t you like yogurt?
• A te non piace lo yogurt, lo so.
  You do not like yogurt, I know.

Piacere: Reflexive and Reciprocal Forms

Piacere can also be used in the reflexive and reciprocal forms.

The reflexive, as you might already know, reflects the action back to the speaker and is introduced by a reflexive pronoun:

• Io mi piaccio così come sono.
  I like myself the way I am.
• Margherita non si piace con i capelli lisci.
  Margherita doesn’t like herself with straight hair.

The reciprocal form, on the other hand, expresses the concept of “each other” and is introduced by the impersonal si:

• Giulio e Francesco si piacciono.
  Giulio and Francesco like each other.
• Non si sono mai piaciuti loro due.
  Those two never liked each other.

Piacere: Conjugations

Now that we’ve learned the basic rules of the piacere conjugation, and that we know how and when to use it, let’s look at the piacere conjugation.

Yes, although the majorioty of times you will only use these two forms, it is useful (and interesting!) to know the whole conjugation of this great verb!

Here, you’ll find the conjugations divided into levels: from beginner learners to advanced (including those tenses even native speakers can never get right!).

In the following tables, we will use the verb essere (to be) as the auxiliary to build compound tenses. Piacere always takes the verb “essere” in compound tenses.

In this case, as in all the verbs that take essere as an auxiliary, do not forget: the participle piaciuto changes in gender and number to agree with the subject (i.e.: piaciuto, piaciuta, piaciuti, piaciute)!

Piacere Conjugation for Beginners

First of all, let’s see the most used conjugations in the indicative mood: the present (presente), future simple (futuro semplice), imperfect (imperfetto), and present perfect (passato prossimo).

The indicative mood is a form used to make statements, ask questions and express facts and opinions. If you are starting to learn Italian, these are the first verb tenses you will need, for sure!

	Presente	Imperfetto	Passato Prossimo	Futuro
Io	piaccio	piacevo	sono piaciuto	piacerò
Tu	piaci	piacevi	sei piaciuto	piacerai
Lui / Lei	piace	piaceva	è piaciuto	piacerà
Noi	piacciamo	piacevamo	siamo piaciuti	piaceremo
Voi	piacete	piacevate	siete piaciuti	piacerete
Loro	piacciono	piacevano	sono piaciuti	piaceranno

Examples for Beginners

• Non mi è mai piaciuto il latte.
  I never liked milk.
• Ho regalato dei sandali a Carla, le sono piaciuti!
  I gave Carla some sandals as a present, she liked them!

Conjugations for Intermediate Learners

In this paragraph, we continue with the indicative mood. These tenses are less used but still very common, especially for reading, writing, watching films, etc.

We will see the past perfect (trapassato prossimo), preterite (passato remoto), past preterite (trapassato remoto) and future perfect (futuro anteriore).

These are all compound tenses, formed by two (or more) words, except the passato remoto.

Compound tenses are great: you can just learn the conjugations for essere and add the past participle piaciuto.

	Trapassato prossimo	Passato remoto	Trapassato Remoto	Futuro anteriore
Io	ero piaciuto	piacqui	fui piaciuto	sarò piaciuto
Tu	eri piaciuto	piacesti	fosti piaciuto	sarai piaciuto
Lui / Lei	era piaciuto	piacque	fu piaciuto	sarà piaciuto
Noi	eravamo piaciuti	piacemmo	fummo piaciuti	saremo piaciuti
Voi	eravate piaciuti	piaceste	foste piaciuti	sarete piaciuti
Loro	erano piaciuti	piacquero	furono piaciuti	saranno piaciuti

Examples for Intermediate Learners

• Gli era piaciuto alla fine il ristorante?
  Had he liked the restaurant in the end?
• Non ci piacque il suo tono e ce ne andammo.
  We did not like his tone and we left.

Piacere Conjugation for Advanced Learners

Here we will look at the conditional mood of the verb piacere, which we use to talk about events that depend on a certain condition, and the subjunctive mood, which expresses demands and suggestions, hypothetical situations or wishes.

The Conditional Mood

	Condizionale presente	Condizionale passato
Io	piacerei	sarei piaciuto
Tu	piaceresti	saresti piaciuto
Lui / Lei	piacerebbe	sarebbe piaciuto
Noi	piaceremmo	saremmo piaciuti
Voi	piacereste	sareste piaciuti
Loro	piacerebbero	sarebbero piaciuti

Examples

• Non ti piacerebbe andare al mare quest’estate?
  Wouldn’t you like going to the seaside this summer?
• Se si fossero conosciuti, si sarebbero piaciuti molto.
  Had they met, they would have liked each other a lot.

The Subjunctive Mood

	Congiuntivo presente	Congiuntivo passato	Congiuntivo Imperfetto	Congiuntivo  trapassato
Che io	piaccia	sia piaciuto	piacessi	fossi piaciuto
Che tu	piaccia	sia piaciuto	piacessi	fossi piaciuto
Che lui / lei	piaccia	sia piaciuto	piacesse	fosse piaciuto
Che noi	piacciamo	siamo piaciuti	piacessimo	fossimo piaciuti
Che voi	piacciate	siate piaciuti	piaceste	foste piaciuti
Che loro	piacciano	siano piaciuti	piacessero	fossero piaciuti

Examples

• Non credo che le piaccia studiare latino.
  I don’t think she likes studying Latin.
• Se non mi piacessi non sarei qui.
  I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t like you.

Piacere Conjugation: Infinitive, Participle and Gerund

Here are the verbals of sapere:

	Infinito	Participio	Gerundio
Presente (present)	piacere	piacente	piacendo
Passato (past)	essere piaciuto	piaciuto	essendo piaciuto

Gerardo è un uomo piacente.The present participle, piacente, can be used as an adjective to describe someone attractive and charming.

• Gerardo is a charming man.

Piacere conjugation in Context

I hope this guide on the conjugation of piacere was useful!

Before you go, let’s see a short dialogue with the conjugations in context.

A Dialogue

Lucio	Pensavo ti piacesse il cinema Italiano!	I thought you liked Italian cinema!
Marina	Sì, mi piace. Ma preferisco i film del secolo scorso.	I do. But I prefer films from last century.
Lucio	Wow, hai dei gusti raffinati. A me invece piacciono solo i film di Hollywood.	Wow, you have a refined taste. I only like Hollywood films.
Marina	Sì, non avevo dubbi. Non ti piacerebbe guardare degli altri tipi di film con me? Ti posso dare delle lezioni di cinema!	I had no doubt about that. Wouldn’t you like to watch other kinds of films with me? I can give you some cinema lessons!
Lucio	Certo, molto volentieri. Se non ti scoccia.	I would love to. If it’s not a problem for you.
Marina	Io lo farei con piacere!	I would do it with pleasure!