Notes on Italian Grammar: Piacere Verb and Prepositions

Piacere Verb

  • 'Piacere' is an intransitive verb with impersonal or personal constructions.

  • It can also be used as a reflexive verb ('piacersi').

Impersonal Construction

  • What is liked is the subject; it can be placed at the beginning or end of the sentence.

  • The person expressing the preference is the indirect object, introduced by the preposition "A" (a me, a te, a Mario, etc.).

  • The indirect object can be expressed with a noun (a Mario piace…), a strong pronoun (a me piace…), or a weak pronoun (mi piace…).

  • The verb is conjugated in the third person singular or plural to agree with the subject.

  • Examples:

    • A Mario piace il gelato. (Mario likes ice cream.)

    • A Mario piacciono i cioccolatini. (Mario likes chocolates.)

    • A me piace il riso. (I like rice.)

    • A me piacciono gli spaghetti. (I like spaghetti.)

    • Mi piace la pasta. (I like pasta.)

    • Mi piacciono le verdure. (I like vegetables.)

  • Subject-Object-Verb order is also possible.

    • Il riso mi piace. (I like rice.)

    • Gli spaghetti mi piacciono. (I like spaghetti.)

Personal Construction

  • The subject is the person who is liked: io, tu, lui, lei, noi, voi, loro, etc.

  • The verb is conjugated in all persons.

  • The indirect object is the person who expresses the preference: a me, a Mario, a qualcuno, a tutti, etc.

  • Examples:

    • Io piaccio a tutti. (Everyone likes me.)

    • Tu piaci a Maria. (Maria likes you.)

    • Maria piace a Stefano. (Stefano likes Maria.)

    • Noi piacciamo alle ragazze. (The girls like us.)

    • Voi piacete ai ragazzi. (The boys like you.)

    • Loro piacciono a tutti. (Everyone likes them.)

  • Examples (questions and variations):

    • Io ti piaccio? (Do you like me?)

    • Tu mi piaci. (I like you.)

    • Maria mi piace. (I like Maria.)

Auxiliary Verb

  • In compound tenses, the verb 'piacere' uses the auxiliary verb 'essere'.

  • Examples:

    • Il film mi è piaciuto. (I liked the movie.)

    • I quadri mi sono piaciuti. (I liked the paintings.)

    • La mostra mi è piaciuta. (I liked the exhibition.)

    • Le foto mi sono piaciute. (I liked the photos.)

Reflexive Use

  • Indirect reflexive: to find oneself to one's own liking.

  • Reciprocal reflexive: to feel sympathy for one another.

  • Examples:

    • Io mi piaccio. (I like myself.)

    • Tu ti piaci. (You like yourself.)

    • Maria si piace. (Maria likes herself.)

    • Noi ci piacciamo. (We like ourselves.)

    • Voi vi piacete. (You like yourselves.)

    • Loro si piacciono. (They like themselves.)

Irregular Past Participles

  • A list of irregular past participles in Italian is provided, including:

    • accendere - acceso (to turn on - turned on)

    • accingersi - accinto (to prepare - prepared)

    • accogliere - accolto (to welcome - welcomed)

    • accorgersi - accorto (to notice - noticed)

    • affiggere - affisso (to affix - affixed)

    • chiedere - chiesto (to ask - asked)

    • chiudere - chiuso (to close - closed)

    • conoscere - conosciuto (to know - known)

    • decidere - deciso (to decide - decided)

    • dire - detto (to say - said)

    • fare - fatto (to do/make - done/made)

    • leggere - letto (to read - read)

    • mettere - messo (to put - put)

    • nascere - nato (to be born - born)

    • nascondere - nascosto (to hide - hidden)

    • piacere - piaciuto (to like - liked)

    • prendere - preso (to take - taken))

    • ridere - riso (to laugh - laughed)

    • scrivere - scritto (to write - written)

Introduction to Prepositions

  • Prepositions are essential for understanding Italian and clarifying sentences.

  • Without prepositions, sentences lack clarity.

  • Example:

    • Incorrect: Vado Roma un amico. (I go Rome a friend.)

    • Correct: Vado a Roma con un amico. (I go to Rome with a friend.)

  • 'tra' and 'fra' have the same meaning.

Simple Prepositions

  • 'DI', 'A', 'DA', 'IN', 'CON', 'SU', 'PER', 'TRA', and 'FRA' are simple prepositions.

Articulated Prepositions

  • Prepositions combined with articles are called articulated prepositions.

  • 'DI', 'A', 'DA', 'SU', and 'IN' merge with the article to form one word.

  • 'PER', 'TRA', and 'FRA' never combine with the article.

  • Examples:

    • del (di+il): Dove sono le chiavi del garage? (Where are the keys of the garage?)

    • per i: Mi piace girare per i negozi. (I like to wander around the stores.)

Preposition "CON"

  • 'CON' can either combine with the article to form one word (col) or remain separate (con il).

    • Parlo col professore di storia. (I speak with the history professor.)

    • Parlo con il professore di storia. (I speak with the history professor.)

Prepositions Indicating Origin

  • Used to indicate the place of origin or departure.

  • The preposition "DA" is typically used:

    • Vengo da Milano. (I come from Milan.)

  • With the verb "essere", the city of origin is introduced by "DI" preposition.

    • Io sono di Milano. (I am from Milan.)

Prepositions Indicating Location

  • Used to specify the geographical location where someone is or is going.

  • The preposition "A" is used when the place is a city:

    • Nelson abita a Johannesburg. (Nelson lives in Johannesburg.)

    • Luca va a Roma. (Luca goes to Rome.)

  • The preposition "IN" is used when the place is a geographical location, but not a city:

    • Nelson abita in Africa. (Nelson lives in Africa.)

    • Luca va in Francia. (Luca is going to France.)

Prepositions Indicating People

  • Per indicates the person someone is going to (or staying with), using the preposition