Logo

Can you explain the difference between “mi piace” and “mi piacciono” in Italian?

Last Updated: 24.06.2025 03:07

Can you explain the difference between “mi piace” and “mi piacciono” in Italian?

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.

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.

BET Awards 2025 highlights: Jamie Foxx delivers emotional speech, Doechii criticizes Trump's use of ‘military force’ to stop L.A. protests, Mariah Carey performs and more - Yahoo

Thank you for your question.

A couple of examples:

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.

Mario Kart World 1.1.0 update out now, patch notes - Nintendo Everything

La veste mi piace. - I like the dress. (The dress pleases me).

Le scarpe mi piacciono. - I like the shoes. (The shoes please me.)