Ever felt confused about how to say “I like…” in Italian?
It’s completely different to how we say it in English!
But once you learn how to think like an Italian, it suddenly becomes much easier. Find out how in episode #46 of 5 Minute Italian.
To make sure you remember what you learnt in today's lesson, below you'll find bonus materials including word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first...
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Bonus Materials
Remember and practice using what you learnt with the bonus materials for today's episode.
Today's Italian words
Che cosa ti piace dell’estate? = what do you like about summer?
Che cosa = what
Ti piace = you like (it pleases you - literally: to you, it pleases)
Dell’ = about the
Estate = summer
Mi piace il sole = I like the sun
Il sole = the sun
Mi piace = I like (it pleases me - literally: to me, it pleases)
Mi piace andare al mare = I like going to the seaside
E tu? = and you?
Mi piace mangiare il gelato = I like eating ice-cream
Mi piacciono le feste all’aperto = I like outdoor parties
Le feste all’aperto = outdoor parties (literally: parties at the outside)
Mi piacciono = I like them (they please me - literally: to me, they please)
C’è qualcosa che non ti piace? = is there something you don’t like?
Non mi piacciono le zanzare! = I don’t like mosquitoes
Non mi piacciono = I don’t like them (to me, they don’t please - literally: not, to me, they please)
Le zanzare = (the) mosquitoes
Take the Quiz!
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Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Mi piace! How to say "I like" in Italian
Italian flashcards
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
- Download the flashcards: [5MI 46] How to say I like in Italian
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Transcript
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 Minute Italian, I’m Katie.
Matteo: And I’m Matteo.
K: And in today’s lesson, you’ll learn the easy way to use the verb “like” (as in I like something) correctly in Italian. First, ascoltiamo la conversazione in italiano “let’s listen to the conversation in Italian”, then, we’ll look at the details and how to use the verb like.
K: Che cosa ti piace dell’estate?
M: Mi piace il sole, e mi piace andare al mare. E tu?
K: Mi piace mangiare il gelato, e mi piacciono le feste all’aperto.
M: C’è qualcosa che non ti piace?
K: Non mi piacciono le zanzare!
K: So the first sentence you heard was:
M: Che cosa ti piace dell’estate?
K: What do you like about summer? Che cosa = what; ti piace = you like; dell’ = about the estate = summer. Let’s look in detail at this ti piace “you like” in more detail. Italians don’t say “you like” in the same way we do in English. Instead, to say “you like” in Italian, we say “it pleases you”. The ti in ti piace literally means “to you” and piace means “it pleases”.
M: So we get Che cosa ti piace dell’estate? Literally, what pleases you about summer?
K: Then you heard Matteo reply:
M: Mi piace il sole.
K: I like the sun. This time, we can see the same thing with “I like”. Mi piace. literally, to me it pleases. We say “to me, it pleases”, then add the thing that we like, or that pleases us. In this case, the sun, il sole.
M: Mi piace il sole
K: The sun pleases me. Literally, “to me, it pleases, the sun”. Then you heard:
M: Mi piace andare al mare
K: I like going to the seaside. Literally, “to me, it pleases, go to the sea.” Next, Matteo asked me…
M: E tu?
K: “And you?” Then you heard:
M: Mi piace mangiare il gelato
K: I like eating ice-cream, literally, “to me it pleases eat ice-cream.” Then in the next sentence, you heard a different form of mi piace.
M: Mi piacciono le feste all’aperto
K: I like outdoor parties. Outdoor parties please me. Literally, “to me, they please the parties at the open.” Here, I didn’t say “piace” like before, I said “piacciono”. This is because parties is a plural, so we can’t say “it pleases” piace, we have to use “they please”, which is piacciono.
M: Mi piacciono le feste all’aperto
K: We hear this again in the next sentence. Matteo asked me:
M: C’è qualcosa che non ti piace?
K: Is there something you don’t like? And I replied Non mi piacciono le zanzare
M: Non mi piacciono le zanzare.
K: Non mi piacciono. I don’t like them - “They don’t please me.” Literally, not, to me, they please. Can you guess what they are?
M: Le zanzare means “the mosquitoes”
K: Yes and they’re something I really don’t like about Milan in the summer. You constantly get woken up by this zzzzzz sound, and you wake up covered in bites.
M: Non mi piacciono le zanzare. I don’t like mosquitoes. Literally, to me, they don’t please the mosquitoes.
K: So the key takeaway from today’s lesson is that if you’re talking about one thing, like il sole, say mi piace.
M: Mi piace il sole
K: And if you’re talking about two or more things, like “the parties” le feste, use mi piacciono.
M: Mi piacciono le feste.
K: And if you’re coming to Italy in summer, don’t forget to pick up some Autan, mosquito spray from the local supermarket! That’s it from us, to remember and practice what you learnt today, you can find transcripts from today’s show, as well as bonus materials like a quiz and flashcards over on our website - www.joyoflanguages/italianpodcast and scroll down to this episode. Alternatively, click on the link in the show notes to go straight there. Ciao for now, or as we say in Italian
M: Alla prossima!
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