le piace
The Italian phrase for "she likes" is le piace.
This phrase is used to say that a woman or girl finds something pleasing.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is literally "to her it is pleasing", where le means "to her" and piace is the third-person singular of piacere (to be pleasing).
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly say lei piace instead of le piace. lei piace would mean "she is pleasing (to someone else)", whereas le piace means "she likes (something)".
Did you know?
- While le piace is used for 'she likes', the word le also serves as the formal 'you' for a woman. This means the same phrase can mean 'she likes' or 'you (formal) like'.
- The word piace comes from the same root as the English word 'please'. Both trace back to the Latin 'placere', meaning to be pleasing.
- Because the structure is 'to her it is pleasing', the verb piace will change to the plural form piacciono if the thing she likes is plural, such as 'she likes books' (le piacciono i libri).
Examples in context
- Le piace il tè.She likes tea.This sentence is useful for showing how to express a preference for tea using le piace.Tatoeba #13323890 by Guybrush88, translation #8105956 by deniko
- Le piace il jazz.She likes jazz.This sentence is useful for showing how to express a preference for jazz using le piace.Tatoeba #2851608 by Guybrush88, translation #2851593 by Amastan
- Le piace il vino.She likes wine.This sentence is useful for showing how to express a preference for wine using le piace.Tatoeba #3552531 by Guybrush88, translation #309931 by CK
- A lei piace il cinema italiano.She likes Italian cinema.
- Le piace la musica classica.She likes classical music.
- A lei garba il gelato al cioccolato.She likes chocolate ice cream.
- 225 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lorenzo asks Giulia about her friend's new hobby.
- GiuliaA Maria piace la fotografia?Does Maria like photography?
- LorenzoSì, le piace molto.Yes, she likes it a lot.
- GiuliaLe piace anche la pittura?Does she like painting too?
- LorenzoNo, non le piace la pittura.No, she doesn't like painting.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
