Think about something you really liked in the past. Maybe a place you lived in or something tasty you used to eat.
In today’s episode, learn how to talk about things you liked (or didn’t like) when they lasted for a while in the past.
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Vocabulary: Piace in the past – part III
- Ti piace Milano? = Do you like Milan?
- Ti = to you
- Piace = it pleases
- Milano = Milan
- Sì, molto = Yes, a lot.
- All’inizio non mi piaceva = In the beginning I didn’t like it
- All’inizio = in the beginning
- Non = not
- Mi = to me
- Piaceva = it pleased
- Mi piaceva il mio lavoro = I liked my job (lit. to me it pleased).
- Mi piaceva andare al pub = I liked going to the pub (lit. to me it pleased).
- Mi è piaciuto il film = I liked the film (short, one time event)
- Perché? = Why?
- Mi piacevano le città meno moderne come Roma. = I liked cities that were less modern like Rome.
- Mi piacevano le città. = I liked the cities.
- Mi = to me
- Piacevano = they pleased
- La città = the city
- Non mi piaceva il freddo in inverno. = I didn’t like the cold in winter.
- Non = not
- Mi = to me
- Piaceva = it pleased, this time in the singular again because it refers to…
- Il freddo = the cold
- In inverno = in the winter
- Ma ora mi piace molto lo stile di vita qui = But now I like the lifestyle here a lot.
- Ma = but
- Ora = now
- Mi = to me
- Piace = it pleases (this time in the present)
- Molto = a lot
- Lo stile = the style
- Di vita = of life
Quiz: Piace in the past – part III
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Flashcards: Piace in the past – part III
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Transcript: Piace in the past – part III
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. Ciao!
K: Let’s continue our series on how to talk about stuff we like in Italian. We’ll listen to the conversation first:
M: Ti piace vivere a Milano?
K: Sì, molto. Ma all’inizio non mi piaceva.
M: Perché?
K: Mi piacevano le città meno moderne come Roma e non mi piaceva il freddo in inverno. Ma ora mi piace molto lo stile di vita qui.
K: So you first heard:
M: Ti piace Milano?
K: Do you like Milan? And as we know, this phrase follows a different structure in Italian. It’s literally:
M:
Ti = to you
Piace = it pleases
Milano = Milan
K: Then you heard:
M: Sì, molto.
K: Yes, a lot.
M: All’inizio non mi piaceva.
K: In the beginning I didn’t like it
M:
All’inizio = in the beginning
Non = not
Mi = to me
Piaceva = it pleased
K: And here we see an example of piace in the past, but it’s different to the ones we’ve been looking at in the last couple of episodes. So why do we use “piacEVA” here with the E – V – A ending?
M: We use “piaceva” when we talk about descriptions or things that lasted for a while in the past.
K: In this example, I’m talking about when I first moved to Italy, so a time period that lasted for a while, and I’m giving a description of how I felt at the time. This tense is called the “imperfetto”, but for now all you really need to know is this:
When we’re talking about something that lasted for a while in the past, we say “piaceva” which could be a description, an ongoing feeling or repetition. For example, talking about the time we lived in London, Matteo could say:
M: Mi piaceva il mio lavoro
K: I liked my job (lit. to me it pleased).
M: Mi piaceva andare al pub
K: I liked going to the pub (lit. to me it pleased).
Compare these examples to something that was short and only happened once:
M: Mi è piaciuto il film
K: I liked the film. In this case, we use the simple past that we talked about in the two last episodes.
K: Then Matteo asked:
M: Perché?
K: Why?
K: And I replied:
M: Mi piacevano le città meno moderne come Roma.
K: I liked cities that were less modern like Rome.
K: This time with “piacevano”.
M: Mi piacevano le città.
K: I liked the cities. Can you guess why we say “piacevano” here? It’s because it’s plural. Le città. As we know in Italian, we literally say:
M:
Mi = to me
Piacevano = they pleased
Le città = the cities
Because in Italian we talk about something pleasing us, when the thing that pleases is plural, like “le città” (the cities) we have to say “they pleased” which in Italian is piacevano.
K: Then you heard:
M: Non mi piaceva il freddo in inverno.
K: I didn’t like the cold in winter.
M:
Non = not
Mi = to me
Piaceva = it pleased, this time in the singular again because it refers to…
Il freddo = the cold
In inverno = in the winter
M: Ma ora mi piace molto lo stile di vita qui.
K: But now I like the lifestyle here a lot.
Ma = but
Ora = now
Mi = to me
Piace = it pleases (this time in the present)
Molto = a lot
Lo stile = the style
Di vita = of life
K: So to recap, when you’re talking about something that lasted for a little while, an ongoing or repeated feeling, use “piaceva” when the thing that pleased you is singular and “piacevano” when the thing that pleased you is plural.
To help you remember the lessons in this podcast, head over to our website you’ll find the transcripts for this episode and other bonus materials like a quiz and flashcards. Go to www.joyoflanguages.com/italianpodcast and scroll down to episode 85. You can also get a mini Italian lesson delivered to your inbox every week, by joining our Italian club – click the link in the description to learn more.
See you next time, or as we say in Italian
Alla prossima!
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Related episodes
I liked it. Piace in the past – part I
I liked it. Piace in the past – part II
Indirect object pronouns in Italian (mi, ti, le, gli, ci, vi)
