Whether you’re visiting galleries and museums, sampling Italian cuisine or simply chatting to your Italian-speaking friends, you’ll probably want to talk about what you like and dislike. To say what you like, use mi piace (I like) and non mi piace to talk about something you don’t like. These come from the verb piacere (to like). Piacere is followed by a verb in the infinitive or by a noun.
Mi piace viaggiare all’estero.
I like to travel abroad.
Non mi piace il gelato al cioccolato.
I don’t like chocolate ice-cream.
Use the adverbs molto and tanto to intensify the meaning. You can also use moltissimo and tantissimo to give even greater emphasis!
Le piace molto la pizza napoletana.
She really likes neopolitan pizza.
Mi piace tantissimo sciare!
I love skiing!
Where piacere is followed by a noun in the plural, it is conjugated as mi piacciono, whichliterally means they are pleasing to me.
Mi piacciono le passeggiate lungo la spiaggia.
I like walks along the beach.
Gli piacciono i frutti di mare.
He likes seafood.
To say something you hate, you can use either odio or detesto (I hate). If you want to say something you prefer, use preferisco (I prefer) or preferirei (I’d prefer or I’d rather), which come from the verb preferire (to prefer).
Odio il caffè con latte.
I hate coffee with milk.
Preferisco viaggiare in aereo.
I prefer to travel by plane.
Preferirei sedermi vicino al finestrino.
I would rather sit by the window.
Preferiremmo guidare di giorno.
We would prefer to drive in the day.
Don’t forget to come back for the next blog post to help you continue with the conversation!
