Answers
May 03, 2014 - 06:30 PM
Hi! My understanding is that piacciono is only used for unspecified plural items, whereas piace is still used in the plural where things are specifically enumerated. so you would say "mi piacciono gli sport" but "mi piace nuotare, giocare a calico e giocare a golf."
May 03, 2014 - 06:56 PM
You may be thinking of plural in the sense of several different elements, entities, things or whatever. I’m thinking here it means more than one of a single type and in this sense none of these items are plural. Rather they’re a list in which each item itself is singular and discrete. You can of course group them as a class 'sports' which is obviously plural. Which is to say I agree with Melissa.
May 07, 2014 - 10:24 AM
Well done! That was great teamwork!
May 11, 2014 - 04:13 PM
Well, I posted the question, and I wasn't sure the responses answered the question sufficiently. I did some further research and found that is has nothing to do with the items in a series each being singular as suggested by the respondents. It appears that one would say "mi piacciono la sedia, la lamada, e il tavolo"
with each of the items in the series being singular. However, one would use piace whenever there is an infinitive -- even when more than one infinitive is listed in a series "mi piace nuotare, giocare a calcio, e giocare a golf". This is the best info I've been able to find. If anyone has further clarification, I'd appreciate it.
with each of the items in the series being singular. However, one would use piace whenever there is an infinitive -- even when more than one infinitive is listed in a series "mi piace nuotare, giocare a calcio, e giocare a golf". This is the best info I've been able to find. If anyone has further clarification, I'd appreciate it.
May 11, 2014 - 08:19 PM
Ah, in that case I haven’t a clue, apologies for sticking my big nose in :)
May 20, 2014 - 04:12 PM
Likewise - I am near positive my explanation was from the Fluenz program. Interested to hear an explanation from Fluenz.
Jun 03, 2014 - 10:37 AM
Ok guys,
So here we go
- With infinitive verbs we always use the singular form: Mi piace
Mi piace giocare / Mi piace giocare, leggere, cucinare
- With a singular noun, we use the singular form: Mi piace
Mi piace lo sport
- With a plural noun, we use the plural form: Mi piacciono
Mi pacciono gli sport
But if there is a list of nouns, then you can use both forms. We mention this in session 15, level 4. So you can say:
Mi piacciono la sedia, il tavolo, la lampada
Or:
Mi piace la sedia, il tavolo, la lampada
This is so because it's like omitting the verb:
Mi piace la sedia, (mi piace) il tavolo, (mi piace) la lampada
However, there is also the option of putting the verb at the end of the sentence, then it must be in the plural form:
La sedia, il tavolo e la lampada mi piacciono
Since the most common form is to place the verb at the beginning of the sentence, this is what we taught you in the program.
So, we will update the program to give you the double-option of "piace" and "piacciono" placed at the beginning of the sentence where possible.
So here we go
- With infinitive verbs we always use the singular form: Mi piace
Mi piace giocare / Mi piace giocare, leggere, cucinare
- With a singular noun, we use the singular form: Mi piace
Mi piace lo sport
- With a plural noun, we use the plural form: Mi piacciono
Mi pacciono gli sport
But if there is a list of nouns, then you can use both forms. We mention this in session 15, level 4. So you can say:
Mi piacciono la sedia, il tavolo, la lampada
Or:
Mi piace la sedia, il tavolo, la lampada
This is so because it's like omitting the verb:
Mi piace la sedia, (mi piace) il tavolo, (mi piace) la lampada
However, there is also the option of putting the verb at the end of the sentence, then it must be in the plural form:
La sedia, il tavolo e la lampada mi piacciono
Since the most common form is to place the verb at the beginning of the sentence, this is what we taught you in the program.
So, we will update the program to give you the double-option of "piace" and "piacciono" placed at the beginning of the sentence where possible.
Jun 03, 2014 - 05:23 PM
Thanks FluenzLab!
Jun 04, 2014 - 07:23 AM
Thank you! This seems to cause confusion among Italians too, because I got different answers from people on this! This explanation helps a lot.
Jun 04, 2014 - 08:34 AM
Very helpful, thanks everyone.