Today we have a phrase that was requested by one of our pasta-loving readers!
Mi piace la pasta!
I like pasta!
If you want to say “I like [X]” in Italian, you need to memorise the expression “mi piace [X]“.
Before we take a closer look at this phrase, it is important to point out that with the verb piacere (to like / to be pleasing to), what is typically the object in English becomes the subject in Italian. So to use our example, “I like pasta” becomes “To me, pasta is pleasing” or “Pasta pleases me” when translated literally.
Mi piace la pasta al pomodoro.
I like pasta with tomato sauce.
Piacere is one of the only Italian verbs to behave in this manner, along with mancare (to miss), servire (to be needed), bastare (to be enough), interessare (to interest), sembrare (to seem) and dispiacere (to displease).
If you find it difficult to remember how to use “piacere” at first, you can start by using the verb adorare (to adore) instead, as it functions in a similar manner to the English verb “to like“.
Adoro la pasta.
I adore pasta.
Another big difference between English and Italian is that you have to use the definite article with the noun. In other words, you cannot leave out “la” (which means “the“) and say “mi piace pasta“.
If you want to emphasise how much you like pasta, you can add the adjectives tanto, molto, moltissimo or the expression un sacco.
- Mi piace molto la pasta! = I like pasta a lot!
- Mi piace moltissimo la pasta! = I really like pasta a lot!
- Mi piace tanto la pasta! = I like pasta a lot!
- Mi piace un sacco la pasta! = I like pasta a lot!
And if you aren’t a fan of pasta, all you have to do is place the negative adverb non (not) at the beginning of the phrase to say that you don’t like it. If you really don’t like it, you can also add per niente.
Non mi piace la pasta.
I don’t like pasta.
Non mi piace per niente la pasta.
I really don’t like pasta.
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
