Mi piace ascoltare il vento tranquillo nel giardino.

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Breakdown of Mi piace ascoltare il vento tranquillo nel giardino.

• il giardino: the garden
• piacere: to like
• nel: in
• il vento: the wind
• ascoltare: to listen
• tranquillo: calm

Questions & Answers about Mi piace ascoltare il vento tranquillo nel giardino.

Why does the sentence use mi piace instead of io piace?

In Italian, piacere literally means to be pleasing. So you say mi piace to indicate it pleases me, rather than I like it. The subject of the verb is the thing that pleases you, and mi is the indirect object pronoun (to me). Hence, mi piace is correct.

Why do I see ascoltare in its infinitive form here?

When using piacere followed by another verb, that second verb usually remains in the infinitive. In this sentence, mi piace ascoltare means I like to listen. You keep the verb in its basic form because piacere introduces it as an activity you enjoy.

What role does tranquillo have in this sentence?

Tranquillo is an adjective describing il vento (the wind). It translates to something like calm or quiet in English. Because il vento is masculine singular, you use tranquillo in its masculine singular form.

Why is it nel giardino and not something else?

Nel is a contraction of in + il (meaning in the). So nel giardino means in the garden. Italian often combines prepositions with definite articles, hence nel instead of in il.

Is it possible to say il vento tranquillo in a different word order?

You could say il tranquillo vento, but it’s less common in everyday speech. In Italian, adjectives typically come after the noun unless there’s a stylistic or emphatic reason, so il vento tranquillo sounds more natural.