In autostrada non mi piace sorpassare i camion.

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Breakdown of In autostrada non mi piace sorpassare i camion.

• piacere: to like
• non: not
• in: on

Questions & Answers about In autostrada non mi piace sorpassare i camion.

Why is it mi piace and not something like io piaccio?

Because piacere works differently from English to like.

Italian uses it more like to be pleasing to someone:

• mi piace = it is pleasing to me
• literally: to me, it pleases

So in non mi piace sorpassare i camion, the thing that is pleasing/not pleasing is sorpassare i camion (overtaking trucks), and mi means to me.

That is why Italian says:

• Mi piace la pizza = I like pizza
• literally: Pizza is pleasing to me

Not:

• Io piaccio la pizza ❌

Because piacere does not usually work with the liker as the subject.

What does mi mean here?

Mi means to me.

It is an indirect object pronoun, and with piacere it shows the person who experiences the liking or dislike.

So:

• mi piace = I like
• literally: it pleases me / to me it is pleasing

Other forms are:

• ti piace = you like
• gli piace = he likes / to him it is pleasing
• le piace = she likes / to her it is pleasing
• ci piace = we like
• vi piace = you all like
• gli piace = they like / to them it is pleasing

Why is there non before mi piace?