Breakdown of Mi piace il gelato, ma non mi piacciono i biscotti.
ma
but
non
not
mi
to me
piacere
to please / to like
Questions & Answers about Mi piace il gelato, ma non mi piacciono i biscotti.
Why does the sentence use both piace and piacciono?
Why do we use mi instead of the word for "I" (io)?
Why are the words il and i used here? In English, we don't say "I like the ice cream."
In Italian, when you talk about liking or disliking general categories (like ice cream or cookies), you always need to include the definite article (the word for "the"). That is why we use il gelato and i biscotti.