Learn Italian: Gli piacciono i cavalli.

Gli piacciono i cavalli.

He likes horses.

Breakdown of Gli piacciono i cavalli.

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Questions & Answers about Gli piacciono i cavalli.

Why does this sentence use piacciono instead of piace?

In Italian, the verb piacere works a bit backwards compared to English: it literally means "to be pleasing to". The actual subject of this sentence is i cavalli (the horses). Because "horses" is plural, the verb must also take the plural form piacciono.

Why is the word gli used here instead of lui?

Since piacere means "to be pleasing to", we need a pronoun that includes that "to". Gli means "to him". If you wanted to use lui (he/him) for emphasis, you would have to add a (to) and say A lui piacciono i cavalli.

Why is there an i before cavalli? We don't say "He likes the horses" in English.

In English, we drop the article when talking about things in general (like "horses"). However, in Italian, you must always use the definite article (like il, la, i, or le) when expressing likes or dislikes about a general broad category.

Could this sentence also mean "They like horses"?

Yes! In spoken Italian, gli is often used to mean both "to him" and "to them". Without any other context, Gli piacciono i cavalli can mean either "He likes horses" or "They like horses". You will usually know which one is meant based on who you were just talking about.