Breakdown of Mi piacciono i pianisti famosi.
famoso
famous
mi
to me
piacere
to please / to like
il pianista
the pianist
Questions & Answers about Mi piacciono i pianisti famosi.
Why does pianisti end in -i if the singular is il pianista?
Words ending in -ista for professions or roles (like pianista or turista) are the same for both masculine and feminine in the singular. However, in the plural, they change to follow regular gender rules: the masculine plural ends in -i (i pianisti) and the feminine plural ends in -e (le pianiste). Here, the masculine plural is used for male pianists or a mixed-gender group.
Why is the verb piacciono used here instead of piace?
The verb piacere (to like) literally means "to be pleasing to." In Italian, the actual subject of the sentence isn't the person who likes something, but the thing being liked. Since you are liking multiple people (i pianisti famosi), you must use the plural form piacciono (they are pleasing) instead of the singular piace (it is pleasing).
How do we know to use famosi instead of famose?
Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. Because the article i and the ending of pianisti tell us we are dealing with a masculine plural noun, the adjective famoso changes to its masculine plural form, famosi. If you were specifically talking about an all-female group of pianists, the phrase would be le pianiste famose.
What exactly does Mi mean in this sentence structure?
Mi is an indirect object pronoun that means "to me." When placed before piacciono i pianisti famosi, the literal translation is "The famous pianists are pleasing to me." This is the standard way Italian expresses "I like [something]."
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