"She likes blue dresses."

Translation: Le piacciono i vestiti azzurri.

[ferynn]

Maybe it is obvious, but I gotta ask : Why "Le" and not "Lei" here ?

[marziotta]

The verb "piacere" in Italian works differently from English.

She likes something -> A lei (= Le) piace qualcosa. Something/qualcosa is the subject.

Therefore

A me piacciono i libri = Mi piacciono i libri (libri singular)

A te piace viaggiare = Ti piace viaggiare (viaggiare is a verb used as a noun, singular)

And so on. Please ask me if you have further doubts.

[dmmaus]

Hmmm. That's all very well - but I wish Duolingo would teach us this stuff before springing it on us unseen in a question like this.

[idristardis]

I'm sorry, but I'd like to ask for some clarification if you don't mind? Why 'piacciono' instead of 'piace'. Especially for io? I've only ever heard 'piace'.

[EmmaLouiseC]

It's because the dresses are the subject here and also plural. "The dresses please her". You have the same constructions in French (plaire) and German (gefallen) - it takes some getting used if your mother tongue is English but it will become second nature after a short while.

[ferynn]

Thanks a lot ! Very useful insight. Is this also the same for a category of verbs, or it just works for Piacere ?

[marziotta]

That works for "piacere". The most of the verbs work more or less like English. :) If you find some other tricky verbs, post me a question, if I don't see it here. :)

[valerieheath]

Mancare can be confusing about who is missing whom.

[MABBY]

So then, Al piacciono is "A Lui" = Al ?

[erroid]

al = a + il (al ragazzo piacciono gli elefanti)
not sure what is a+lui -- lo? gli?

[ShanaAdams]

I still don't get it. Could you give more examples?

[valerieheath]

Le is object and lei is subject. Pleasing to "her", so "le". Lei = she in English. The dresses are pleasing not She is pleasing.

[M132T003C]

I was about to report the “piaciono” in the conjugation table as an error until I checked elsewhere and found it listed as an alternative, but I can’t seem to find a more complete explanation anywhere. (This was after I was marked wrong for answering “A lei piaciono i vestiti azzurri.” and then correct for changing it to “A lei piacciono i vestiti azzurri.”.) Are they supposed to be interchangable, or are there times when one is correct and the other isn’t?

[tfwright]

The more literal translation for this would be "The blue dresses please her." Is there a more direct translation for the English 'like' (similar to French 'aimer' and German 'mögen')?

[Juuhachigou]

I don't think there's a more direct translation in English. By the way, I think "gefallen" is the more direct German translation, not so much "mögen".

[iverim]

is it possible for someone to help with "A lei = Le" issue? what are the others? what do Italians say, for example, for "A lui = ?", "A io = ?" etc.