Page 60 - verbo italiano

50 / Webster’s New World 575+ Italian Verbs

Here are examples of impersonal verbs in different tenses.
Per andare a Fiesole bisogna To go to Fiesole it is necessary to
prendere l’autobus. take a bus.
Conveniva aspettare. It was better to wait.

Compound tenses of impersonal verbs are formed with essere. Verbs that express
weather conditions can also use avere.

Che cosa è successo? What happened?
Any verb can be used in an impersonal form if the form of the third-person singu-
lar of the verb is preceded by the pronoun si. It corresponds to the English imper-
sonal construction “one,” “you,” “we,” “they,” people + verb—for example: Qui si
mangia bene. (Here one eats well.) When a reflexive verb is used in this imper-
sonal construction, both an impersonal and a reflexive pronoun are needed. The
pronouns used are ci si (not si si)—for example, Ci si diverte sempre alle feste di
Simona. (One always has a good time at Simona’s parties.)

Piacere and Verbs with Special

Construction

In Italian, there are some verbs that have a special construction, such as the verb
piacere. The verb piacere corresponds to the English verbs “to like,” “to enjoy.” Its
construction, however, is quite different from that of the verb “to like.” In Italian,
the verb “to like” is similar in structure to the English phrase “to be pleasing to.” In
order to say that “you like pizza Margherita,” you must say that “pizza Margherita
is pleasing to you.”
I like Italian music. Italian music appeals Mi piace la musica italiana.
to me.
I like antique watches. Antique watches Mi piacciono gli orologi
appeal to me. antichi.

In the Italian construction, the person or thing that is pleasing is the subject (Ital-
ian music, watches) of the sentence and it usually follows the verb. The person
who likes appears as the indirect object of the verb (“to me”). The verb piacere
agrees with the subject; consequently, if what is liked is singular, piacere is used
in the third-person singular form; if what is liked is plural, piacere is used in the
third-person plural form. The person to whom someone/something is pleasing is
the indirect object, often replaced by an indirect pronoun (mi, ti, gli/le, ci, vi, gli).
When the subject is an infinitive, the singular form of third-person piacere is used
(“I like to read,” “Reading is pleasing to me”). The following chart shows the Ital-
ian indirect object pronouns and the present tense of piacere.