Piacere - to like and Servire - to need
| piaccio |
piacciamo |
|
|
servo |
serviamo |
| piaci |
piacete |
|
|
servi |
servite |
| piace |
piacciono |
|
|
serve |
servono |
Piacere (a) literally means "to be pleasing," so to form a sentence you have to invert the word order. You must also use the prepositional contractions with a.
Maria piace a Giovanni. John likes Mary. (Literally: Mary is pleasing to John)
Gli studenti piacciono ai professori. The teachers like the students. (Literally: The students are pleasing to the teachers).
The most common forms are the third person singular and plural when used with object pronouns. The object pronouns that are used with these two verbs are somewhat similar to the reflexive pronouns:
| mi |
I (to me) |
ci |
we (to us) |
| ti |
you (to you) |
vi |
you (to you) |
| gli / le |
he / she (to him / her) |
gli |
they (to them) |
So to say I like something, use Mi piace if it is singular and Mi piacciono if it is plural.
Mi piace il calcio. I like soccer.
Mi piacciono i treni. I like trains.
Servire has the same construction as piacere. It is also used primarily in the third person singular and plural forms and takes an indirect object.
Ti servono della frutta? Do you need any fruit? (Literally: By you is needed some fruit?)
Il pane serve a Marco. Marco needs the bread. (Literally: The bread is needed by Marco.)
To Take, Eat or Drink
Prendere - to take, eat or drink and Bere - to drink
| prendo |
prendiamo |
|
|
|
bevo |
beviamo |
| prendi |
prendete |
|
|
|
bevi |
bevete |
| prende |
prendono |
|
|
|
beve |
bevono |
Note: You must express some in Italian even though we leave it out in English. Use the proper contractions from the top of the page. Or you can use un po' di, which literally means a little bit. Bere is only used to mean to drink when it is used in the general sense, as is mangiare - to eat.
Commands
|
-are |
-ere |
-ire |
| tu form (sing. fam.) |
-a |
-i |
-i/-isci |
| Lei form (sing. pol.) |
-i |
-a |
-a/-isca |
| voi form (pol. pl.) |
-ate |
-ete |
-ite |
| noi form (Let's ...) |
-iamo |
-iamo |
-iamo |
Note: To make a command negative, add non before the command. Except for the singular familiar commands, when you use non and the infinitive.
Irregular Commands
|
andare |
venire |
fare |
dare |
dire |
essere |
avere |
stare (to be, stay) |
| sing. fam. |
va' |
vieni |
fa' |
da' |
di' |
sii |
abbi |
sta' |
| sing. pol. |
vada |
venga |
faccia |
dia |
dica |
sia |
abbia |
stia |
| plural |
andate |
venite |
fate |
date |
dite |
siate |
abbiate |
state |
| Let's |
andiamo |
veniamo |
facciamo |
diamo |
diciamo |
siamo |
abbiamo |
stiamo |
