È “Barbie-mania” anche in Italia

Piacere + a = to like

“Il film è piaciuto non solo al pubblico, ma anche alla critica”
(The film has been well-received not only by the audience but also by critics)

In the construction of sentences with the verb “piacere,” the usual word order in Italian is different from English. The thing or person that is liked becomes the subject of the sentence, and the person who likes it becomes the indirect object.
This is why we often use indirect object pronouns (“mi,” “ti,” “gli,” “le,” “ci,” “vi”).

Let’s take this example: 

• “Il libro piace a me” (the book is pleasing to me)
• “Mi piace il libro” (I like the book). 

In this sentence, “il libro” (the book) is the thing that is liked, so it becomes the subject of the sentence.
“Mi” is the indirect object pronoun for the first-person singular, indicating that I am the one who likes the book.
The literal translation would be “The book is pleasing to me,” which is different from the English word order “I like the book.”

Here’s a similar breakdown of the article’s sentence:

• The movie (il film) is liked (piaciuto) by:
• The public (il pubblico) -> “al pubblico” (to the public)
• The critics (la critica) -> “alla critica” (to the critics)

So, “Il film è piaciuto non solo al pubblico, ma anche alla critica” means “The movie was liked not only by the public but also by the critics.”

And here are some more examples:

• La torta piace a mia madre. (My mother likes the cake.)
• Il libro piace agli studenti. (The students like the book.)
• Il concerto non mi è piaciuto. (I didn’t like the concert)
• Ti piacciono i fiori? (Do you like flowers?)
• A Maria piacciono i gatti. (Maria likes cats.)