French Grammar Explained /
I like it - How to use the verb "plaire"
When learning to speak about your likes and dislikes in French, don't simply translate plaire with "to like".
Why not?
I'll tell you why. Plaire is the laziest verb of all, but that's a good thing. You don't have to think about conjugation. It hardly ever changes!
That's funny, I have a French friend who once said "The trousers like me" and I didn't know how to respond...
Hahaha! Well, take a look...
La veste | me | plaît (à moi). |
La chemise | te | plaît (à toi). |
Le tee-shirt | lui | plaît (à lui, à elle). |
Le jean | nous | plaît (à nous). |
Le pantalon | vous | plaît (à vous). |
Le chapeau | leur | plaît (à eux, à elles). |
Oh! Now I understand what Pierre meant.
And... if the thing you (or someone else) like is plural, use plaisent instead.
Example, please.
Singular:
Cette écharpe me plaît.
I like this scarf.
Plural:
Ces chaussures me plaisent.
I like these shoes.
Nice! The blue words are referring to the person who likes something, right?
Exactly.
But sometimes it is better to not think about grammar and to just memorize phrases instead. It's much more useful that way!
I like it. | → | Ça me plaît. |
You like it. | → | Ça te plaît. |
He/she/it likes it. | → | Ça lui plaît. |
... | | ... |
The reason why the verb plaire is different is because the subjects of this verb aren't people, as with most verbs, but instead inanimate objects that are doing something to someone. Very strange!
Hence the conjugation laziness. The subject is either one thing (singular conjugation → plaît) or several things (plural conjugation → plaisent).
It's equivalent to saying "The pizza pleases me" or "The pizza is pleasing to me":
Je plais à la pizza. → La pizza me plaît.
Even the most resolved monolingual person knows this French expression, but does actually anyone know what it literally means?
You guessed it right, it means If it pleases you or If you like!
Also notice the vous that makes this phrase formal and polite.
In informal situations, use its counterpart S'il te plaît.