I pronomi indiretti e il verbo piacere
An indirect object is the 'to whom' of a sentence — 'I write a letter to mom', 'I give the book to Marco'. Italian has its own pronouns for these: mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi, gli. Most overlap with the direct-object set from lesson 13 — the surprises are in the 3rd person. And then there's piacere, the verb that makes 'I like coffee' come out as 'coffee is pleasing to me'.
The seven indirect pronouns
mi = to me. ti = to you. gli = to him. le = to her. ci = to us. vi = to you all. gli = to them (modern usage; older Italian uses loro, after the verb). Notice that mi, ti, ci, vi are identical to the direct forms — only the 3rd person splits: direct lo / la / li / le vs indirect gli / le / gli.
Where they go
Same place as direct pronouns: before the conjugated verb, or attached to an infinitive. Ti scrivo una lettera = I'm writing you a letter. Le do il libro = I give her the book. Voglio parlargli = I want to talk to him. With non: Non gli rispondo = I'm not answering him.
Piacere — the verb that flips
English 'I like coffee' looks normal. Italian mi piace il caffè is built backwards. The grammatical subject is il caffè (the thing that's liked); mi is the indirect object — to me. Literal translation: 'coffee is pleasing to me'. Once you accept the flip, everything else follows.
Singular vs plural — piace / piacciono
Because the thing liked is the subject, the verb agrees with IT, not with the person. One thing → piace: Mi piace il libro (I like the book). Multiple things → piacciono: Mi piacciono i libri (I like books). An infinitive counts as singular: Mi piace cantare (I like to sing), even with several stacked: Mi piace mangiare e dormire.
Different liker — different pronoun
I like → mi piace(piacciono). You like → ti piace(piacciono). He likes → gli piace(piacciono). She likes → le piace(piacciono). We like → ci piace(piacciono). You all like → vi piace(piacciono). They like → gli piace(piacciono) (or piace loro, older).
Emphasizing with 'a me, a te, a Marco…'
For contrast or clarity, add a + name or stressed pronoun at the front: A me piace il caffè, a Marco piace il tè. The doubling is normal — a Marco doesn't replace gli, but at the start of a sentence with a name you often drop the pronoun. A Marco piace = 'Marco likes', no extra gli needed.
