plăcea

See also: placea

Romanian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin placēre. Compare Aromanian plac, placu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pləˈt͡ʃa/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

a plăcea (third-person singular present place, past participle plăcut) 2nd conjugation

1. to please
2. to be pleasant, pleasing

Usage notes

A plăcea is usually translated to English with the verb to like. This causes confusion for some English speakers studying Romanian, because the subject and object of a plăcea are seemingly reversed from those of to like. That is, the subject of a plăcea is the thing that pleases and the (indirect) object is the person who is pleased. A commonly used method is to think of a plăcea as literally meaning to be pleasing to.

Îmi place să citesc. ― I like to read. (literally, “To me it pleases to read.”)

Îți place această friptură? ― Do you like this steak? (literally, “To you does it please this steak?”)

Mi-a plăcut filmul. ― I liked the film. (literally, “To me has pleased the film.”)

Ți-a plăcut înghețata? ― Did you like the ice cream? (literally, “To you has pleased the ice cream?”)

First- and second-person use is uncommon, but grammatically solid: îi plac (“he likes me”, literally “I please him”) is equivalent to îi place de mine (literally “it pleases him of me”).

Conjugation

    conjugation of plăcea (second conjugation, past participle in -ut)

infinitive			a plăcea
gerund			plăcând
past participle			plăcut
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	plac	placi	place	plăcem	plăceți	plac
	imperfect	plăceam	plăceai	plăcea	plăceam	plăceați	plăceau
	simple perfect	plăcui	plăcuși	plăcu	plăcurăm	plăcurăți	plăcură
	pluperfect	plăcusem	plăcuseși	plăcuse	plăcuserăm	plăcuserăți	plăcuseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să plac	să placi	să placă	să plăcem	să plăceți	să placă
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		place			plăceți
	negative		nu plăcea			nu plăceți

Derived terms

• plăcere

References

• plăcea in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)