Why is one of these sentence using plaire correct and the other wrong?

Bob M.C1Kwiziq community member

Why is one of these sentence using plaire correct and the other wrong?

I cannot understand at all what the difference is between the phrases below using plaire. It seems to me both are possible but only one is correct according to Kwiziq:

Ce restaurant nous plait  vs  Ce restaurant plait a nous

Please forgive the lack of accents

Asked 2 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Bob, 

Just to add to Maarten's answer - 

You cannot say:

Ce restaurant plaît à moi/à toi/à elle /à lui/à nous/à vous/à eux/à elles 

You have to say - 

Ce restaurant me/te/lui/nous/vous/leur plaît 

You will only use à quelqu'un after plaît if it is a name or a specific person -

Ce restaurant plaît à Céline = Céline likes this restaurant 

Ce restaurant plaît à M. Dumas = Mr Dumas likes this restaurant

Ce restaurant plaît à mes sœurs = My sisters like this restaurant 

Ce restaurant plaît au directeur = The director likes this restaurant 

Ce restaurant plaît à tout le monde Everyone likes this restaurant 

Hope this helps!

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

The first sentence is grammatically correct. The second is not - ‘à nous’ is wrong. This isn’t an issue with the use of ‘plaire’ specifically but a general grammatical principle in French - direct and indirect object pronouns are placed before the verb.  Me/te/nous/vous = Me/you/us/you (French Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns)

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Agree with all the answers. But just to mix things up a bit, there are some verbs that work just the other way around: je pense à toi and NOT je te pense.

BLESSINGS A.B1Kwiziq community member

Ce restaurant nous plaît 

BLESSINGS A.B1Kwiziq community member

Ce restaurant nous plaît 

Why is one of these sentence using plaire correct and the other wrong?

I cannot understand at all what the difference is between the phrases below using plaire. It seems to me both are possible but only one is correct according to Kwiziq:

Ce restaurant nous plait  vs  Ce restaurant plait a nous

Please forgive the lack of accents

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Getting that for you now...