Verbi piacere, servire, mancare

Some Italian verbs, such as piacere (to like), servire (to need), and mancare (to miss), work differently from most verbs.

When using these verbs, we must remember that in Italian the person experiencing the feeling or need is expressed with an indirect object pronoun, while the thing that is liked, needed, or missed is the grammatical subject.

For example:

Ti piace la pallacanestro. [You like basketball. –> Basketball is liked by you.]
A voi servono dei pattini per pattinare. [You need some rollerblades to skate. –> Some rollerblades are needed by you to skate.]
Mi mancano gli allenamenti di tennis. [I miss the tennis practice sessions. –> The tennis practice sessions are missed by me.]

The construction for these verbs is as follows:
INDIRECT OBJECT (this can be an indirect pronoun, it indicates the person that likes, needs, or misses)
+
VERB IN 3rd PERSON SINGULAR OR PLURAL (piace/piacciono, serve/servono, manca/mancano)
+
SUBJECT OF THE VERB (the thing that is liked, needed, or missed)

The indirect pronouns that can be used are:
MI = A ME
TI = A TE
GLI = A LUI
LE = A LEI
CI = A NOI
VI = A VOI
GLI = A LORO

If using a noun instead of a pronoun, don’t forget to include preposition A.

A Jannik servono due punti per vincere la partita. [Jannik needs two points to win the game.]
Agli atleti piace riposarsi. [The athletes like to rest.]

The verb should be in 3rd person singular if the thing liked/missed/needed is a singular noun or a verb in the infinitive.
The verb should be in 3rd person plural if the thing liked/missed/needed is a plural noun or multiple singular nouns.

Mi serve una racchetta. [I need a racket.]
Le mancano le sue compagne di squadra. [She misses her teammates.]
A noi piace giocare a scacchi. [We like playing chess.]

To create a negative sentence, place NON before the indirect pronouns, or after A+person:

Non ci piace andare in palestra. [We don’t like going to the gym.]
A Maria non piaceva nuotare in piscina. [Maria didn’t like swimming in the pool.]

NOTA BENE

The verb sembrare (to seem) works in a similar way, just like it does in English.

Il football americano ci sembra uno sport difficile. [American football seems like a difficult sport to us.]
Lo yoga gli sembrava una buona attività per rilassarsi. [Yoga seemed to them like a good activity to relax.]
I tifosi americani mi sembrano tranquilli. [American fans seem calm to me.]