French verbs like 'plaire': when the thing is the subject
When you want to say that you like a movie in English, you are the subject of the sentence and the movie is the object. But French often flips this around. With a specific group of French verbs, the thing you are experiencing is the grammatical subject, and you are the indirect object.
The most famous example is plaire. Instead of saying that you like a thing, you say that the thing pleases you. This structure can feel backward at first, but mastering it unlocks very natural-sounding French.
With the verb plaire, the thing you like is the subject of the sentence. The person who likes it becomes an indirect object pronoun, such as me, te, or lui.
Notice how the verb matches the thing, not the person. Because shoes are plural, the verb is plural. You will also see this exact same reversal with other common verbs that express feelings or needs, such as déplaire, falloir, and manquer à.
For several other verbs in this family, the English translation already uses the thing as the subject. The trick here is just remembering to use the French indirect object pronoun to show who is affected.
For clothing and styling, use aller, aller bien, or convenir to say that something suits someone or fits them.
Similarly, you can use suffire to say that something is enough for someone.
You can also use this structure to talk about things that matter to you, or things that cause physical or emotional feelings. Use verbs like importer, faire peur, and faire mal with an indirect object pronoun.
When using verbs like plaire, aller, and faire mal, remember that the thing is the subject of the sentence. The person experiencing the effect is expressed as an indirect object pronoun placed just before the verb.