Asked • 03/15/19

Is 'si dispiace' ever an acceptable form of the verb dispiacere?

Reading the following excerpt for a book entitled *L'arte di annacarsi*, I noticed the use of 'si dispiace':> I siciliani toccano. Ti toccano un braccio mentre cercano di capire di cosa hai bisogno e anche di cosa non sai ancora di avere bisogno. La sensazione di essere toccati può rivelarsi sgradevole, per il viaggiatore, ma anche lui a poco a poco si abitua, e alla fine qualcuno persino ***si dispiace*** quando poi nessuno lo tocca più. Dispiacere (as well as piacere, mancare, bastare, occorrere) behave differently from other verbs. They are formed with the structure, ***indirect object + verb + subject***, where the subject is the thing that is (dis)liked (missed, sufficient, necessary) and the indirect object is the one doing the action. Given that, why is the verb in the above context not ***gli dispiace*** or does *dispiacere* break the usual rules when used in a reflexive sense?

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