The liver is a major target for both short- and long-term actions of ethanol. The mechanisms that mediate the response of cells and tissues to chronic intake of ethanol are unknown, but it is likely that both adaptive and deleterious responses are triggered by short-term interactions of the cell with ethanol. Cellular signaling processes are candidates to mediate the connection between short- and long-term actions of ethanol. Receptor-coupled signal transduction systems in the plasma membrane of many different cell types are affected by ethanol. In the liver, the signaling processes associated with phospholipases C and D are particularly responsive to ethanol. In this review, we investigate the direct and indirect short-term effects of ethanol on the signal transduction systems in liver and discuss the possible implications for the responses of the liver to chronic ethanol exposure.