Skip to content

Feelings & Opinions

Liking things, agreeing/disagreeing, and saying how you feel. This page is where the dative case really earns its keep — Russian routes almost all feelings and opinions through "to me," not "I."

Liking and disliking

Russian Literal Means Notes
Мне нра́вится... "To-me is-pleasing..." "I like..." Dative мне + verb agreeing with the thing liked, not with "I" — see dative.
Мне нра́вятся... "To-me are-pleasing..." "I like..." (plural things) нра́вятся (plural) when the liked thing is plural: Мне нра́вятся соба́ки.
Мне не нра́вится... "To-me not is-pleasing..." "I don't like..." не goes right before the verb, not before мне.
Тебе́ нра́вится? "To-you is-pleasing?" (informal) "Do you like it?" Informal — swap тебе́ for вам to make it formal.
Мне о́чень нра́вится "To-me very is-pleasing" "I really like it" о́чень intensifies, sits before нра́вится.
Я люблю́... "I love..." "I love... / I'm into..." Unlike нра́вится, люблю́ conjugates normally with "I" as subject — used for deeper/habitual liking: Я люблю́ ко́фе ("I love coffee" as a general truth).

Pattern

Мне нра́вится/нра́вятся is a dative-subject construction: the person doing the liking (мне) is grammatically the indirect object, and the thing liked (nominative) controls the verb ending. This flips English logic — "I like dogs" becomes, word for word, "To me are-pleasing dogs." See dative for the full case table.

Pattern

Нра́вится vs. люблю́ is a real distinction, not free variation: нра́вится leans toward "this specific thing appeals to me" (a dish, a movie, a person you just met), while люблю́ leans toward deep or habitual love (Я люблю́ Росси́ю, "I love Russia"). When unsure, нра́вится is the safer, more common default.

Opinions and agreement

Russian Literal Means Notes
Я ду́маю, что... "I think, that..." "I think that..." что here is the conjunction "that," required — Russian doesn't drop it the way English can.
По-мо́ему... "By-my [opinion]..." "In my opinion..." Fixed adverbial form — doesn't decline further.
Я согла́сен / согла́сна "I [am] agreed (m/f)" "I agree" Short-form adjective; согла́сен for men, согла́сна for women.
Я не согла́сен / не согла́сна "I [am] not agreed (m/f)" "I disagree" Same short-form adjective, negated.
Коне́чно "Of-course" "Of course" Note pronunciation: the ч is pronounced "sh" here — "коне́шно."
Мо́жет быть "May to-be" "Maybe" Fixed phrase — literally "it may be."
Наве́рное "Probably" "Probably" Common filler/hedge word in everyday speech.
То́чно! "Exactly!" / "Precisely!" "Exactly!" Also used to mean "for sure" agreeing with a plan.
Ты прав / ты права́ "You [are] right (m/f)" "You're right" Short-form adjective agreeing with the listener's gender, not the speaker's.
Возмо́жно "Possibly" "Possibly" / "It's possible" Slightly more formal than мо́жет быть.

Pattern

Short-form adjectives (согла́сен/согла́сна, прав/права́, сыт/сыта́ from the food page) always describe a temporary state of the subject and always agree in gender/number: -0 for masculine, -а for feminine, -о for neuter, -ы for plural. This is a distinct pattern from the long-form adjectives you use to describe nouns directly — see adjectives.

Reacting: interesting, boring, and more

Russian Literal Means Notes
Как интере́сно! "How interesting!" "That's interesting!" Exclamatory adverb — no verb needed.
Как ску́чно "How boring" "How boring" Same construction, opposite meaning.
Э́то интере́сно "This [is] interesting" "That's interesting" Predicative neuter adverb form, not a long adjective — matches the "no to-be verb" pattern.
Э́то ску́чно "This [is] boring" "That's boring" Same predicative pattern.
Здо́рово! "Great!" "Awesome!" / "Cool!" Casual enthusiasm — note stress on the second syllable, unlike здоро́вье ("health").
Как жаль "How [a] pity" "What a shame" жаль is an invariant predicate word, doesn't conjugate.
Не мо́жет быть! "Not may to-be!" "No way!" / "That can't be!" Common surprised reaction.
Ужа́сно "Terribly" "Terrible / awful" Predicative adverb, same family as интере́сно/ску́чно.

Pattern

Neuter short adjectives used with no subject (интере́сно, ску́чно, ужа́сно, жаль) are Russia's all-purpose reaction words — they don't describe a specific noun, they describe the situation. This is the same grammatical slot as impersonal feeling words below (ску́чно, ве́село), just applied to opinions instead of your own state.

How you feel: impersonal dative constructions

Russian Literal Means Notes
Мне ску́чно "To-me [it is] boringly" "I'm bored" Impersonal dative — the feeling happens to you, you don't "do" boredom. See dative.
Мне ве́село "To-me [it is] funly" "I'm having fun" Same impersonal pattern, positive version.
Мне хо́лодно "To-me [it is] coldly" "I'm cold" Physical sensations use this pattern too, not just emotions.
Мне жа́рко "To-me [it is] hotly" "I'm hot" Opposite of мне хо́лодно.
Мне гру́стно "To-me [it is] sadly" "I'm sad" Same family as мне ску́чно.
Я уста́л / уста́ла "I [am] tired (m/f)" "I'm tired" Short-form past participle, not impersonal dative — agrees with the subject like согла́сен does.
Я сча́стлив / сча́стлива "I [am] happy (m/f)" "I'm happy" Short-form adjective, subject-agreeing — contrast with the мне + adverb group above.
Я го́лоден / голодна́ "I [am] hungry (m/f)" "I'm hungry" Short-form adjective; note the stress shift and fleeting о in the masculine form (го́лоден, not "голоден" evenly stressed).
Мне ка́жется, что... "To-me it-seems, that..." "It seems to me that..." ка́жется is dative-governing, reflexive, and takes что like ду́маю does.

Pattern

Two competing patterns look similar but aren't: Мне + neuter adverb (мне ску́чно, мне хо́лодно, мне ве́село) describes something happening to you, no subject involved — closer to "it is boring to me." Я + short adjective (я уста́л, я го́лоден, я сча́стлив) describes a state of you, and the ending agrees with your own gender. Both translate to "I'm X" in English, but they're grammatically opposite constructions — that's why мне нра́вится and мне ску́чно behave alike, while я уста́л and я согла́сен behave alike.