Thread: Help with Russian homework

after the verb "I love"

The verb means "I like" here.

Originally Posted by Marcus

The verb means "I like" here.

There's not always a clear distinction from the perspective of an English speaker. I mean, in theory, "love" is stronger than "like," but in actual practice, "I like to go on walks" and "I love to go on walks" are often exactly synonymous, and therefore can be used interchangeably as translations of Я люблю гулять.

Similarly, "I love strawberry ice cream" isn't necessarily different from "I like strawberry ice cream". (Unless a speaker deliberately chooses to emphasize the difference, as by saying, "Do I like strawberry ice cream? No, I don't like strawberry ice cream; I love it!!!")

But note that "I like you" and "I love you" are NOT synonyms -- in contexts like that, where you're describing your feelings about another person (rather than your feelings about ice-cream), "love" is ALWAYS understood to have greater intensity! (And the stereotype is that men are more bashful about using the "love" word than women are: "Oh, John, I love you!" -- "Oh, Mary, I really really really really like you!")

On the other hand, with an interrogative sentence like Любишь ли ты гулять? the translation "Do you love to go on walks?" sounds slightly uncolloquial, and "Do you like to go on walks?" is much more natural.