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Thread: What's the difference

  1. #1
    f32179007
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    What's the difference

    I noticed that there are some verbs such as "to like" that use "me, you etc."

    Ex: мне нравится

    Why don't they use the pronouns like я, ты etc.? And if they do, then when do I have to use them?

    Thanks for the answers!

  2. #2
    Властелин iCake's Avatar
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    That's basic grammar there. Нравиться doesn't mean "to like", but rather "to be likable". That's where "мне" comes in, as it's not "I like it" but "it's likable to me".

    As for the pronouns я, ты etc. with this word. You use it for what actually is an object of "like" in the English sentence:

    I like her - Она нравится мне.

    As you can see "I" turned into "me - мне in Russian" and her turned into "she - она in Russian".

    This is not because Russian is so weird, it's because "нравиться" and "like" have a different semantic meaning.
    I do not claim that my opinion is absolutely true.
    If you've spotted any mistake in my English, please, correct it. I want to be aware of any mistakes to efficiently eliminate them before they become a habit.

  3. #3
    f32179007
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    Quote Originally Posted by iCake View Post
    That's basic grammar there. Нравиться doesn't mean "to like", but rather "to be likable". That's where "мне" comes in, as it's not "I like it" but "it's likable to me".

    As for the pronouns я, ты etc. with this word. You use it for what actually is an object of "like" in the English sentence:

    I like her - Она нравится мне.

    As you can see "I" turned into "me - мне in Russian" and her turned into "she - она in Russian".

    This is not because Russian is so weird, it's because "нравиться" and "like" have a different semantic meaning.
    So, basically the verbs that end with ся are referred to me, so they change to "мне" or "тебе" and "him, her, them" turn to "он, она, они"? Correct me if I'm wrong, and thanks for the answer

  4. #4
    Властелин iCake's Avatar
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    Well, not exactly. Although, the verbs that end with -ся/сь are what we call reflexive verbs, meaning that the action such a verb describes hits back the subject. In any case, translations should be done individually, there is no working pattern here.
    I do not claim that my opinion is absolutely true.
    If you've spotted any mistake in my English, please, correct it. I want to be aware of any mistakes to efficiently eliminate them before they become a habit.

  5. #5
    f32179007
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    Quote Originally Posted by iCake View Post
    Well, not exactly. Although, the verbs that end with -ся/сь are what we call reflexive verbs, meaning that the action such a verb describes hits back the subject. In any case, translations should be done individually, there is no working pattern here.
    I understood, thanks again for the detailed answer

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by f32179007 View Post
    So, basically the verbs that end with ся are referred to me, so they change to "мне" or "тебе" and "him, her, them" turn to "он, она, они"? Correct me if I'm wrong, and thanks for the answer
    Historically, they were reflexive verbs, since ся was just a short form of себя. Nowadays the meaning of a ся verb can be unpredictable, so you has to learn each ся verb.

    Here are some details:
    Correct please (dinlot)
    Correct please (dinlot)

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