Thread: Почему "Мне" и не "Я?"

Originally Posted by RusskiySnaiper

For example, мне нравится....why not я нравится?

You've got many relpies already.
Another simple explanation to you.

The Russian verb "нравиться" is not grammatically equivalent to the English "to like".
Think of it this way: "нравиться" = "to be likeable (to someone)", "to please".

If you say "Мне нравится Джон", that means "John is likeable to me", i.e. "John pleases me" = "I like John".
However, "Я нравлюсь Джону" means "I am likeable to John", i.e. "I please John" = "John likes me".

"я нравится" (as you proposed) is just wrong because "я" is the 1st person singular, while "нравится" is the 3rd person singular.
It should be "я нравлюсь" instead. But the meaning would be as I explained above: "I am likeable", i.e. I please someone, someone likes me.