How to Say "I Like" in Russian: мне нравится and любить
To say you like something in Russian, use нравиться — but it turns the sentence inside out. The thing you like becomes the subject, and you appear in the dative case: Мне нравится кофе is literally "to me, coffee is pleasing". The verb agrees with the thing, not with you — нравится for one thing, нравятся for several. For deeper, lasting liking or love, Russians use любить.
"I like it" is one of the first things you want to say in any language — about the food, the city, a song, a person. Russian will happily let you, but it makes you say it from an angle English speakers don't expect: instead of you liking the thing, the thing is pleasing to you. Once that one idea clicks, the whole pattern falls into place.
Published 24 October 2026
There are two verbs to know. Нравиться is the everyday "to like" — the one you reach for most of the time. Любить is "to love", used for strong feeling, for people, and for the things you like in general. We'll start with нравиться, because its grammar is the part that trips people up, and then set the two side by side.
The one idea that unlocks it: you are not the subject
In English, "I" am the subject of "I like coffee" — I do the liking. Russian flips this. With нравиться, the thing you like is the subject (it sits in the nominative — the plain dictionary form a word has when it's the subject), and you are the one the thing is pleasing to, so you go into the dative case (the "to / for" case — the form a word takes for the person something is given to, said to, or done for). The literal shape is "to me, coffee is pleasing":
Мне нра́вится ко́фе. — I like coffee. (lit. "to-me is-pleasing coffee")
So the person doing the liking is never the grammatical subject — they're in the dative, off to one side. Russian builds "I have" the same side-long way (У меня́ есть…, literally "by me there is…"); if you've met that, see how to say "I have" in Russian for the same shift of viewpoint. The case itself is worth a proper look in the Russian dative case, and the whole six-case system in Russian cases explained.
Who likes it: the dative pronouns
Because the person goes in the dative, the pronouns change shape. These are the forms you'll use every day — the dative of я, ты, он, and so on:
Dative
Meaning
Example
мне
to me
Мне нра́вится э́тот го́род. — I like this city.
тебе́
to you (informal)
Тебе́ нра́вится чай? — Do you like tea?
ему́
to him
Ему́ нра́вится о́страя пи́ща. — He likes spicy food.
ей
to her
Ей не нра́вится э́тот суп. — She doesn't like this soup.
нам
to us
Нам нра́вится здесь. — We like it here.
вам
to you (formal / plural)
Вам нра́вится омле́т? — Do you like the omelette?
им
to them
Им нра́вятся блины́. — They like blini.
To make any of these negative, just put не before the verb: Мне не нра́вится… ("I don't like…").
Нравится or нравятся? Match the thing, not the person
This is the second half of the pattern, and it follows directly from the first. Since the thing you like is the subject, the verb agrees with that thing — not with you. In practice that means two third-person forms:
The thing liked
Verb
Example
one thing (singular)
нра́вится
Мне нра́вится твоё пла́тье. — I like your dress.
several things (plural)
нра́вятся
Мне нра́вятся твои́ ту́фли. — I like your shoes.
Notice that мне doesn't move — only the ending on the verb changes, because пла́тье is one thing and ту́фли are several. This is the single most common slip: saying нра́вится for a plural because you're thinking of "I" as the subject. Count the thing, and let it pick the ending.
Liking to do something? Follow нра́вится with an infinitive (the dictionary form of a verb), and it stays singular: Мне нра́вится чита́ть ("I like reading"), Ему́ не нра́вится пить во́ду ("He doesn't like drinking water").
Нравиться vs любить: like vs love
Both verbs can land in English as "like", so here is the working split. Нравиться is the milder, more occasional "to like" — a specific thing, or a first impression. Любить is "to love": strong, settled feeling, the people you care about, and the things you like in general or as a habit.
Мне нра́вится э́тот фильм. — I like this film. (this particular one)
Я люблю́ кино́. — I love film / I like films. (in general, as a thing I enjoy)
Я тебя́ люблю́. — I love you.
Grammatically, любить is the easy one for English speakers, because it behaves normally: you are the subject (nominative) and the thing loved is a direct object in the accusative (the direct-object case). It conjugates like an ordinary verb — я люблю́, ты лю́бишь, он лю́бит, мы лю́бим, вы лю́бите, они́ лю́бят:
Я люблю́ ко́фе. — I love coffee.
Они́ лю́бят путеше́ствовать. — They love to travel.
Careful with people.Ты мне нра́вишься uses нравиться about a person and means "I like you." Depending on the context, it can sound friendly, personal or romantic — it does not by itself mean "I love you." Note that here you are the one being pleasing, so the verb is нра́вишься (2nd person). Я тебя́ люблю́ is the big one: "I love you." Keep любить for real love, not for liking the soup.
Past tense: "I liked it" with понравиться
For a finished reaction — especially a first impression, the moment you came to like something — Russian switches to the perfective partner понра́виться (the perfective is the aspect used for a single, completed action; more on Russian verbs here). In the past it agrees in gender and number with the thing liked, exactly as the gender rules would predict:
The thing liked
Past form
Example
masculine
понра́вился
Мне понра́вился фильм. — I liked the film.
feminine
понра́вилась
Мне понра́вилась кни́га. — I liked the book.
neuter
понра́вилось
Мне понра́вилось в Москве́. — I liked it in Moscow.
plural
понра́вились
Мне понра́вились ту́фли. — I liked the shoes.
If the gender endings are new, Russian noun gender is the piece that makes this automatic. And when you simply want "I liked it" about a whole experience, Мне понра́вилось on its own does the job.
Try it yourself
Say each of these in Russian. Cover the answers first.
"I like this city." (one place)
"I like your shoes." (mind the agreement)
"He doesn't like spicy food."
"I liked the book." (past, finished reaction)
Answers. 1. Мне нра́вится э́тот го́род. 2. Мне нра́вятся твои́ ту́фли. (plural thing → нра́вятся). 3. Ему́ не нра́вится о́страя пи́ща. 4. Мне понра́вилась кни́га. (feminine → понра́вилась).
Questions people actually ask
How do you say "I like" in Russian? The everyday verb is нравиться, but it reverses the English pattern: the thing you like is the grammatical subject (nominative) and the person who likes it goes in the dative case. So "I like coffee" is Мне нравится кофе, literally "to me, coffee is pleasing." The verb agrees with the thing liked — нравится for one thing, нравятся for several.
What is the difference between нравиться and любить? Both can translate as "like", but нравиться is the milder, everyday "to like" and is common for a specific or first impression, while любить means "to love" and is used for strong, lasting feeling, for people, and for general likes and habits. Любить takes a normal direct object in the accusative (Я люблю кофе), whereas нравиться puts the person who likes in the dative.
Is it нравится or нравятся? It depends on the thing you like, not on you. Нравиться agrees with the liked thing, which is the grammatical subject: use нравится when that thing is singular (Мне нравится эта книга) and нравятся when it is plural (Мне нравятся туфли — "I like the shoes"). The dative person (мне, тебе, ему…) never changes the verb ending.
How do you say "I liked it" in Russian? Use the perfective понравиться, usually in the past, for a completed impression — often a first one. Its past form agrees in gender and number with the thing liked: Мне понравился фильм ("I liked the film", masculine), Мне понравилась книга (feminine), Мне понравилось (neuter) and Мне понравились туфли (plural).
Liking is the hinge a conversation turns on — once you can say what you like, people have something to talk to you about. The way to make Мне нра́вится… feel automatic is to say it out loud about real things, dozens of times, which is exactly the kind of practice we build — start your seven-day free trial — no card required. New to the app? Search "Gora Academy" in the Apple App Store or Google Play, or open it on the web.