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Russian grammar Part of Chapter 5

CEFR A1-A2

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Russian Impersonal Sentences: мне холодно, мне надо, мне нравится

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

Russian does not say I am cold. It says , to me it is cold: the person goes in the dative, and there is no I am at all. The same frame says I need, I may, I'm twenty and I like. Learn it once and a whole family of everyday sentences opens up.

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Which form of I fills the gap?

  1. холодно. (I'm cold.)

  2. люблю кофе. (I love coffee.)

  3. двадцать лет. (I'm twenty.)

The whole system on one screen

Colour marks the dative:

dativeWhat do the colours mean?
RussianEnglishWhat it says
.I'm cold.how you feel
.I have to go.need
.You're not allowed.permission
.I need help.needing a thing
.I'm twenty.age
.I like tea.liking

One pattern: the person in the dative, then what is happening to them. Swap for or , and it is happening to someone else. The pronouns are on the dative case page.

Мне холодно: how you feel

Colour marks the dative:

dativeWhat do the colours mean?

A word in -о describes the state, and the person it happens to goes in the dative. In the present there is no verb:

RussianEnglish
.I'm cold.
.I'm hot.
.I'm bored.
.I'm scared.
.He finds it hard.
.It hurts her.
.I'm interested.
?Are you feeling unwell?
Four people: a man with a moustache, sweating under a hot sun, fans himself (hot); a woman in a scarf shivers as snow falls (cold); a boy with an empty plate stares open-mouthed, his tummy rumbling and an apple in his thought bubble (hungry); a girl with pigtails yawns under the moon (sleepy).
  1. .
  2. .
  3. .

Ему жарко, he's hot. Ей холодно, she's cold. Ей хочется спать, she's sleepy (she feels like sleeping).

Swap the pronoun to change who is cold; swap the -о word to change what is happening.

Было, будет: the past and the future

Colour marks the dative; the box marks the verb:

dativeбыло / будетWhat do the colours mean?

The past adds and the future . Neither agrees with the person, because the person is not the subject:

TenseRussianEnglish
present .I'm cold.
past .I was cold.
future .I'll be cold.
  • . - She was bored.
  • . - We found it interesting.

A man and a woman both say . There is no / choice to make.

Мне надо, мне можно, мне нельзя: need and permission

Colour marks the dative:

dativeWhat do the colours mean?

Four words say what someone has to, may or must not do, with a verb after them:

WordExampleEnglish
.I have to go.
.I have to work.
?May I?
.You're not allowed.

and mean the same with a verb. on its own is the everyday way to ask permission: ?, may I?, as you reach for the last biscuit.

Мне нужен врач: needing a thing

Colour marks the dative and the agreement ending:

dativemasculinefeminineneuterpluralWhat do the colours mean?

With a noun, need is , which agrees with the thing needed, not with the person:

ThingExampleEnglish
masculine .I need a doctor.
feminine .I need help.
neuter .I need time.
plural .I need money.

is feminine, so ; is always plural, so . The thing is the subject here, in the nominative.

Мне двадцать лет: your age

Colour marks the dative:

dativeWhat do the colours mean?

Your age is also something that happens to you: to me twenty years.

  • . - I'm twenty.
  • ? - How old are you?
  • . - He's five.
A party under bunting and balloons: the birthday boy, with short hair and a bow tie, cheers behind a pink cake with five candles, flanked by two girls in party hats (one with pigtails and a bow, one with long hair), with a wrapped present on the table.
  1. .

Ему пять лет: he's five. Count the candles.

The word for years follows the last digit of the number, the Russian numbers rule:

Number ends inYearsExample
1 (not 11) .
2-4 (not 12-14) .
5-9, 0, 11-14 .

Мне нравится: liking, turned inside out

Colour marks the dative; the plural ending is marked:

dativepluralWhat do the colours mean?

means to be pleasing. The thing you like is the subject, and you, the person pleased, are in the dative:

  • . - I like music. (music is pleasing to me)
  • ? - Do you like the book?
  • . - I like books.

The verb goes plural because the books are the subject. English speakers want it to agree with I, and it never does.

also means to like or love, and it works the English way round, with the thing in the accusative: . is the milder word, and the usual one for a particular thing or a first impression ( ); is stronger: what you love in general ( ) and the people you love.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
. .the person who feels: dative
. .age takes the dative
. .the verb agrees with the books
. .no subject: neuter
. . is feminine

What to do next

  1. Say , and about yourself, then about him and her.
  2. Say how old everyone in your family is.
  3. Do the drill below.

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/5

Which form of I fills the gap?

  1. холодно. (I'm cold.)

  2. люблю кофе. (I love coffee.)

  3. двадцать лет. (I'm twenty.)

  4. нравится музыка. (I like music.)

  5. хочу домой. (I want to go home.)

Sort into groups

0/5

Нужен, нужна or нужны: which goes with each noun?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Spot the mistake

0/3

Tap the mistake.

Complete the story

0/4

Choose the right form for each gap.

A cold day out

холодно. Мне шапка! А брату пять , и ему тоже холодно. Но ему снег.

Gap 1 of 4

Matching

0/4

Match each sentence to its English.

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Frequently asked questions

Why do you say and not ?
Because in Russian the cold is not something you are; it happens to you, and the person something happens to goes in the dative. is literally to me it is cold. The same pattern covers boredom, fear and pain: , , .
How do you say I like in Russian?
Turn the sentence round: the thing you like is the subject, and you are in the dative. is literally music is pleasing to me. If the liked thing is plural, the verb goes plural too: . also works, the English way round, for what you like in general: .
How do you say how old you are in Russian?
, literally to me twenty years. Ask ?, or ? politely. The word for years follows the number: after one, after two to four, from five up, going by the last digit, so but .
What is the difference between and ?
With a verb they mean the same, have to: and are both I have to go. With a thing you need, use , , or , agreeing with the thing: , I need help; , I need a doctor.
How do you say I was cold in Russian?
. The past adds , always neuter, because there is no subject for it to agree with; a man and a woman say the same thing. The future adds : , I'll be cold.