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Questions & Answers about Каково Вам здесь?
What does каково mean here?
Here каково means something like what is it like? or how does it feel?
It is a predicative word used to ask about someone’s experience or state in a situation. So Каково Вам здесь? is literally close to:
- How is it for you here?
- What is it like for you here?
- How do you find it here?
It is not the ordinary adverb как (how), although they are related in meaning.
Why is Вам in the dative case?
Because Russian often uses the dative to show the person who experiences a feeling, condition, or situation.
So:
- Вам = to you / for you
- Каково Вам здесь? = How is it for you here?
This is similar to other Russian patterns:
- Мне холодно. = I am cold.
Literally: To me it is cold. - Ему скучно. = He is bored.
Literally: To him it is boring.
So Вам is not the direct subject in the English sense. It marks the experiencer.
Why is there no verb like есть?