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Questions & Answers about Тебе нравится этот стакан?
Why is тебе in the dative case here?
In Russian, the verb нравиться works impersonally: the thing that is liked (here этот стакан) is the grammatical subject (nominative), and the person who experiences the liking is in the dative case. So тебе literally means “to you,” even though in English we’d say “you like.”
Why do we use нравится instead of любишь?
Любить is a regular transitive verb meaning “to love” or “to really like,” taking a nominative subject and an accusative object (e.g., Ты любишь этот стакан?). Нравиться means “to be pleasing” and is the standard way to express “to like” in Russian, with the person in dative and the liked thing as the subject.
Why is it этот стакан and not это стакан or эта стакан?
Стакан is a masculine noun. The demonstrative этот is the masculine nominative singular form of “this.” Эта would be feminine, and это is neuter.
Why is the verb нравится in the singular form?
Because этот стакан is singular. In Russian, verbs agree with their subjects. If you were asking about multiple glasses (эти стаканы), you’d use the plural: Тебе нравятся эти стаканы?
Can I change the word order to Этот стакан тебе нравится?
Absolutely. Russian word order is flexible. Этот стакан тебе нравится? and Тебе нравится этот стакан? both mean “Do you like this glass?”—the first version simply emphasizes этот стакан a bit more.
How do I say “I like this glass” in Russian?
You use the dative мне + нравится + subject. For example: Да, мне нравится этот стакан. (“Yes, this glass is pleasing to me.”)
How do I express “No, I don’t like this glass”?
Insert the negator не before the verb: Нет, мне не нравится этот стакан.
How would I ask this question politely, using вы instead of ты?
Switch to the polite dative вам: Вам нравится этот стакан?
Where is the stress in стакан and нравится, and any pronunciation tips?
In стакан the stress is on the second syllable (стака́н), and in нравится it’s on the first (нра́вится). Also, pronounce the нр cluster in нравится quickly as [nr], without inserting a vowel.