Learn Hardcore Russian: Тихий вечер радует меня.

Вечер is a masculine noun, so its adjective must agree with it in gender, number, and case. Here we need masculine singular nominative, which is тихий.

Why is меня used instead of мне?

The verb радовать is transitive and takes a direct object in the accusative case. The person who is pleased goes in the accusative (меня). If you used the intransitive радоваться, you’d say мне (dative): Я радуюсь тихому вечеру.

What does радует literally mean, and how is it conjugated?

Радует is the 3rd person singular present tense of радовать (to please, to bring joy to). Conjugation in present tense (singular): • Я раду́ю
• Ты раду́ешь
• Он/она раду́ет

Why is there no word for “is” in the sentence?

In Russian, the present-tense copula есть (“to be”) is normally omitted, so you simply say Тихий вечер радует меня instead of inserting есть.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Меня радует тихий вечер?

Yes. Russian word order is quite flexible. Starting with Меня places emphasis on “me,” but the basic meaning (“The quiet evening pleases me”) stays the same.

How would you express “I enjoy the quiet evening” using радоваться?

You’d say Я радуюсь тихому вечеру. Here:

Я is the subject (nominative),
радуюсь is 1st person singular of радоваться,
тихому вечеру is dative, because радоваться takes a dative object.

Which syllable is stressed in тихий, вечер, and радует?

• тихий – stress on the first syllable: ТИ-хий
• вечер – first syllable: ВЕ-чер
• радует – first syllable: РА-дует