Learn Hardcore Russian: Летом хочется пить холодную воду. - In summer, I feel like drinking cold water.

In Russian, many time expressions answering “when?” use the instrumental. The noun лето (summer) takes the ending -ом in the instrumental, giving летом (“in summer”).

What kind of verb is хочется, and why don’t we see a subject?

хочется is an impersonal reflexive verb from хотеться, meaning “to feel like.” Impersonal verbs have no grammatical subject; the experiencer (the one who feels like something) is put in the dative case and can even be omitted if it’s clear or general.

Can we include the dative pronoun мне before хочется?

Yes. If you want to specify who feels the desire, say:
• Летом мне хочется пить холодную воду.
This means “In summer, I feel like drinking cold water.” Omitting мне turns it into a general statement: “In summer, one feels like drinking cold water.”

Why is холодную воду in the accusative case?

холодную воду is the direct object of the verb пить. Since вода is an inanimate feminine noun, its accusative singular form changes холодная вода → холодную воду (–ая → –ую, –а → –у).

Why is the infinitive пить used here, rather than the perfective выпить?

The imperfective infinitive пить emphasizes the ongoing action or general desire (“to drink”). A perfective like выпить would stress the completion of the action (“to drink up/finish drinking”), which doesn’t suit a general seasonal craving.

Could the word order change? For example, Холодную воду пить хочется летом?

Russian has flexible word order. Putting холодную воду or летом at the beginning shifts the emphasis: • Летом хочется пить холодную воду – neutral
• Холодную воду пить хочется летом – emphasizes the cold water over the season
All versions are grammatically correct but carry slightly different focus.

How would you translate Летом хочется пить холодную воду into English?

Possible translations include:
• “In summer, one (or you) feels like drinking cold water.”
• “During the summer, you want to drink cold water.”
• “When it’s summer, people want to drink cold water.”
• Colloquially: “In summer, I really feel like some cold water.”

What’s the difference between я хочу выпить холодной воды and мне хочется пить холодную воду?

• я хочу выпить холодной воды uses a personal verb (хочу) + perfective (выпить), focusing on the speaker’s active request to “drink up” some cold water.
• мне хочется пить холодную воду is impersonal + imperfective, focusing on the general feeling of desire (“I feel like drinking cold water”) rather than the concrete act of finishing it.

Can you use a noun like охота instead of хочется here?

You might encounter colloquial expressions like Летом охота пить холодную воду, but they’re less neutral. хочется is the standard, most natural way to express “feel like (doing something)” with an infinitive.