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Questions & Answers about Я люблю горячий душ.
Why are there no articles like a or the in this sentence?
Russian does not use articles. You simply state the noun with its adjective and rely on context. There is no separate word for a or the, so Я люблю горячий душ covers both “I love a hot shower” and “I love the hot shower” depending on context.
Why is it горячий душ, not горячую душу?
Adjectives must agree with their noun in gender, number and case. Душ is a masculine, inanimate noun. As a direct object, its accusative form is identical to its nominative. Therefore the adjective stays in masculine nominative form горячий, and the noun stays душ (not душу, which would also be masculine but marked animate).
Why is the noun душ and not душа?
These are two completely different words. Душ (masculine) means “shower.” Душа (feminine) means “soul.” You need душ here to talk about washing, not about the inner self.
Why does the direct object душ look like it’s in the nominative case?
In Russian, masculine inanimate nouns have the same form in nominative and accusative. Since душ is inanimate, its accusative (direct‐object) form also appears as душ.
What is люблю? How is that conjugated?
Люблю is the 1st person singular present tense of the verb любить (to love). The full conjugation pattern (2nd conjugation, –ить) goes:
я люблю
ты любишь
он/она любит
мы любим
вы любите
они любят
How do I say “to take a shower” in Russian? Do I need to use принимать?
The full phrase is принимать душ (literally “to accept a shower”). You could say Я люблю принимать горячий душ. However, in everyday speech Russians often drop принимать and simply say люблю горячий душ, letting душ imply the action.
What’s the difference between я люблю and мне нравится?
Я люблю expresses love or a strong liking—more intense. Мне нравится literally means “it is pleasing to me,” closer to the English “I like.” For example:
– Я люблю горячий душ. (I love a hot shower.)
– Мне нравится горячий душ. (I like a hot shower.)
How do you pronounce душ and горячий? Where is the stress?
Душ is pronounced like “doosh” (/duʂ/), with the vowel similar to English oo in food.
Горячий is pronounced “ga-RYAH-chee” (/gɐˈrʲæt͡ɕɪj/), with the stress on the second syllable (RYAH).