Learn Hardcore Russian: Темнота мешает мне читать книгу. - Darkness prevents me from reading a book.

Темнота is a feminine noun meaning “darkness.” In this sentence it functions as the grammatical subject—the thing doing the hindering—so it takes the nominative singular.

Why is мне in the dative case here?

The verb мешать (to hinder, to get in the way) requires the person experiencing the hindrance to be in the dative. That’s why “me” becomes мне rather than, say, меня (accusative).

What does мешает mean, and why is it in this form?

Мешает is the 3rd person singular present tense of the imperfective verb мешать. It literally means “(it) hinders” or “(it) prevents.” Imperfective is used because this is an ongoing situation: the darkness keeps getting in the way of your reading.

Why is читать used as an infinitive here instead of a finite verb?

Verbs like мешать commonly take an infinitive to express what action is being obstructed. So читать remains unconjugated (“to read”) as the complement of мешает.

Why is книгу in the accusative case?

Книгу is the direct object of читать. In Russian the direct object of a transitive verb is put into the accusative case (here: feminine singular).

Could you omit книгу, or replace it with something else?

Yes. You could say Темнота мешает мне читать, meaning “Darkness prevents me from reading” in general. Or specify another object: Темнота мешает мне писать письмо (“Darkness prevents me from writing a letter”).

Can you use a different verb instead of мешает, like не даёт?

Absolutely. Темнота не даёт мне читать книгу is idiomatic and very common. Не даёт + dative + infinitive also means “doesn’t let me” or “prevents me from.”

What about the perfective verb помешать?

Помешать is the perfective counterpart of мешать. You’d use it for a completed act of hindering:
– Perfective past: Темнота помешала мне прочитать книгу (“The darkness prevented me from reading the book” – and I failed because of it).

Could you say Из-за темноты я не могу читать книгу instead?

Yes. Из-за темноты (“because of the darkness”) + main clause я не могу читать книгу (“I can’t read a book”) is another natural way to express the same idea.

Are there any synonyms for темнота?

One common synonym is тьма, which also means “darkness.” Тьма is a bit more literary or poetic, while темнота is neutral and everyday.