Questions & Answers about Ей нравится тихий парк.
Why is it ей and not она?
Because Russian uses the dative case with the verb нравиться. The person who experiences liking is in the dative: ей = “to her.” The thing liked is the grammatical subject in the nominative.
- Dative pronouns you’ll need: мне, тебе, ему/ей, нам, вам, им
Which word is the subject here, and why is the verb singular нравится?
The subject is тихий парк (nominative, singular). Ей is an indirect object in the dative. The verb agrees with the subject, so it’s singular: нравится. With a plural subject, use нравятся:
- Ей нравится парк.
- Ей нравятся парки.
Why is it тихий парк (nominative) and not something like тихого парка?
Because тихий парк is the subject of нравится, so it must be nominative. Тихого парка is genitive and would be used in other contexts (e.g., possession or after certain prepositions), not as the subject here.
Can I use любить instead of нравиться?