Мы любим долго разговаривать со своими друзьями вечером на кухне.

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Breakdown of Мы любим долго разговаривать со своими друзьями вечером на кухне.

• любить: to love
• с: with
• мы: we

Questions & Answers about Мы любим долго разговаривать со своими друзьями вечером на кухне.

Why do we say Мы любим долго разговаривать, and not just Мы долго разговариваем?

Both are grammatical, but they say slightly different things.

• Мы любим долго разговаривать = We like to talk for a long time (it states a preference / habit, what we enjoy doing).
  Structure: любить
  • infinitive → to like doing something.
• Мы долго разговариваем = We talk for a long time (describes what happens, not specifically that we enjoy it).

So любим разговаривать focuses on liking the activity, while долго разговариваем simply describes an action that takes a long time.

Why is the verb разговаривать (imperfective) used, not поговорить or another perfective form?

After verbs of liking, wanting, being able, etc., Russian normally uses the imperfective infinitive, because it talks about an activity in general, not one completed event.

• любим разговаривать – we like the activity of talking; there is no idea of a finished, one‑time conversation.
• поговорить is perfective and would usually appear in contexts like:
  • Мы хотим поговорить. – We want to have a (one) talk.
  • Нам нужно поговорить. – We need to talk (once, about something specific).

With любим, the natural choice is imperfective: любим разговаривать.

What is the difference between and here?