Learn Hardcore Russian: Подросток иногда чувствует себя взрослым, но всё ещё нуждается в совете. - A teenager sometimes feels like an adult but still needs advice.

In Russian, after verbs like чувствовать себя (to feel), быть (to be), становиться (to become), the word that describes a temporary role or state is often in the instrumental case:

Он чувствует себя взрослым. – He feels (himself) like an adult.
Она стала врачом. – She became a doctor.
Он работает учителем. – He works as a teacher.

So взрослый (nominative) → взрослым (instrumental) because it’s describing what he feels like, not naming who he is in a neutral way.

Why do we say чувствует себя and not just чувствует?

Чувствовать by itself usually means to feel something physically:

чувствовать холод – to feel the cold
чувствовать боль – to feel pain

When you want to talk about someone’s state (how they feel as a person – emotionally, mentally, in general), Russian uses чувствовать себя:

чувствовать себя хорошо / плохо / усталым / взрослым

Literally: “to feel oneself (in some state).”

So Подросток иногда чувствует себя взрослым = “The teenager sometimes feels like an adult.”
Without себя, it would sound like he is physically feeling an adult with his hands.

Why is подросток grammatically masculine? Can it refer to a girl?

Yes, подросток can refer to either a boy or a girl; it’s a person-word that is grammatically masculine.

In Russian, many nouns that refer to people can be grammatically masculine but used for both genders:

ребёнок – child (grammatically masculine, but can be boy or girl)
подросток – teenager (same idea)

So even if it’s about a girl, the grammar still uses masculine forms:

Подросток иногда чувствует себя взрослым… – This can be about a male or female teenager; the grammar stays masculine.

What exactly is нуждается? Which verb is this and why does it have -ся?

Нуждается is the 3rd person singular present of the verb нуждаться – “to be in need (of)”.

infinitive: нуждаться
он/она/оно нуждается – he/she/it needs / is in need (of)

The ending -ся (or -сь) makes the verb reflexive or middle voice. Here it forms a pattern:

нуждаться в чём-то – to be in need of something
- нуждаться в деньгах – to be in need of money
- нуждаться в помощи – to be in need of help
- нуждаться в совете – to be in need of (some) advice

So нуждается here means “(he/she) still needs / is still in need (of).”

Why is it нуждается в совете and not something like нуждается совет?

The verb нуждаться always takes the preposition в plus the prepositional case:

нуждаться в чём? – to be in need of what?

Examples:

нуждаться в жилье – to need housing
нуждаться в информации – to need information
нуждаться в совете – to need advice

So нуждается совет would be ungrammatical. You must say нуждаться в + [Prepositional].

Why is it в совете (singular) when English uses uncountable “advice”? Why not в советах?

In Russian, совет is a countable noun:

совет – an advice, a piece of advice
советы – (several) pieces of advice

Нуждаться в совете literally “to be in need of (some) advice / a piece of advice.” It sounds general and natural: the teenager needs advice (in general, not necessarily many separate pieces).

If you say нуждаться в советах, it emphasizes multiple different pieces/sources of advice – it’s possible, but it has a slightly different nuance (more like “needs lots of advice / various advices”).

So the singular в совете here is perfectly normal and often more neutral.

What does всё ещё add? Could you just say ещё нуждается в совете?

Всё ещё = “still” (with a bit of emphasis that the situation continues, maybe longer than expected).

он всё ещё ждёт – he is still waiting (and it’s taking a while)

Ещё by itself can mean “still”, but it’s ambiguous because it also means “more / another / yet”:

он ещё ждёт – could be “he is still waiting” or “he is waiting some more (in addition).”

Всё ещё нуждается в совете clearly means “still needs advice (even now, despite something).” It avoids the ambiguity and slightly stresses the surprising or continuing nature of the situation: “even though he feels like an adult, he still needs advice.”

Ещё нуждается в совете is not wrong in context, but всё ещё is clearer and more expressive.

Why is the word order Подросток иногда чувствует себя… and not Иногда подросток чувствует себя…?

Both orders are grammatically correct:

Подросток иногда чувствует себя взрослым…
Иногда подросток чувствует себя взрослым…

The difference is nuance and rhythm:

Подросток иногда чувствует… – starts with подросток, putting focus on who we are talking about.
Иногда подросток чувствует… – starts with иногда, slightly emphasizing the time/frequency (“Sometimes, the teenager feels…”).

Russian word order is flexible. Adverbs like иногда can appear in several positions. Neither version changes the basic meaning here.

Why is there a comma before но?

In Russian, но (“but”) usually connects two independent clauses or two contrasting parts of a sentence. A comma is placed before но in such cases:

Он молод, но умён. – He is young but smart.
Она устала, но продолжает работать. – She is tired but continues working.

In the sentence:

Подросток иногда чувствует себя взрослым, но всё ещё нуждается в совете.

you have two parts with the same subject подросток and two verb phrases:

(подросток) чувствует себя взрослым
(подросток) (всё ещё) нуждается в совете

They are contrasted with но, so Russian requires a comma before но.

Is there an implied “is” like English “is an adult” here?

There is no separate “is” in Russian in the present tense. Instead of

“He is an adult.”

Russian would normally just say:

Он взрослый. – literally “He adult.”

In this particular sentence we have:

чувствует себя взрослым – “feels like an adult”

The verb чувствует already carries the idea of “feels / is in such a state,” and взрослым (instrumental) describes that state. Russian doesn’t need an extra быть (есть) here.