Questions & Answers about Мне интересно читать книги.
Russian often uses the dative case to show who experiences a feeling or state.
- Мне = to me / for me (dative of я).
- The idea is literally: “To me, it is interesting to read books.”
This is an impersonal construction: there is no clear grammatical subject like I; instead, the person is marked in the dative (мне), and the state is described with интересно.
Literally, the structure is:
- Мне – to me (dative)
- интересно – is interesting (impersonal predicate)
- читать – to read (infinitive)
- книги – books (direct object)
So literally: “To me, it is interesting to read books.”
Natural English equivalent: “I find it interesting to read books” or “I enjoy reading books.”
Интересно here is a predicative form (often called an adverb) used in impersonal sentences:
- интересный / интересная / интересное are adjectives and must agree with a noun.
- e.g. интересная книга – an interesting book.
- интересно is used to say “it is interesting” in general, without specifying a noun.
In constructions like Мне интересно …, you always use интересно, not интересный.
Читать is the infinitive, and after интересно (and many similar words like скучно, легко, трудно) Russian normally uses an infinitive to talk about an activity in general:
- Мне интересно читать книги – I find reading books interesting (as an activity in general).
- Я читаю книги – I read books (just a statement of what I do).
So интересно + infinitive is a pattern:
Мне интересно читать / учиться / работать / путешествовать, etc.
Книги is accusative plural of книга (book):
- Nominative plural: книги
- Accusative plural (for inanimate nouns): книги (same form)
It’s in the accusative because it is the direct object of читать (to read):
читать что? – читать книги.
Yes, Russian word order is flexible. All of these are possible:
- Мне интересно читать книги. (neutral, most common)
- Книги мне интересно читать. (emphasis on books)
- Читать книги мне интересно. (emphasis on the activity reading books)
- Мне книги интересно читать. (slight emphasis on books with мне close to them)
The basic meaning stays the same; the difference is mostly in emphasis and rhythm. For learners, the original order is best to stick with.
They are close, but not identical:
Мне интересно читать книги.
- Focus on how engaging / interesting the process is for you.
- Suggests you find reading stimulating or thought‑provoking.
Я люблю читать книги.
- Means you like / love reading books.
- Focus on your emotional attitude (“I like it”).
Often they can both be used, but интересно talks more about the quality of the activity, while люблю talks about your feeling toward it.
You can, but the meaning changes:
Мне интересно читать книги.
- You generally find reading books interesting (a hobby, a habit).
Мне интересно читать книгу.
- Usually about one specific book you’re reading now or talking about.
- Implies this particular book is interesting to read (for me).
So plural = general activity; singular = a specific instance.
It’s neutral and very common. You can say it:
- in everyday conversation,
- in semi‑formal contexts,
- in writing (emails, messages, essays about yourself).
It’s neither slangy nor overly formal.
Yes, but the meaning shifts slightly:
Мне интересно читать книги.
- Explicitly: It is interesting *for me to read books.*
Интересно читать книги.
- More general: It is interesting to read books (for people / in general).
- The speaker may still be included, but the personal “for me” is less explicit.
So if you want to stress your own feeling, keep мне.
You would normally say:
- Мне неинтересно читать книги.
Note that неинтересно is usually written as one word here.
You might also hear Мне не интересно читать книги, with не separate, but in this exact meaning (“not interesting”), the joined form неинтересно is more standard.
Читать is imperfective, used for:
- ongoing processes,
- repeated/habitual actions,
- activities in general.
That fits here because we are talking about the activity of reading in general.
Прочитать is perfective and focuses on a completed action (“to read something through to the end”).
Saying Мне интересно прочитать книги sounds odd; it would suggest something like it is interesting for me to finish reading the books, which is not the usual idea. For general hobbies/activities, Russian uses the imperfective infinitive: читать, писать, играть, путешествовать, etc.