Я не люблю терять время.

I do not like to waste time.

Breakdown of Я не люблю терять время.

• я: I
• любить: to love
• не: not
• время: the time
• терять: to lose

Questions & Answers about Я не люблю терять время.

Why is it я не люблю, and not мне не нравится, when the English meaning is “I don’t like”?

Russian has two main ways to say “I like / I don’t like”:

1. любить + noun/infinitive

   • Я люблю кофе. – I like coffee.
   • Я не люблю терять время. – I don’t like to waste time.

   Here я is the grammatical subject, and люблю is a normal verb.

2. нравиться + dative (мне, тебе, ему...)

   • Мне нравится кофе. – I like coffee (literally: coffee is pleasing to me).
   • Мне не нравится терять время. – I don’t like wasting time.

In practice:

• любить + infinitive is the most common way to talk about likes/dislikes of actions and habits:
  Я люблю читать. Я ненавижу ждать. Я не люблю терять время.
• нравиться is a bit more about something being pleasant/pleasing, often used with objects, activities, people, etc.

So Я не люблю терять время is the most natural, neutral way to say “I don’t like to waste time” with a verb of action. Мне не нравится терять время is also possible but a bit less common and can sound more like “Wasting time is not pleasant to me.”

Why is терять in the infinitive, not a conjugated form like теряю?

After verbs such as любить, ненавидеть, начинать, продолжать, Russian typically uses the infinitive to express another action:

• Я люблю читать. – I like to read / I like reading.
• Я ненавижу ждать. – I hate to wait / waiting.
• Я не люблю терять время. – I don’t like to waste time / wasting time.

The infinitive (терять) works much like English “to lose / to waste” or “-ing”:

• Not: Я не люблю теряю время. (incorrect)
• Correct: Я не люблю терять время.

The subject я is understood as the subject of both люблю and терять:
“I don’t like (I) to waste time.”

What is the difference between терять время and тратить время?

Both involve time, but the nuance is different:

• терять время – to lose/waste time, usually unintentionally or uselessly

  • Stronger negative feeling: time is slipping away for no good reason.
  • Я не люблю терять время. – I don’t like wasting time.
  • Мы потеряли много времени в пробке. – We lost a lot of time in a traffic jam.

• тратить время – to spend time, neutrally or negatively, like to use time on something

  • Neutral:
    Я трачу много времени на работу. – I spend a lot of time on work.
  • Negative with context:
    Не трать время зря. – Don’t waste your time.

In Я не люблю терять время, the idea is clearly negative: time is being lost or wasted.
If you said Я не люблю тратить время, it can also mean “I don’t like to spend time (on this),” but it sounds a bit more about resource use, less about accidental loss.

Why is it терять, not потерять? What is the aspect difference here?

Терять and потерять are imperfective/perfective pairs:

• терять – imperfective: ongoing, repeated, habitual, process
• потерять – perfective: a single complete action, result

Examples:

• Я часто теряю время. – I often waste time. (habitual, repeated)
• Я потерял время. – I (have) wasted/lost time. (one completed event)

In Я не люблю терять время, we’re talking about the activity in general, as a habitual action:
“I don’t like wasting time (in general).”

If you used потерять with любить, it would sound off, because потерять points to a specific completed loss:

• Я не люблю потерять время. – sounds unnatural; you don’t “like” a single completed event in this general way.

So the imperfective терять is correct here.

Why is it я не люблю терять время, not я люблю не терять время? Is there a difference?

Yes, the word order with не changes the meaning:

• Я не люблю терять время.
  = I don’t like wasting time.
  The liking is negated. You dislike the action of wasting time.

• Я люблю не терять время.
  = I like not wasting time / I like to avoid wasting time.
  This sounds like you enjoy being efficient and organized. It’s understandable but much less common and can sound slightly awkward or emphatic.

Normal, everyday Russian for “I don’t like wasting time” is Я не люблю терять время.

Why is время in this form? What case is it?

Время is a neuter noun meaning time.

In the sentence Я не люблю терять время:

• The verb терять takes a direct object (what do you lose? → time).
• Direct objects of transitive verbs are in the accusative case.

For neuter nouns ending in -о / -е / -мя, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative:

• Nominative: время (time is passing) – Время летит.
• Accusative: терять время (to lose time)

So время here is accusative singular, but its form is identical to the nominative.

Can I add своё and say я не люблю терять своё время? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

• Я не люблю терять своё время.

This emphasizes that it is my own time that I don’t like to waste. Nuance:

• Я не люблю терять время. – General statement: I don’t like wasting time (anyone’s, in general).
• Я не люблю терять своё время. – Stronger and a bit more personal: I don’t like wasting my time (implying others might be wasting it, or you feel your time is valuable).

Both are correct; the version without своё is more neutral and general, and often more common.

Can I drop я and just say не люблю терять время?

Yes. In conversational Russian, the subject pronoun я is often omitted when it’s clear from context:

• Не люблю вставать рано. – (I) don’t like getting up early.
• Не люблю терять время. – (I) don’t like wasting time.

This sounds perfectly natural and is commonly used, especially in speech or informal writing. The full form Я не люблю терять время is slightly more explicit or emphatic, but both are fine.

How is люблю conjugated, and what person/number is it?

Люблю is the 1st person singular, present tense of the verb любить (to love / to like):

• Infinitive: любить
• 1st person singular: я люблю – I love / I like
• 2nd person singular: ты любишь – you love / you like
• 3rd person singular: он/она/оно любит – he/she/it loves / likes
• 1st person plural: мы любим – we love / we like
• 2nd person plural: вы любите – you (pl./formal) love / like
• 3rd person plural: они любят – they love / like

In Я не люблю терять время, люблю agrees with я (I).

Is терять время the only way to say “to waste time”? Are there other common expressions?

There are several ways, with slightly different nuances:

• терять время – to lose/waste time (general, often a bit emotional or critical)
  Не теряй время! – Don’t waste time!

• тратить время зря / впустую / напрасно – to waste time for nothing

  • зря – for nothing, uselessly
  • впустую – in vain, to no effect
  • напрасно – in vain
    Example: Не трать время зря. – Don’t waste time for nothing.

• проводить время впустую – to spend time uselessly
  Он проводит время впустую. – He spends his time uselessly.

Я не люблю терять время is short, strong, and common for “I don’t like to waste time.”

What is the difference between я не люблю терять время, я ненавижу терять время, and мне не нравится терять время?

They all involve a negative attitude, but with different strength and tone:

1. Я не люблю терять время.

   • Neutral-to-strong dislike.
   • Most natural, everyday way to say “I don’t like wasting time.”

2. Я ненавижу терять время.

   • Very strong: I hate wasting time.
   • Expresses strong irritation or emotional reaction.

3. Мне не нравится терять время.

   • Softer, more like “I don’t find wasting time pleasant.”
   • Slightly more polite, less categorical, and less common than я не люблю with an infinitive, but correct.

If you want a normal, firm but not extreme statement, Я не люблю терять время is the best choice.

How should I pronounce Я не люблю терять время? Where is the stress?

Stresses:

• Я – [ya] (short)
• не – [nye] (short, unstressed)
• люблю́ – lyu-bLYU (stress on -лю́)
• теря́ть – tee-ryát (stress on -я́ть)
• вре́мя – VRYE-mya (stress on вре́-)

Approximate phonetic breakdown:

• Я – [ya]
• не – [nye] (the е is reduced, almost like “ni-ye”)
• люблю́ – [lyu-BLYU] (both ю are [yu], second is stressed)
• теря́ть – [tee-RYAT’] (soft т at the end)
• вре́мя – [VRYE-mya] (both в and р clearly pronounced; мя is soft)

Natural rhythm: Я не любЛЮ терЯТь ВРЕмя.

Is терять always “to lose”? How can it mean “to waste” here?

Терять basically means to lose in several senses:

• To misplace: терять ключи – to lose keys
• To lose (someone): терять друзей – to lose friends
• To lose (abilities, qualities): терять силу – to lose strength
• To lose (time, money, opportunities): терять время / деньги / шанс

When used with время or similar nouns, it often corresponds to English “to waste”:

• терять время – to lose/waste time
• терять возможность – to miss an opportunity

So in Я не люблю терять время, the natural translation is “I don’t like to waste time”, even though literally it’s “I don’t like to lose time.”