Мне нравится то, что мы свободны говорить по‑русски.

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Breakdown of Мне нравится то, что мы свободны говорить по‑русски.

• говорить: to speak
• мы: we
• свободный: free
• по-русски: in Russian
• нравиться: to like
• то, что: the fact that

Questions & Answers about Мне нравится то, что мы свободны говорить по‑русски.

Why is it мне нравится and not я люблю at the beginning?

Russian has two different ways to express liking:

• любить + accusative: Я люблю русский язык. – I love (like) the Russian language.
  The person who likes something is the grammatical subject (nominative).

• нравиться + dative: Мне нравится русский язык. – I like the Russian language (literally: The Russian language is pleasing to me).
  The person who likes something is in the dative (мне), and the thing liked is the grammatical subject.

In Мне нравится то, что мы свободны говорить по‑русски, the fact that we are free to speak Russian is what is “pleasing,” so it naturally fits the нравиться pattern:

• мне – to me (dative)
• нравится – is pleasing
• то, что мы свободны говорить по‑русски – that fact (subject)

You could say Я люблю то, что…, but it sounds more emotional or emphatic. Мне нравится то, что… is the neutral, very common way to say I like the fact that….

Why is мне in the dative case with нравится?

With нравиться, Russian structures the idea as “X is pleasing TO someone”:

• Кому? (to whom?) – dative → мне, тебе, ему, ей, нам, вам, им
• Что? (what?) – nominative subject → a noun or a clause

So:

• Мне нравится музыка. – Music is pleasing to me (I like music).
• Мне нравится то, что… – The fact that… is pleasing to me (I like the fact that…).

The dative marks the experiencer (the one who feels the liking), not the subject of the sentence.

Why is it нравится (3rd person singular) and not нравятся?

The verb нравиться agrees with its grammatical subject, not with the person in the dative.

Here, the subject is то:

• то, что мы свободны говорить по‑русски – literally “that (thing), that we are free to speak Russian”

То is neuter singular, so the verb must be нравится (3rd person singular):

• Мне нравится то, что… – singular, because of то
• If the subject were plural, you’d see нравятся:
  • Мне нравятся эти факты. – I like these facts.

Even though мы is plural inside the clause, it’s part of the subordinate clause; it does not control the verb нравится.

What is the function of то, что here? Why not just что?

То, что is a common correlative construction:

• то – a demonstrative (“that”, “the thing”)
• что – a conjunction (“that” / “which”)

Together, то, что often means “the fact that” or “that which”.

So:

• Мне нравится то, что мы свободны говорить по‑русски.
  ≈ I like the fact that we’re free to speak Russian.

If you drop то:

• Мне нравится, что мы свободны говорить по‑русски.

This is also correct and means almost the same, but то adds a small nuance of pointing to a specific fact and makes “the fact” more explicit. It sounds a bit more structured or emphatic, like stressing that particular thing about the situation.

Why is there a comma between то and что?

The comma separates the main clause from the subordinate clause:

• Main clause: Мне нравится то – I like that (thing)
• Subordinate clause: что мы свободны говорить по‑русски – that we are free to speak Russian

In Russian, a comma is usually required before the conjunction что when it introduces a subordinate clause. Since то, что here is not one word but то + что, the comma stays:

• то, что… – “the thing (comma) that…”

So the comma is grammatically necessary in this construction.

Could we say only Мне нравится, что мы свободны говорить по‑русски without то? Is there a difference?

Yes, Мне нравится, что мы свободны говорить по‑русски is absolutely correct.

Nuance:

• Мне нравится, что… – I like that… (more general)
• Мне нравится то, что… – I like the fact that… / I like this particular thing, namely that…

Adding то:

• puts a little emphasis on the fact as a separate “thing”
• can feel slightly more explicit or careful in style

In everyday speech, both versions are natural; often the difference is very small and context‑dependent.

What exactly does мы свободны говорить mean? Is it the same as мы можем говорить?

Мы свободны говорить по‑русски literally means we are free to speak Russian.

• свободен/свободны + infinitive — “free to do something”, usually meaning there are no restrictions (legal, social, psychological) stopping you.

Compare:

• Мы свободны говорить по‑русски.
  → We are allowed / not forbidden / at liberty to speak Russian.
• Мы можем говорить по‑русски.
  → We are able to / we can speak Russian (ability or possibility).

They can overlap in meaning, but:

• свободны говорить focuses on freedom / lack of prohibition.
• можем говорить can also mean simply we are capable of speaking (we know the language) or it’s possible in this situation.

In this sentence, свободны говорить suggests something like we’re not restricted from using Russian.

Why is it свободны and not свободныe or свободен?

Свободны here is the short-form adjective (краткая форма):

• Long forms: свободный, свободная, свободное, свободные
• Short forms: свободен, свободна, свободно, свободны

Short forms are often used in predicate position (after быть or as the main predicate) and often describe a temporary state or condition:

• Мы свободны. – We are free (at this moment / in this respect).

Because the subject is мы (1st person plural), we use the plural short form свободны.

Long form мы свободные is possible but would usually mean “we are free (as a characteristic, in general, compared to others)” and can sound stylistically different. The construction свободны + infinitive (free to do something) is specifically built with the short form.

Why is говорить in the infinitive form and not говорим?

In Russian, after many adjectives and modal words that express possibility, necessity, or freedom, you use the infinitive to show the action:

• готов(ы) сделать – ready to do
• рад(ы) помочь – glad to help
• вольны выбрать – free to choose
• свободны говорить – free to speak

So the pattern is:

• Мы свободны + infinitive: говорить.

If you used мы свободны и говорим по‑русски, that would mean:

• We are free, and we speak Russian (two separate statements).

But мы свободны говорить expresses a single idea: we are free to speak.

Why is the verb говорить (imperfective), not a perfective form?

The infinitive говорить is imperfective, which is normal here because:

• The action is general / repeated / ongoing: to speak (in general).
• After adjectives expressing freedom or possibility, the infinitive usually answers “what can/are we free to do in general?” → imperfective.

A perfective like сказать would mean to say (once), to utter, which doesn’t fit the idea of general freedom to use a language. You’re not just free to say one thing once; you’re free to speak Russian as such, so говорить is the natural choice.

What is по‑русски exactly? Why not на русском языке?

По‑русски is an adverb that means in Russian (as a language). It’s formed in a regular pattern:

• по‑русски – in Russian
• по‑английски – in English
• по‑немецки – in German, etc.

You can also say:

• на русском языке – literally in the Russian language

Both mean essentially the same thing:

• говорить по‑русски
• говорить на русском (языке)

Differences:

• по‑русски is shorter and very common in everyday speech.
• на русском языке can sound a bit more formal or explicit.

One thing you cannot say is по‑русскому in this meaning; that would be grammatically wrong for “in Russian (language)”.

Why is there a hyphen in по‑русски?

There is a spelling rule in Russian:

Adverbs formed with по‑ and ending in ‑ски, ‑цки, ‑чески are written with a hyphen:

• по‑русски
• по‑английски
• по‑детски
• по‑человечески

So по‑русски follows this standard orthographic rule: по‑ + русски → по‑русски.