Learn Hardcore Russian: Поэт доволен, когда рифма звучит естественно и легко. - A poet is satisfied when the rhyme sounds natural and light.

Доволен: focus on satisfaction with a result or situation.
- Поэт доволен – The poet is pleased / satisfied (with this).
Счастлив: happy, fortunate, a stronger, more emotional happiness.
- Поэт счастлив – The poet is (truly) happy.
Рад: glad, glad about something, often about a specific event.
- Поэт рад, что рифма звучит хорошо – The poet is glad that the rhyme sounds good.

So in this sentence, доволен suggests the poet feels a calm satisfaction when the rhyme sounds natural and easy, not necessarily deep happiness.

Why is there no word for is (like есть) in Поэт доволен?

In modern Russian, есть (the present tense of быть, to be) is normally omitted in the present tense.

So:

Поэт доволен literally is The poet (is) pleased.
Russian: subject + predicate adjective is enough:
- Я устал – I am tired.
- Она права – She is right.

You only usually see есть in special cases (emphasis, contrast, existential sentences), not in simple X is Y statements in the present.

What grammatical form is доволен? Why not довольный?

Доволен is a short-form adjective (краткая форма прилагательного), masculine singular.

Long form: довольный
- Used mostly before a noun: довольный поэт – a pleased poet.
Short form: доволен / довольна / довольны
- Used mainly as the predicate:
  - Поэт доволен. – The poet is pleased.
  - Поэт доволен рифмой. – The poet is pleased with the rhyme.

So доволен is correct here because it functions as the main predicate of the sentence.

Why is there a comma before когда?

The comma is there because когда introduces a subordinate clause (a dependent clause).

Main clause: Поэт доволен – The poet is pleased.
Subordinate clause: когда рифма звучит естественно и легко – when the rhyme sounds natural and easy.

In Russian, subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like когда, что, потому что etc. are normally separated from the main clause by a comma.

Does когда here mean a specific time (when) or more like whenever / if?

Here когда has a general, repeated meaning, close to whenever:

Поэт доволен, когда рифма звучит естественно и легко.
→ The poet is pleased whenever the rhyme sounds natural and easy.

It’s not about one particular moment in time, but about a general condition that makes the poet pleased.

What case is рифма, and why is it in that case?

Рифма is in the nominative case, singular.

In the clause когда рифма звучит естественно и легко:

рифма is the subject (the thing doing the action).
звучит is the verb.

Subjects are normally in the nominative case in Russian, so рифма must be nominative here.

What is the tense and aspect of звучит, and why is that form used?

Звучит is:

Present tense
3rd person singular
Imperfective aspect
From the verb звучать – to sound.

It is used because we are describing a general, ongoing possibility or habit:

когда рифма звучит естественно – when the rhyme sounds natural (in general / as a rule).

Imperfective present is the normal choice for general statements, habits, or typical situations.

Are естественно and легко adjectives or adverbs here?

In this sentence, естественно and легко are adverbs.

They describe how the rhyme sounds:
- звучит естественно – sounds natural(ly).
- звучит легко – sounds easy / light / effortless.

Formally:

Many Russian adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding -о:
- естественный → естественно
- лёгкий → легко (spelling changes but same pattern)
As adverbs, they do not change for gender, number, or case.

Could we say когда рифма естественная и лёгкая instead of естественно и легко? What would change?

Yes, you could say:

Поэт доволен, когда рифма естественная и лёгкая.

Differences:

Grammar:
- естественная, лёгкая are adjectives describing рифма (the rhyme itself).
- The verb быть (to be) in the present is omitted, so the full idea is рифма (есть) естественная и лёгкая.
Meaning / nuance:
- рифма звучит естественно и легко – focuses on how it sounds.
- рифма естественная и лёгкая – focuses more on the qualities of the rhyme itself.

Both are correct, but the original emphasizes the sound as an action/process.

Why isn’t there any word like is between рифма and естественная и лёгкая in the variant рифма естественная и лёгкая?

In the present tense, Russian usually omits the verb быть (to be) in sentences of the type X is Y:

Рифма естественная и лёгкая.
Literally: Rhyme natural and light (easy).

Russian speakers understand that a present-tense is is implied:

рифма (есть) естественная и лёгкая.

So no extra word is needed; it is normal Russian grammar.

Can we change the word order, for example: когда рифма естественно и легко звучит or когда естественно и легко звучит рифма?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible. All of these are grammatically possible:

когда рифма звучит естественно и легко – neutral, very natural.
когда рифма естественно и легко звучит – a bit more emphasis on the verb звучит at the end.
когда естественно и легко звучит рифма – stylistic, maybe a bit more poetic; focuses first on how something sounds, then reveals that it’s the rhyme.

In everyday speech and neutral text, the original order (subject – verb – adverbs) is the most common.

How do you pronounce and stress each word in the sentence?

Stress marks (´) show where the stress falls:

Поэ́т – po-ÉT (stress on the second syllable)
дово́лен – do-VÓ-len
когда́ – kog-DÁ
ри́фма – RÍF-ma
звучит́ – zvu-CHÍT
есте́ственно – yes-TÉ-stven-no
и – i (short, like English ee but very quick)
легко́ – leg-KÓ

Pronouncing the stress correctly is important, especially in words like поэ́т and легко́, because shifting the stress can make you sound non-native or change the word.

How can I tell that рифма is feminine?

Several clues:

Ending: Many feminine nouns end in -а / -я:
- рифма, книга, машина, неделя.
Agreement in adjectives/pronouns (if present):
- красивая рифма – красивая (feminine) shows that рифма is feminine.

So from the ending -а, рифма is very likely feminine, and in fact it is.

Could we replace когда with a colon, like Поэт доволен: рифма звучит естественно и легко.? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Поэт доволен: рифма звучит естественно и легко.

This is also correct, but:

With когда, the structure is condition / situation:
- He is pleased whenever the rhyme sounds natural and easy.
With a colon, it becomes more like reason or explanation:
- The poet is pleased: the rhyme sounds natural and easy.
  (i.e. He is pleased because the rhyme sounds natural and easy.)

So the colon version sounds more like a statement about the current situation; когда sounds more like a general rule.