Мне нравится смелость моего друга.

I like my friend's courage.

Breakdown of Мне нравится смелость моего друга.

• друг: the friend
• я: I
• мой: my
• нравиться: to like
• смелость: the courage

Questions & Answers about Мне нравится смелость моего друга.

Why is it Мне нравится смелость моего друга and not something like Я нравлюсь смелость моего друга?

In Russian, нравиться works the opposite way from English to like.

• English: I like his courage.

  • I = subject
  • his courage = object

• Russian: Мне нравится смелость моего друга.
  Literally: The courage of my friend is pleasing to me.

  • смелость моего друга (my friend’s courage) = grammatical subject
  • мне (to me) = indirect object (dative)

So you never say Я нравлюсь смелость.
Я нравлюсь means “someone likes me / I am pleasing (to someone)”, e.g. Я нравлюсь своему другу – My friend likes me.

Which case is мне, and why do we use that form instead of я?

Мне is the dative case of я.

• я = I (nominative, subject form)
• мне = to me (dative, “receiver” of something)

The verb нравиться literally means “to be pleasing to someone”, so the person who likes something is put in the dative:

• Мне нравится… – Something is pleasing to me / I like…
• Тебе нравится… – You like… (literally “to you is pleasing…”)

So мне is required by the verb нравиться.

What exactly is нравится? What’s the infinitive, and what does -ся mean here?

• The infinitive is нравиться.
• нравится is 3rd person singular, present tense: he/she/it likes / is pleasing.

The -ся ending is a reflexive particle. Historically it comes from -ся / -сь meaning “oneself”. In modern Russian, with verbs like нравиться, it doesn’t mean “myself/yourself” in a direct way; it just marks a special, often “passive-like” or “middle” meaning.

So:

• нравить (without -ся) is almost never used in modern speech.
• нравиться кому-то = to be pleasing to someone → for someone to like something.

Why is смелость (a noun) used here instead of the adjective смелый (“brave”)?

Смелость is the noun “courage/bravery”, formed from the adjective смелый.

Russian uses abstract nouns like this very naturally to talk about qualities:

• смелость – courage
• доброта – kindness
• терпение – patience

In English we also say “I like his courage” (noun), not only “I like that he is brave”. Russian is doing the same:

• Мне нравится смелость моего друга.
  I like my friend’s courage.

If you used the adjective, you’d need a different structure:

• Мне нравится, что мой друг смелый. – I like that my friend is brave.

So the sentence as given focuses on the quality as an abstract thing: his courage.

Why is it смелость моего друга, not смелость мой друг?

Because in Russian possession (“X’s Y / Y of X”) is usually shown with the genitive case.

We’re saying “the courage of my friend”:

• чья? (whose?) смелость? – моего друга
• мой друг in the genitive singular is моего друга.

So:

• смелость моего друга = the courage of my friend / my friend’s courage
• смелость мой друг is ungrammatical: you’d be simply placing two nominative nouns side by side with no relationship marked.

Why is моего друга in the genitive, and not моему другу or моим другом?

Each case answers a different question:

• Genitive (кого? чего?): possession, “of someone”
• Dative (кому? чему?): “to someone”
• Instrumental (кем? чем?): “by/with someone”

Here we want “the courage of my friend” → “чья смелость?” = смелость кого?” → моего друга (genitive).

Other cases would mean something else:

• моему другу (dative): to my friend
• моим другом (instrumental): with/as my friend

So genitive is the only correct choice after смелость here.

Why is it нравится (singular), not нравятся (plural)?

The verb нравиться agrees with the thing that is liked (the grammatical subject), not with the person who likes it.

• Subject: смелость (courage) – singular feminine noun
• Therefore: нравится – 3rd person singular

Compare:

• Мне нравится смелость моего друга.
  I like my friend’s courage. (one thing → singular)

• Мне нравятся книги моего друга.
  I like my friend’s books. (plural → нравятся)

So always check: what is liked? That’s the subject; the verb agrees with that.

Can I change the word order? For example, are these correct, and is there any difference?

• Смелость моего друга мне нравится.
• Мне смелость моего друга нравится.

Yes, both are grammatically correct. Russian word order is flexible and often used for emphasis.

1. Мне нравится смелость моего друга.
   Neutral, most common: focus is slightly on смелость моего друга as the new information.

2. Смелость моего друга мне нравится.
   Puts смелость моего друга first; often feels like a contrast:

   • My friend’s courage I like (even if I don’t like something else about him).

3. Мне смелость моего друга нравится.
   Also possible, somewhat colloquial or emphasizing мне:

   • It’s *to me that my friend’s courage is pleasing (maybe others don’t like it).*

The basic meaning is the same; the differences are mostly about nuance and emphasis.

Can I say Мне нравится мой друг to mean “I like my friend”? How is that different from Мне нравится смелость моего друга?

Yes, Мне нравится мой друг is correct and means “I like my friend” (in general).

Difference:

• Мне нравится мой друг.
  I like the person as a whole.

• Мне нравится смелость моего друга.
  I like specifically his courage; I’m highlighting that particular quality, not necessarily everything about him.

So the original sentence is more specific and focused on a character trait.

What’s the difference between Мне нравится смелость моего друга and Мне нравится, что мой друг смелый / смел?

Both talk about liking your friend’s bravery, but with different focus:

1. Мне нравится смелость моего друга.

   • Literally: I like my friend’s courage.
   • Treats смелость as an abstract quality, like a “thing” he possesses.
   • Very compact, noun-based.

2. Мне нравится, что мой друг смелый / смел.

   • Literally: I like that my friend is brave.
   • Describes a fact/situation you like: the fact that he is brave.
   • Slightly more conversational/“story-like”; works nicely when explaining reasons:
     • Мне нравится, что мой друг смелый: он никогда не боится рисковать.

In most everyday contexts they’re interchangeable; the noun version sounds a bit more “abstract/quality-focused”.

Could I say Я люблю смелость моего друга? What’s the difference between любить and нравиться here?

You can say Я люблю смелость моего друга, but it’s less common and feels stronger or more stylistic.

General difference:

• нравиться – to like, to find pleasant/appealing
• любить – to love, to be very fond of; also “to like very much / habitually”

In practice:

• Мне нравится смелость моего друга.
  Natural, neutral: I like my friend’s courage.

• Я люблю смелость моего друга.
  Sounds like: I really love / deeply value his courage, often with a more emotional or emphatic tone.

With abstract qualities, нравиться is usually the safer, more neutral choice. Use любить when you want to sound particularly emotional, poetic, or very emphatic.

Where is the stress in мне нравится смелость моего друга, and are there any pronunciation tips?

Stresses:

• мне – one syllable, no stress issue
• нрАвится – stress on нрА-: nrá-vi-tsa
• смЕлость – stress on смЕ-: smyÉ-lost’
• моегО – stress on final -го: ma-ye-gÓ
• другА – stress on -га: dru-GÁ

Full phrase (stressed syllables in caps):
мне НРАвится СМЕлость моегО друГА

Tips:

• The е in stressed смЕ- is pronounced like “ye” in “yes”.
• Final -ость is [ость] with a soft -ть.
• In моего, the г is pronounced like hard g, not в (that change happens in some other forms, e.g. моего vs его).