Questions & Answers about Я люблю макать печенье в чай и намазывать варенье на тост.
Why is люблю followed by макать and намазывать in the infinitive? Could I say something like я люблю макание instead?
In Russian, when you talk about likes and dislikes in a general way, любить is most commonly followed by an infinitive:
- Я люблю макать печенье в чай. – I like to dip cookies in tea.
- Я люблю намазывать варенье на тост. – I like to spread jam on toast.
This structure любить + infinitive is the natural, neutral way to say “I like doing X”.
You can technically say:
- Я люблю макание печенья в чай.
- Я люблю намазывание варенья на тост.
But these sound bookish, awkward, and almost never occur in everyday speech. Verbal nouns like макание, намазывание are mostly used in technical, written, or very stylistic language. For everyday speech, stick with люблю + infinitive.
Why is печенье not plural (печенья) if in English we say “cookies”?