Questions & Answers about Этот неприятный шум мешает мне спать.
Why is it мне (dative) and not меня (accusative) in мешает мне спать?
Because мешать commonly uses the pattern мешать кому? + infinitive:
- кому? = dative = мне, тебе, ему, ей, нам, вам, им
So мешает мне спать literally means (it) interferes with me sleeping / prevents me from sleeping. Accusative (меня) would sound wrong with this verb in this structure.
What is the basic grammar structure of the whole sentence?
It’s:
- Этот неприятный шум = subject (nominative)
- мешает = verb (3rd person singular, present tense)
- мне = indirect object (dative)
- спать = infinitive (what action is being hindered)
So the subject is the noise, and the verb agrees with шум.
Why is мешает singular?
Because the subject шум is singular masculine. Russian verb agreement is with the subject:
- шум мешает (singular)
- If it were plural: шумы мешают.
Why does этот look like Этот here—what does it agree with?