Learn Hardcore Russian: Сегодня вечером мне хочется посидеть в тишине. - This evening I feel like sitting in silence for a while.

Мне хочется is an impersonal way to express a desire that feels more like a mood/urge than a firm decision. It often sounds softer and more “I feel like…” than я хочу, which is more direct and deliberate (“I want…”).

Я хочу посидеть… = a clearer intention/decision.
Мне хочется посидеть… = “I feel like sitting…” / “I’m in the mood to sit…”

Why is it мне (dative) and not я (nominative)?

With хочется, Russian commonly uses an impersonal construction: literally “to me it is desired.” The person experiencing the desire is put in the dative case:

мне хочется = “I feel like / I want (in the mood)”
ему хочется = “he feels like”
нам хочется = “we feel like”

There is no grammatical subject like я in this structure.

What is хочется grammatically? Is it reflexive? Why the -ся?

Yes, хочется is a reflexive form (ending in -ся) of the verb хотеть. In practice, хочется is used mostly in impersonal patterns like мне хочется + infinitive to express an urge/desire as a state. You don’t normally say я хочется—it’s not used like a regular personal verb.

Why is посидеть used, and not сидеть?

Посидеть is perfective and usually means “to sit for a while,” i.e., to spend some time sitting (a bounded, limited duration). Сидеть is imperfective and focuses on the ongoing state “to be sitting.”

хочется посидеть = “feel like sitting for a bit”
хочется сидеть = “feel like being in a sitting state” (less common/natural here unless contrasting with standing, etc.)

What does the prefix по- add in посидеть?

In many verbs, по- can add the meaning “for a short while / a bit / for some time.” With сидеть, it commonly creates exactly that “sit for a while” nuance:

сидеть = to sit (ongoing)
посидеть = to sit for a while

Why is it в тишине and not в тишину?

Because the meaning is “to sit in silence” (location/state), not “to go into silence” (direction/motion). After в:

в + prepositional (often ending -е) answers “where?” → в тишине = “in silence”
в + accusative answers “where to?” → в тишину = “into silence” (usually with motion/change)

Since посидеть is not motion “into” something, в тишине is correct.

Is тишине prepositional case? Why that ending?

Yes. The noun is тишина. In the prepositional case after в (meaning “in”), it becomes:

тишина → в тишине This is a common pattern for many feminine nouns ending in -а: -а → -е in the prepositional.

Does в тишине imply “alone,” or just “without noise”?

It mainly means “in silence / in quiet,” i.e., without noise or interruptions. It does not automatically mean “alone,” though in many contexts quiet time might imply being by yourself. If you want to clearly say “alone,” you could add something like одному/одной (dative) or в одиночестве:

мне хочется посидеть в одиночестве = “I feel like sitting alone”

Why is сегодня вечером in that order? Could it be вечером сегодня?

Сегодня вечером is the most neutral and common way to say “this evening.” Russian time expressions often go from broader to narrower: “today” → “in the evening.” Вечером сегодня is possible but usually sounds more marked/emphatic or contrastive (e.g., “in the evening today, not in the morning”).

Why is it вечером and not вечер or вечера?

Вечером is the instrumental case used in adverbial time expressions meaning “in the evening / in the evenings.” It functions like an adverb here.

сегодня вечером = “this evening” Compare:
вечер = “evening” (nominative; the noun as a subject/object)
вечера = genitive singular (“of evening”) or nominative plural (“evenings”) depending on context

Is the word order fixed? Could I move мне or в тишине?

The sentence is flexible, but changes in order can shift emphasis:

Сегодня вечером мне хочется посидеть в тишине. (neutral)
Мне сегодня вечером хочется посидеть в тишине. (slight emphasis on “to me / I personally”)
Сегодня вечером хочется посидеть в тишине. (drops мне; more general/impersonal “Feels like sitting in silence.”)
Сегодня вечером мне хочется в тишине посидеть. (possible; emphasizes “in silence” a bit, can sound more spoken)

Can I say я хочу посидеть в тишине сегодня вечером and is it the same?

It’s grammatical, but the nuance changes:

Я хочу… = more direct, intentional “I want…”
Мне хочется… = more like a feeling/urge “I feel like…” Also, …сегодня вечером at the end is fine; it just places time as an afterthought rather than the frame-setting opening.