Questions & Answers about Мне хочется сохранить этот момент в памяти.
Why does the sentence start with Мне (dative) instead of Я?
Because хочется is commonly used in an impersonal construction: literally something like To me it is wanted / I feel like.
So the person who feels the desire is put in the dative case:
- Мне хочется… = I feel like… / I want (in the sense of a craving)
Compare: - Я хочу… (normal personal verb: I want…)
- Мне хочется… (more “I feel like…”, often softer/more emotional)
What exactly is хочется grammatically?
Хочется is the 3rd person singular form of хотеться (imperfective), used impersonally.
There is no grammatical “subject” like я; instead, the “experiencer” is in the dative (мне), and what you want is expressed by an infinitive or a noun:
- Мне хочется спать. (I feel like sleeping.)
- Мне хочется чая. (I feel like some tea.)
How is Мне хочется… different in tone from Я хочу…?