Breakdown of Сегодня вечером мне хочется гречки с курицей.
Questions & Answers about Сегодня вечером мне хочется гречки с курицей.
Мне хочется is an impersonal construction that literally means something like “to me it is wanted / I feel like”. It emphasizes a craving or mood/desire that arises in you, often sounding a bit softer and more “in the moment” than я хочу (“I want”), which can sound more direct/decisive.
- мне = dative “to me”
- хочется = impersonal “(it) is desired / I feel like”
Both can be correct, but the nuance changes.
Хочется is the 3rd person singular form of хотеться (an impersonal verb). In impersonal sentences, Russian often uses 3rd person singular with no explicit subject:
- Мне хочется … = “I feel like …” (no “I” as grammatical subject)
It behaves like other impersonal patterns such as мне холодно (“I’m cold”) or мне нужно (“I need”).
Yes, in context you can omit мне, and it will sound more general or conversational—like you’re talking about your current craving without explicitly stating “to me.”
But мне хочется is the clearer, neutral default, especially out of context.
Гречки is the genitive singular of гречка. After words like хочется, Russian often uses the genitive to mean “some (amount of)”—a partitive sense:
- хочется гречки ≈ “feel like some buckwheat”
You may also hear гречку (accusative), which can sound more like “I want buckwheat (as a dish/portion)”—often more concrete/definite. In everyday speech, both are possible, but хочется + genitive is very common for food/drink.
Курицей is instrumental singular (творительный падеж) after the preposition с meaning “with”:
- с курицей = “with chicken”
So the pattern is:
- с + instrumental (when с = “with”)
In this sentence it naturally modifies the food: гречки с курицей = “buckwheat with chicken.”
Russian often stacks food phrases this way: [dish in genitive/accusative] + с + instrumental.
Russian word order is flexible, and placing Сегодня вечером first sets the time frame/topic (“Tonight…”). Other natural options include:
- Мне сегодня вечером хочется гречки с курицей. (time tucked inside)
- Гречки с курицей мне хочется сегодня вечером. (strong emphasis on the food)
The meaning stays similar, but emphasis and “flow” change.
- вечером = “in the evening” (general; could be any evening, depending on context)
- сегодня вечером = “this evening / tonight” (specifically today)
So сегодня вечером pins it to today.
Russian commonly omits “to eat” when talking about wanting food if it’s obvious from context. Мне хочется гречки… is understood as “I feel like (eating) buckwheat…”.
If you add поесть (“to have something to eat”), it shifts slightly toward the action:
- Мне хочется поесть гречки с курицей. = “I feel like eating some buckwheat with chicken.”
It’s neutral and natural in conversation about your cravings. For ordering, Russians more often use:
- Мне, пожалуйста, гречку с курицей. (“Buckwheat with chicken for me, please.”)
- Я буду гречку с курицей. (“I’ll have buckwheat with chicken.”)
- Можно гречку с курицей? (“Could I have buckwheat with chicken?”)
Мне хочется… can still be used, but it sounds more like sharing what you’re in the mood for than placing an order.
- сегОдня вЕчером (stress: -О- in сегОдня, вЕ- in вЕчером)
- мне хОчется (stress: хО)
- грЕчки (stress: грЕ)
- с курИцей (stress: -И-)
A common pronunciation detail: с before a voiceless consonant stays [s], and before a voiced consonant can sound closer to [z]. Here, с курицей is typically [с], since к is voiceless.