Вокруг тихо, и мне хочется посидеть здесь.

In Russian, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So Вокруг тихо literally feels like:

Around, quiet

but in natural English it means:

It’s quiet around here or It’s quiet all around.

Russian does this very often:

• Здесь тепло = It’s warm here
• Дома спокойно = It’s calm at home
• В комнате темно = It’s dark in the room

So there is no missing word that you have to add in normal present-tense Russian.

Here вокруг is being used as an adverb, meaning something like:

• around
• all around
• in the surroundings
• around here

In other contexts, вокруг can also be a preposition, in which case it is followed by a noun in the genitive:

• вокруг дома = around the house
• вокруг озера = around the lake

But in Вокруг тихо, there is no noun after it, so it works adverbially.

Because тихо is not describing a noun here. It describes the general situation or atmosphere.

Compare:

• тихая комната = a quiet room
  Here тихая describes комната, so it must agree with the noun.

• В комнате тихо = It’s quiet in the room
  Here тихо describes the overall state of the room, not a specific noun.

This use of words like тихо, холодно, темно, весело, грустно is extremely common in Russian.

Both can mean that someone wants something, but they are not exactly the same.

• Я хочу посидеть здесь = I want to sit here
• Мне хочется посидеть здесь = I feel like sitting here / I have a desire to sit here

Мне хочется sounds softer, more emotional, and often more spontaneous. It expresses an inner feeling or urge rather than a straightforward decision.

So in this sentence, мне хочется matches the calm, reflective mood very well.

Because хочется is used in an impersonal construction.

Russian treats this idea roughly like:

To me, it is desired...
or
I feel like...

So the person experiencing the desire appears in the dative:

• мне хочется = I feel like
• тебе хочется = you feel like
• ему хочется = he feels like
• нам хочется = we feel like

This is a very common pattern in Russian with feelings and states.

Хочется is the 3rd person singular form of хотеться.

Хотеться is an impersonal verb meaning:

• to feel like
• to want
• to have a desire to

It is different from хотеть:

• я хочу = I want
• мне хочется = I feel like / I’d like

Even though хочется looks like a normal 3rd person form, in sentences like this it does not have a real subject. That is why learners often see it explained as an impersonal verb.

This is about aspect.

• сидеть is imperfective: to sit, to be sitting
• посидеть is perfective: to sit for a while

The prefix по- often gives the idea of doing something for a limited time.

So:

• Хочется сидеть здесь would sound more like wanting to be in a sitting state here, or wanting to sit here in general.
• Хочется посидеть здесь means I feel like sitting here for a bit.

That is why посидеть is very natural in this sentence.

Not exactly in the English sense of completed, but it is perfective because it presents the action as a whole, with a natural limit.

With по- verbs like посидеть, погулять, почитать, the meaning is often:

• do something for a while
• spend some time doing it

Examples:

• погулять = take a walk / walk for a while
• почитать = read for a while
• посидеть = sit for a while

So here the speaker is not talking about sitting forever or just being seated in general. They mean a short, bounded period of sitting.

Because и is joining two clauses:

1. Вокруг тихо
2. мне хочется посидеть здесь

Each part has its own predicate:

• тихо functions as the predicate in the first clause
• хочется is the predicate in the second clause

So the comma is normal Russian punctuation here.

Russian word order is flexible, and word order often shows emphasis.

Мне хочется посидеть здесь is the most neutral order here. The final здесь gets a little natural focus, as if the speaker is thinking specifically about this place.

You could move things around, but the emphasis would change:

• Мне хочется здесь посидеть = I feel like sitting here
• Здесь мне хочется посидеть = It’s here that I feel like sitting

So the original sentence sounds natural and smooth.

Yes, very often.

• здесь = here
• тут = here

In many everyday situations they are interchangeable.

So Мне хочется посидеть тут is also possible.

Very roughly:

• здесь can sound a little more neutral or standard
• тут can sound a little more conversational

But the difference is usually small.

A native speaker would hear it as calm, natural, and slightly reflective.

The sentence paints a quiet atmosphere:

• Вокруг тихо sets the scene
• мне хочется посидеть здесь gives a personal reaction to that scene

So the overall feeling is something like:

It’s quiet all around, and I feel like sitting here for a while.

The combination of тихо, мне хочется, and посидеть makes it sound peaceful and unhurried.

The main stresses are:

• вокру́г
• ти́хо
• мне
• хо́чется
• посиде́ть
• здесь

So you could read it as:

Вокру́г ти́хо, и мне хо́чется посиде́ть здесь.

This helps especially with вокруг and посидеть, which learners often mis-stress.