Questions & Answers about Хотя мне и не спалось, я всё равно читал книгу.
Why is it мне не спалось and not something like я не спал?
Because мне не спалось is an impersonal construction.
- я не спал = I wasn’t sleeping / I did not sleep
- мне не спалось = I couldn’t sleep / I just wasn’t able to fall asleep / sleep wouldn’t come
In Russian, this pattern uses:
- the person in the dative case: мне = to me
- the impersonal verb спалось
So the idea is not simply I did not sleep, but more like sleep was not happening for me. It often suggests a state outside the person’s control.
What exactly does спалось mean?