Word
Когда мне хочется отдохнуть, я рисую в альбоме у окна.
Meaning
When I feel like resting, I draw in a sketchbook by the window.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about Когда мне хочется отдохнуть, я рисую в альбоме у окна.
Why is it мне хочется instead of я хочу?
Мне хочется is a very common Russian way to say I feel like... or I have a desire to...
There is a difference in tone:
- я хочу отдохнуть = I want to rest
- мне хочется отдохнуть = I feel like resting / I kind of want to rest
So хочется often sounds softer, more about an internal feeling or urge, rather than a direct statement of will.
Why is мне in the dative case?
Because хочется is used in an impersonal construction.
Literally, Russian is expressing something like:
- To me, it is wanted
- or more naturally: I feel like...
In these impersonal patterns, the person experiencing the feeling often appears in the dative:
- мне холодно = I am cold
- мне нравится = I like
- мне хочется = I feel like
So мне does not mean to me in a fully literal English sense, but grammatically that is how Russian builds the sentence.
What exactly is хочется?