Я люблю чай больше, чем кофе.

Люблю is the 1st person singular form of любить.

So:

• я = I
• люблю = I like / I love

Russian uses this present-tense form for general preferences too, so Я люблю чай means I like tea or I love tea, depending on context. With food and drinks, it usually sounds more like like than strong emotional love.

A simple breakdown:

• Я = I
• люблю = like / love
• чай = tea
• больше = more
• чем = than
• кофе = coffee

So the structure is basically:

I like tea more than coffee.

They are both direct objects, so they are in the accusative case.

But here they look unchanged for different reasons:

• чай is an inanimate masculine noun, and for inanimate masculine nouns, the accusative is the same as the nominative
• кофе is usually treated as an indeclinable noun, so its form stays the same

So even though they are in the accusative, you do not see a different ending here.

Чем is the usual word for than in comparisons after words like:

• больше = more
• меньше = less
• лучше = better
• хуже = worse

So:

• больше, чем кофе = more than coffee

This is a very common comparison pattern in Russian.

Here больше means more, in the sense of to a greater degree.

So the idea is:

• Я люблю чай больше, чем кофе = I like tea more than coffee

It does not mean better. If you used лучше, that would be a different idea.

Compare:

• больше = more
• лучше = better

In standard Russian spelling, a comparison with чем is usually separated by a comma.

So:

• Я люблю чай больше, чем кофе.

That comma is normal and expected.

In normal usage, it means:

• I like tea more than coffee
• in other words, I like tea more than I like coffee

Russian often leaves out repeated words when they are understood. So the second люблю is not needed.

If you wanted to make the comparison fully explicit, you could say:

• Я люблю чай больше, чем люблю кофе.

But that sounds more repetitive. The original sentence is the natural everyday version.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, and changing it changes the emphasis.

The most neutral version is:

• Я люблю чай больше, чем кофе.

You may also hear things like:

• Я больше люблю чай, чем кофе.

This still means roughly the same thing, but it puts more focus on больше люблю.

For a learner, the original sentence is the safest and most neutral pattern to copy.

This is a famous Russian exception.

Кофе is traditionally a masculine noun, even though its form does not look masculine by the usual patterns. Historically it is a borrowed word and became established that way.

In modern colloquial Russian, some speakers use it as neuter, but in standard careful Russian, кофе is normally treated as masculine.

In this sentence, you do not see that directly, because there is no adjective with it. But you would see it in phrases like:

• чёрный кофе = black coffee

Yes. This is very common and important.

With people, любить often really does mean love.

But with things, activities, food, and drinks, it often means like or be fond of.

For example:

• Я люблю музыку. = I like music / I love music
• Я люблю чай. = I like tea

So in this sentence, люблю is completely natural for talking about preference.

Yes. A more direct way to say prefer is:

• Я предпочитаю чай кофе.
• Я предпочитаю чай, а не кофе.

These mean I prefer tea to coffee.

But Я люблю чай больше, чем кофе is also very natural and common. It focuses on degree of liking rather than using the verb to prefer directly.