Я не люблю угадывать, что человек думает; мне легче спросить прямо.

Because after люблю / не люблю (I like / I don’t like), Russian normally uses the imperfective infinitive to talk about something as a general activity or habit.

• угадывать = to guess, to try to figure out, as an ongoing or repeated activity
• угадать = to guess correctly, to figure out successfully, as one completed result

So Я не люблю угадывать means I don’t like guessing in general.
If you used угадать, it would sound unnatural here, because the sentence is not about one successful guess but about the whole process of trying to read someone’s mind.

Here угадывать means something like:

• to guess
• to figure out without being told
• to read what someone is thinking or feeling

In this sentence, it has the sense of trying to infer what another person thinks instead of asking them directly.

So it is not necessarily a random guess; it can also mean trying to work it out from clues.

Because что человек думает is a subordinate clause attached to угадывать.

The structure is:

• угадывать = to guess
• что человек думает = what a person thinks

Russian normally separates subordinate clauses with a comma, so:

• Я не люблю угадывать, что человек думает.

This is very standard Russian punctuation.

This is a very common question.

Both что человек думает and о чём человек думает can exist in Russian, but they mean slightly different things depending on context.

In this sentence, угадывать, что человек думает means:

• to guess what someone is thinking
• in other words, to guess the content of their thoughts / their opinion / their reaction

If you say о чём человек думает, that more literally means:

• what a person is thinking about
• the topic of their thoughts

Compare:

• Я пытаюсь понять, что он думает. = I’m trying to understand what he thinks / what his view is.
• Я пытаюсь понять, о чём он думает. = I’m trying to understand what he is thinking about.

So the original sentence is focusing more on someone’s thoughts/opinion, not necessarily the topic in their mind.

Russian has no articles, so человек can mean:

• a person
• the person
• sometimes a person in a general sense

Here it is being used in a generic way: what a person thinks or what someone thinks.

A natural English translation often uses:

• what someone is thinking
• what another person thinks

So singular человек is perfectly normal here and does not necessarily refer to one specific known person.

Because Russian often uses the dative case to show the person who experiences a feeling or state.

So:

• мне легче = it is easier for me
• literally, to me, [it is] easier

This is a very common Russian pattern:

• мне трудно = it’s hard for me
• мне интересно = it’s interesting to me
• мне легче = it’s easier for me

Using я легче would mean something more like I am lighter, so it would be wrong here.

Because спросить is the perfective infinitive, and here it fits the idea of taking one direct action: just ask.

• спросить = to ask once / to ask and complete the act
• спрашивать = to ask repeatedly, habitually, or as an ongoing process

In this sentence, the speaker means:

• It’s easier for me to just ask directly

That points to a single complete action, so спросить is the natural choice.

If you said мне легче спрашивать прямо, it would sound more like it is easier for me to ask directly in general/as a repeated manner, which is not impossible but is less natural here.

Here прямо means:

• directly
• plainly
• straight out
• without hinting or guessing

So спросить прямо means to ask directly.

It does not mean physically straight here. It is about communication style: open, clear, and not indirect.

The semicolon separates two closely related parts:

1. Я не люблю угадывать, что человек думает
2. мне легче спросить прямо

The second part explains or contrasts with the first:

• I don’t like guessing... ; it’s easier for me to ask directly.

A semicolon is stronger than a comma but weaker than a full stop. It works well here because the two clauses are closely connected in meaning.

In everyday writing, some people might also use:

• a dash: Я не люблю угадывать, что человек думает — мне легче спросить прямо.
• or even split it into two sentences

But the semicolon is completely correct and stylistically neat.

Yes, думает is present tense, third person singular: he/she thinks or is thinking.

Russian present tense can often correspond to both English:

• thinks
• is thinking

Which one sounds best in English depends on context.

In this sentence, English often prefers is thinking because the idea is trying to guess someone’s current thoughts. But Russian simply uses the present tense думает without needing a special continuous form.

Actually, Russian uses что, but here что means what, not that.

The structure is:

• угадывать, что человек думает = to guess what a person thinks

If Russian wanted a that-clause, the structure would be different. Here the speaker is not saying I don’t like guessing that a person thinks... That would not make sense. The idea is guessing what the person thinks.

So что here introduces an indirect question/content clause: what a person thinks.

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, but the original order is natural and neutral.

Original:

• Я не люблю угадывать, что человек думает; мне легче спросить прямо.

You could rearrange parts for emphasis, for example:

• Мне легче прямо спросить.
• Я не люблю угадывать, о чём человек думает would change the meaning a bit, as explained earlier.
• Прямо спросить мне легче emphasizes прямо спросить

But the original version sounds smooth and standard.

No. Не люблю usually means I don’t like rather than I hate.

So:

• Я не люблю угадывать... = I don’t like guessing...

It expresses a preference or dislike, but not necessarily strong emotion.

If the speaker wanted a much stronger feeling, they might say:

• Я ненавижу угадывать... = I hate guessing...

So the original sentence sounds natural and moderate, not dramatic.

Yes. Even if the meaning is already known, it helps to see how flexible the Russian is in English. Natural translations include:

• I don’t like guessing what someone is thinking; it’s easier for me to ask directly.
• I don’t like trying to guess what a person thinks; I find it easier to ask outright.
• I don’t like reading people’s minds; it’s easier for me to just ask directly.

The Russian itself is straightforward and neutral in tone.