Word
Вечером в кафе мне захотелось не мороженого, а маленького пирожного.
Meaning
In the evening at the café, I wanted not ice cream but a small pastry.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Вечером в кафе мне захотелось не мороженого, а маленького пирожного.
маленький
small
в
in
не
not
мне
me
Questions & Answers about Вечером в кафе мне захотелось не мороженого, а маленького пирожного.
Why does Russian say мне захотелось here instead of using я?
Because this is an impersonal construction. Russian very often expresses cravings, sudden wishes, and physical or emotional states this way.
- мне = to me
- захотелось = it came to be wanted / I felt like
So мне захотелось is the natural Russian way to say something like:
- I felt like...
- I suddenly wanted...
- I had a craving for...
With food, this pattern is especially common and idiomatic.
What exactly is захотелось?
Захотелось is the past-tense form of захотеться, a perfective verb meaning to start wanting, to suddenly feel like, or to get the urge for something.
It is related to:
- хотеть = to want
- хотеться = to feel like, to want in an impersonal way
- захотеться = to begin to feel like, to suddenly want
So мне захотелось suggests that the wish arose at that moment.
Why is захотелось neuter singular?