Breakdown of Им там нравится красивая природа.
там
there
они
they
красивый
beautiful
нравиться
to please / to appeal
природа
nature
Questions & Answers about Им там нравится красивая природа.
Why does the sentence start with Им instead of Они?
In Russian, expressing 'to like' uses a backward structure compared to English. Instead of saying 'They like nature', you literally say 'To them, nature is pleasing.' Им is the dative case of они (they), meaning 'to them.'
Since Им translates to 'they', shouldn't the verb be plural (нравятся)?
No, because the grammatical subject of the sentence isn't 'they' — it is the thing being liked (красивая природа). Since 'beautiful nature' is a singular concept, the verb must be the singular form нравится. You would only use the plural нравятся if they liked a plural noun, like 'beautiful trees'.
Why is там (there) placed before the verb?
Russian word order is flexible, but it is very common to put adverbs of location or time right after the dative pronoun in these types of sentences. Putting там early on sets the scene naturally: 'To them, over there, the beautiful nature is pleasing.'
What case is красивая природа in?
It is in the nominative case, which is the basic dictionary form. Because of the 'backward' structure of the verb нравится, the thing you like is the actual grammatical subject performing the action. Both the adjective красивая and the noun природа keep their standard feminine nominative endings (-ая and -а).
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