Learn Russian: Тебе нравится это животное?

Тебе нравится это животное?

Do you like this animal?

Breakdown of Тебе нравится это животное?

этот

this [f: эта, n: это]

тебе

to you (informal)

нравиться

to please / to appeal

животное

the animal

Questions & Answers about Тебе нравится это животное?

Why does the noun животное have an adjective ending (-ое)?

Животное (animal) is a substantivized adjective. It originally described a living thing, but over time it became used entirely as a noun. Even though it acts as a noun in the sentence, you must decline it exactly like a standard neuter adjective.

Why do we use the dative case тебе (to you) instead of the nominative ты (you)?

The verb нравиться (to like / to be pleasing) flips the usual English sentence structure. The person who likes the object takes the dative case because they are the receiver of the emotion. Literally, this sentence translates to: "Is this animal pleasing to you?"

Since I am asking "do you like", why is the verb нравится in the "it" form?

Because the grammatical subject of the sentence is это животное (this animal). With the verb нравиться, the verb must agree with the thing being liked, not the person doing the liking. Since the animal is singular, the verb is singular.

How would this sentence change if I asked "Do you like these animals?" in the plural?

It would become: Тебе нравятся эти животные? The verb changes to the plural нравятся to match the new subject. Because животное declines like an adjective, it drops the neuter singular -ое and takes the standard plural adjective ending -ые.