Breakdown of Я сам в восторге от этого проекта!
я
I
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
в
in / to (direction)
проект
the project
от
from
сам
oneself (сам, сама, само, сами)
восторг
delight / awe
Questions & Answers about Я сам в восторге от этого проекта!
Why do we use в + prepositional case (в восторге) instead of an adjective for 'delighted'?
Russian often expresses emotional or psychological states as metaphorical physical locations. Just as you would say you are 'in a room' (в комнате), you say you are 'in delight' (в восторге). This is a very common pattern for strong emotions, like being in shock (в шоке) or in despair (в отчаянии).
In English, we are delighted 'with' or 'about' something. Why does this sentence use от (from)?
The preposition от followed by the genitive case (этого проекта) points to the source or cause of the emotion. Literally, your delight comes 'from' the project. This is the standard preposition to link a state-of-being noun (like восторг) to the thing that triggered it.
Does the word сам (myself) change depending on who is speaking?
Yes! The emphatic pronoun сам changes to match the gender and number of the subject. Here, the speaker is masculine. If a woman were saying this, she would use the feminine form: Я сама в восторге. If a group were saying 'We ourselves', it would be Мы сами.
Could I just use the short adjective рад (glad/happy) here instead?
You could, but it changes both the intensity and the grammar. В восторге is much stronger—it means thrilled or ecstatic. If you used рад, the sentence structure would change completely: you would say Я сам рад этому проекту, using the dative case for the thing you are happy about, and the overall feeling would be much milder.
Learn Я сам в восторге от этого проекта and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free