Liking and Loving in Russian

This post was originally written by olimo for Duolingo Russian forum.

Hi everyone! Here's a guide for those who have problems matching Russian "любить/нравиться" to English "love/like".

Sure, it would be easier if you could just remember something like "love = любить", "like = нравиться", but things are more complicated than that.

First, please read the Tips and notes for The Infinitive, Likes and Dislikes skill. Maybe that's all the information you need. I put them below for your convenience.

I LIKE/I LOVE?

In Russian, you can express liking things and activities pretty much the same way as in English, with similar verbs. The usage differs a bit, though.

A a rule of thumb, «Я люблю́» means "I love" only when directed at a single person (or animal). Otherwise, it's just "I like".

  • "LOVE" люби́ть means a stable, lasting feeling (note the phonetic change for the 1st person singular: "люблю"). A normal, transitive verb, i.e. used with the Accusative. Use it for loving an individual or liking some things/people/activity in general (verbs take infinitive). Very much preferred in negations of such activities (i.e. "don't like to wait")
  • "LIKE" нра́виться means moderate "liking" something or someone, often something specific. Not transitive! The thing liked is the subject, acting indirectly on a person: «Мне нра́вится стол» = I like the table.
  • note that «Мне нра́вится стол» works in a similar way to the English verb "to seem": "The table seems good to me". The sentence is built as though the table "transmits" the feeling towards you. While rare in English, in Russian, this is pretty typical for feelings and experience to be expressed that way («Мне хорошо́»).

INFINITIVE «НРА́ВИТЬСЯ» AND 3RD PERSON SINGULAR «НРА́ВИТСЯ» ARE PRONOUNCED EXACTLY THE SAME, HOWEVER, FOR THE SAKE OF CONSISTENCY THEY ARE SPELT DIFFERENTLY (MOST INFINITIVES END IN «-ТЬ», SO -ТЬ + СЯ = -ТЬСЯ, NATURALLY) When you refer to generic things and activities, both verbs can be used but «люби́ть» is mildly more useful.

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I tried to explain liking and loving differently by fitting them into a table. I also introduced the Russian verb "обожать" which can be used for loving activities, food and stuff (rather than just liking them).

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More examples

You can't use любить for something you try for the first time. This is what I called "liking something in the moment", and it is always "нравиться". For "любить", you need to do do something regularly.

  • Тебе нравится мой пирог? / Do you like my cake?
  • Да, можно мне еще кусочек? / Yes, can I have another piece, please?
  • • • •
  • Ты ходил вчера в кино? / Did you go to the movies yesterday?
  • Да, но фильм мне не понравился. / Yes, but I didn't like the movie.

Compare:

  • Я люблю Машины пироги, они всегда очень вкусные. / I like Masha's cakes, they are always so tasty.

In this case, you can also say "Мне нравятся Машины пироги", but this is a less common usage.

Enjoy!

by mizinamo

Interesting; thank you!

So I suppose the "Мне нравятся языки" that I sometimes use to talk about liking languages should properly be "Я люблю языки"?

 

by olimo

It won't be a mistake to say "мне нравятся языки", but "я люблю языки" would be somewhat more common.


by 212498873

Both of these two phrases are popular. "мне нравятся языки" means more superficial interest in foreign languages. "я люблю языки" means more hot feelings.


by olimo

Yes, on second thought, I have to admit that this is the case when both versions are quite natural. For now, though, I think it's better to err on the side of "любить" when you talk about liking things in general.


by mhouldey

It's very strange that the same verb is used to express, "i love my wife dearly" and "i like apples in general". It almost devalues "ya tebya lyublyu". My response to somebody would be "yeah, but you 'love' apples too".


by olimo

It does not work like that in Russian. "Я тебя люблю" is not devalued. You only say it to people you love dearly.


by Shady_arc

Well, you may interpret it as follows. «Любить» means a deep, long-term feeling. When you are talking about your tastes or things in general, it automatically means you are describing your likes and dislikes in long term (how they usually are). So it does not add any "weight" to your feeling. Yeah, you enjoy eating apples, and enjoyed it last year, and probably will feel the same a few months from now. So what?

by mhouldey

Why Машины пироги and not Маши пироги? Is it an irregular genitive? It looks like "the machine's/car's cakes". :s


by olimo

Машины пироги = Masha's pies/cakes

Пироги Маши = Pies/cakes of Masha

The first option is more popular with names, especially ones ending with а/я.


by mhouldey

Well I've certainly never come across that before - so thanks! What is the grammatical case in use for "Машины"?

Edit: Seems like it's a strange form of possessive adjective.

Мой пирог Машин пирог

I prefer the more grammatically strict "Пирог Маши".


by Larisa_L

obviously you prefer it because it is easier for you :) But for Russian speakers Машины пироги is 100% more preferable than пироги Маши.


by olimo

This is not a case, this is a possessive. It is like an adjective and agrees with the noun in gender, number and case. Машин пирог - Машино яблоко - Машина ручка - Машины джинсы, etc. The same is with "папин", "мамин", "бабушкин", "дедушкин", "Олин" (from "Оля"), etc.

by Nuept

As a native speaker I can add that "любить" is a more long lasting act than "нравиться" in the majority of cases, so if you say "Мне понравился фильм" then you mean "I loved/ liked the movie" (which I watched yesterday for example). If you say "Я любил этот фильм", it will be translated as "I used to love this movie" (in the childhood for example). In the case with food "Я очень люблю/ Мне очень нравятся яблоки" (I like/ love apples very much) both cases are common (if you speak about apples in general) and there is almost no difference in meaning, just "love" sounds as a bit stronger feeling. But if you basically point at the apples in a vase and want to say that exactly these five apples are the one you liked then you say "Мне нравятся эти яблоки/ Мне понравились эти яблоки", if you say "Я люблю эти яблоки" it would be understood as you like this sort of apples, but not these five apples in particular.

by Romain-D

Thanks again, olimo!

If I understand well, is "Мне нравятся" used on Facebook, because of specific things?


by olimo

Right! You can't say "я люблю" for a post or a photo - unless you like it so much you read or view it regularly.

  • Я люблю эту книгу (I like/love this book) → I read, understood and came to like this book so much that I remember stuff from it and re-read it sometimes
  • Мне понравилась эта книга (I liked this book) → I have read this book and liked it (there is no information as to whether you will re-read it or remember it after some time)

by GT_Shark

I think the problem most people have in this course with LOVE/LIKE, is not necessarily when we would use the terms ourselves. The problem lies in the fact that in the examples in the course, there is no context. When an example is "I люблю steak" We have no Idea if the person likes or has a true passionate love for them (a chef)... So, with no way to understand degree of feeling... the course should steer away from it. Otherwise we are simply guessing as to the degree of feeling


by Dmitry_Arch

There is no guessing here. Я люблю бифштекс(ы) means "I like steak "(in general), so does the sentence Мне нравятся бифштексы. The English for "Бифштекс мне нравится" is "I like the steak" (the one I am eating at the moment). The Russian for "I love steak" is "Обожаю бифштекс(ы)".


by GT_Shark

So are you saying that every time in the course I see the word Нравится it is always translated to LIKE? Definitely reasonable. My confusion is the many times we see the words Я Люблю... or Она любит.... When does it mean Like and when does it mean Love. When the statement reads "His daughter Любит Football". If I am reading your statement above correctly, this will always be translated as like, because Обожаю was not used. The exception being people. And, if saying I люблю cats... it would be "like" because its a general statement.... But if I say I Люблю This cat... it would be love because its a specific statement? I'll look for this consistency from here on. and, bye the way, thanks for your reply! Would love to get a handle on this.


by Shady_arc

If you want consistency, it works as follows:

ЛЮБИТЬ

  • a1. Love as in "I love my mom"
  • a2. Romantic love as in "I love my husband"
  • b1. Generic liking as in "I like vegetables"
  • c2. Generic liking of activities as in "I like swimming"

НРАВИТЬСЯ (perf. понравиться)

  • a1. Liking specific objects as in "Do you like the soup?"
  • a2 Generic liking as in "I like vegetables"; less common than любить
  • a3 Generic liking of activities as in "I like swimming"; less common than любить

By now you might have noticed that none of the options cover "I love cheesburgers" or "I'm loving the show". This is for a reason.

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