I like you in Russian: How to say?
Saying I like you in Russian depends on who you are talking to. If it’s an informal situation and you are talking to one person, you can say:
– Ты мне нра́вишься.
[ty mnye nrá-veesh-sya]
I like you. (singular, informal)
If it’s a formal situation or you are talking to a few people, use the following phrase:
– Вы мне нра́витесь.
[vy mnye nrá-vee-tyes’]
I like you. (plural or formal)
The structure of this sentence in Russian is very different from English. Нра́виться is a reflexive verb, so when you say I like you in Russian you actually say something close to you are liked by me.
You can find the conjugation of the verb нравиться here. Here and here you can find more grammatical explanations and examples of use.
If you want to say I like you very much or I like you a lot, you can do it by adding the word о́чень which means very much in Russian:
– Ты мне о́чень нра́вишься.
[ty mnye ó-cheen’ nrá-veesh-sya]
I like you a lot. (singular, informal)
– Вы мне о́чень нра́витесь.
[ty mnye ó-cheen’ nrá-vee-tyes’]
I like you a lot. (plural or formal)
If you want to say I don’t like you, you can do it by simply adding не before the verb:
– Ты мне не нра́вишься.
[ty mnye nye nrá-veesh-sya]
I don’t like you. (singular, informal)
– Вы мне не нра́витесь.
[ty mnye nye nrá-vee-tyes’]
I don’t like you. (singular, informal)
Listen to "I like you" in Russian
The audio recording includes all the examples (in bold and blue) listed above.