Dative?

[miconazole.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone!

A while back someone posted "Чем мне кормить мою семью" and "Мне не прокормить семью на эту зарплату" as translations for "How can I feed my family" and "I can't feed my family with these wages." Now I must have missed some major concept in Russian grammar because I often see constructions like these and I don't get why it's мне and not я. Can you enlighten me? :)

PS Is it possible to use the nominative in these sentences and still get the same meaning? e.g. "Я не смогу прокормить семью..." or is that horribly awkward or something?

Edit: Thanks! :DD

Comments

[ukechandesuyo.livejournal.com]

oh hi~ i'm not really commenting to answer your question but rather ask you a question. what compound is the structure on your user pic? OuO

[miconazole.livejournal.com]

Miconazole ;)

[rainydaymary.livejournal.com]

does it get you high?

[miconazole.livejournal.com]

It clears up your athlete's foot x)