Ihm ist nicht gut

[andreibadila]

Why "Ihm ist nicht gut" is translated as "He is not good"? Why is ihm - the dative instead of Er - the nominative?

[siebolt]

It should be: "He is not well", "mir ist kalt, heiss, schlecht, gut" They all how a person feels. DuoLingo just got is wrong.

[andreibadila]

Ok, so it's a german thing to use dative when talking about the state/feel of a person. "Mir ist kalt" is the correct translation for "I'm cold" instead of "Ich bin kalt", got it. Is it the same for any adjective? It's "Mir ist traurig" instead of "Ich bin traurig" ?

[siebolt]

No, "mir ist traurig" is not right. The construction is used for a physical state, which can have some consequences for the psychological state, but the basis is a corporeal sensation. cold, hot, etc. BTW "I am freezing" is said as "Ich friere"

[andreibadila]

I understand now. Thank you for clearing that up.