To Be and To Have in Russian: есть and У меня
How Russian handles 'to be' and 'to have', with the У меня есть construction and the past and future forms.
Russian does not use a verb "to be" in the present tense, and it has no everyday verb "to have".
To be in the present
The word is simply left out:
- Я студент. I am a student.
- Это мой брат. This is my brother.
- Она дома. She is at home.
To have: У меня есть
Russian says "at me there is":
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| я | у меня есть |
| ты | у тебя есть |
| он | у него есть |
| она | у неё есть |
| мы | у нас есть |
| вы | у вас есть |
| они | у них есть |
- У меня есть брат. I have a brother.
- У тебя есть время? Do you have time?
- У неё есть машина. She has a car.
The word есть is often dropped when the focus is on a description:
- У меня красная машина. I have a red car.
Negative
Use нет and the genitive:
- У меня нет брата. I don't have a brother.
- У него нет денег. He has no money.
Past of "to be" and "to have"
- Вчера я был дома. Yesterday I was at home.
- У меня был брат. I had a brother.
- У неё была машина. She had a car.
The verb agrees with the thing possessed.
Future
- Завтра я буду дома. Tomorrow I will be at home.
- У меня будет время. I will have time.
Tips
- Use у + genitive pronoun + есть.
- Use нет with the genitive.
- Use the dictionary to check pronoun forms.
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