33 Comments
Why is "I have the apples" wrong for "У меня есть яблоки", if Russian has no articles?
Are different constructions used for definite/indefinite possession, as in Turkish? (Elmalar bende = the apples are at me = I have the apples vs. Benim elmalarım var = my apples exist = I have apples.)
Yes, "I have the apples" would be Яблоки у меня ("The apples are at my side").
I am still confused on when to use У and when to use я. Are they both I? How do I know when to use them?
No, у does not mean "I".
But Russian doesn't use a verb for "to have"; instead, they say something like (literally) "at me there is an apple" rather than "I have an apple".
So "I have", as an entire phrase, would be translated by у меня есть -- but it's best to translate those as whole phrases. You can't break them apart and say that one of those words means "I" and one of them means "have".
Thank you, this helps a lot. I have another question though, sometimes it will say "I have a child" and sometimes it will say "We have a Child" While using the Russian "Y." How do you know when it is pertaining to we and when it just means I?
Impressive Streak by the way :)
"I put I have an apple" and was denied :/ So. What makes "яблоки" plural and what would the singular form of "яблоки" look like?
i like this formula because you can just write "у меня есть" and slap any noun after it without thinking about cases (i think)
As I understand it, "est'" means "is" (in contrast to "are"). So do you always use "est' in singular, even if the object following is in plural (as with "jabloki")?
You don't need to have the "got" in the answer. I have apples or I have the apples is correct.
No. У means neither "you", "I", nor "have".
Russian doesn't use a verb to indicate possession; instead, they use a construction that literally translates to something like "at me there is apples" for what we would express in English as "I have apples".
У is a preposition meaning roughly "at".
By the way, are you using a mobile app to learn Russian with Duolingo? If so, I'd suggest you stop and use the website instead.
There are lots of grammar explanations in the Russian course but they're only visible on the website, not in any of the apps.
so that came up as a listening and i thought it said У меня ест яблоки. Is my mistake justified or that isnt even right?
It's telling me to say that I have apples, but there are no apples in my house, when will you finally accept that I have no apples?
