"У нас есть ребёнок."
Translation:We have a child.
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From what I have studied, they are both the same thing. It's like saying "we have" and "we have got". The есть can be added if you want to emphasis possesion.
They are different things. You use есть if possession is the point and omit if it isn't. Есть is not typically used with medical conditions, body parts and when the sentence can essentially be restructured into the one that has no "have" :
- У неё температура. = She has a fever.
- У меня голубые глаза. = I have blue eyes.
- У меня большой стол. = I have a big desk = My desk is big (if this is what the original sentence meant)
There are a few other scenarios where the identity of the thing possessed is more relevant than the fact of possession. It is just that the translation is the same: Russian makes this distinction in the present tense and English does not (in real life you know what the message of your sentence is, so you select the structure that makes sense).
In the past and in the future Russian uses был(была, было, были) and будет (будут) regardless of what you mean. So, there is no choice there.
I'd like to know as well. I remember seeing someone saying in another thread that without есть is a little more abstract and less physical. Can anyone clarify?
У is a preposition meanig "near, at". It isn't used in the spatial meaning with living beings, though.
Russian technically does have verbs that mean "to possess, to own". However, the most common way to express having in the neutral/spoken language is to use the verb "to be". Then you say that an object is "near" you (lit."By me there is a cat" → I have a cat). У is a preposition that requires the Genitive case, hence the difference in form:
- I have a banana = У меня есть банан.
- Mom has a purse. = У мамы есть сумочка
- You have a dog. = У тебя есть собака
- The dog has a tail. = У собаки есть хвост.
Иметь and обладать are mostly used in official and formal styles, though иметь also has a few uses in neutral set expressions (e.g., "Я имею в виду, что .... = I mean that . . .").
Somewhat off topic, but how do you pronounce that double consonant? В виду. Is it a v (or f?) sound? Does it just become longer? Or does it sound like виду and everyone knows the в comes before it?
We pronounce it like a normal double consonant is pronounced in Russian, i.e. we delay the release. It is realised as a long V (e.g., в вазе) or a long F (e.g.,в форме).
Russian nominative pronouns, I think, are Я, Ты, Он, Мы, Вы, Они (I, you, he, we, you all, they). In any possessive case however (anything that uses У and a pronoun, you gotta use different cases. Мы, or we, is the nominative version of Нас.
It is not "possessive" that matters here. У is a preposition, and prepositions know what they want in terms of cases. Such prepositions as у, около, возле, от, из, из-за, из-под always take the Genitive. It does not matter what the meaning is even. For example, около can mean both "near" (literally: in the spatial interpretation) and "about" (approximately):
- около магазина = near a shop
- около 5 км (pronounced "около пяти километров") = about 5 kilometers
A few prepositions will use two cases depending on the meaning. Very rarely there is a niche third use that requires another case (typically so unique that a non-native may learn it some time much later). Of such rare occasions, only в currently springs to my mind.
Can't it be.."we have the child"? Are they said the same way..."we have a child" & "we have the child" or is there some different way to say those two sentences..? Perhaps, "We have a child" may be "у нас ребёнок" & "we have the child" is "у нас есть ребёнка" ?
У нас есть дети (ребёнок has an irregular plural form). FYI, if you want to watch the tv show "The Voice Kids" in Russian, you should search for "Голос дети"
Thanks :-) turns out дети was one or two lessons later in the course... I should have been patient.
What "lessons" are you referring to? All I have are questions using random words never seen or explained.
They may be referring to the desktop version. There are written notes about each lesson/test that you dont see on the app.
i translated it into "we do have a child" and it was wrong, i thought its accurate too
what ar the differences for we have and i have and they have because i always get confused with those.
Can't it be.."we have the child"? Are they said the same way..."we have a child" & "we have the child" or is there some different way to say those two sentences..? Perhaps, We have a child is "у нас ребёнок" & we have the child is be "у нас есть ребёнка" ?
How do you input voice on an Android app? It doesn't work to hold the speak button, and so I keep getting them wrong...
I do the same thing I did when I used the app for iPhone, but it doesn't let me speak. Mic permissions are on, so I don't know what the problem is.
The Russian structure is more like "By us is a child". The most common way to express possession is this existence structure. The child is the subject of the sentence whereas the person who "has" it is where the child is found.