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- "У неё есть вода?"
45 Comments
Russian nouns (and adverbs) have several forms.
Она́ is the Nominative case form. Nominative case is used for subjects of the sentence: Она́ программистка. (She's a programmer.)
Неё is a Genitive case form used after certain prepositions.
Is the genitive used for possession too (like in some other declined languages)?
Yes, among other things. «Де́ньги бра́та» 'bother's money' describes the possession.
Would you need to say "Программистка?" I read that adding the -ка, although it does refer to a woman, that it may be seen as an insult. Also, saying someone is just a "программист" should imply merely their title. I do not know though, it just seems easier to equate the person to the profession without the use of gender-based endings.
«Она программист» is correct, too.
Russian femininst suggesting using more feminine words for professions (because the existing words are not really gender-neutral, they’re masculine, and when we hear the word программист, we do imagine a male person, and this reinforces our stereotypes), and I’m trying to follow that recommendation.
If it’s easier for you to use masculine words, this is correct, too.
«Неё» is used after prepositions (unless it's a possessive pronoun, as in «у её сестры́»). All non-possessive pronouns beginning with е- get н appended after the prepositon.
I don't understand. Isn't asking if she has water possessive? Why is it different in this sentence vs. your example?
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This is a highly idiomatic sentence. The bare statement, У неё есть вода means "by her is/exists water".
У is a multi-purpose preposition which here = "by/near", and неё = "her" is the object of this preposition.
Because there is a question mark, the words have to be rearranged in English to make the sentence a valid question: У неё есть вода? = "by her is there water?"
That's not very good idiomatic English, so the question is loosely translated (or transformed) into "Does she have water?"
Why неё and not она?
Objects of the preposition у must be put into genitive case, and неё = "her" is the genitive case form for она = "she" (nominative case).
Why неё and not её?
In a declination table of pronouns, you will find genitive "her" = её. However, under the rules of Russian grammar, н is prefixed to её when it follows a preposition. In general, if the object of a preposition is a pronoun beginning with a vowel, you add н to the pronoun (prefixed, or put at the beginning of the word).
NOTE: A table listing nouns or pronouns whose endings vary according to case, gender and/or number is called a "declination table", similar in concept to "conjugation table" for verbs.
NOTE: The case of prepositional objects depends upon which preposition is involved (and whether motion is involved). Not all such objects are cast in genitive case by any means. But that will come later.
So could you say "вода есть у неё" And it would mean, "water is by her" and would it still show possession or would it be location?
Isn't asking if she has water possessive?
It's conveys a possessive meaning, but without using a possessive pronoun.
«Her water» = «её вода́» uses a possessive pronoun, «her»/«её».
But «the water she has» = «вода, которая у неё есть» doesn't use a possessive pronoun. Neither does «у неё есть вода?» = 'Does she have water?'. Here, possession is conveyed using the verb 'to have' in English, or using the preposition «у» in Russian, and not using a possessive pronoun.
The sentence «у её сестры есть вода» 'her sister has water' actually has a double possessive meaning: "She has a sister. That sister has water." But the possession in 'her sister' is conveyed using a special variant of pronoun, and in 'has water' it's conveyed without using possessive pronouns.
Неё and него sound exactly the same... What's the difference in pronounciation?
To Russian speakers, they sound different. Неё /nʲɪ'jo/ has a Й sound, and него /nʲɪ'vo/ has a В sound.
It might be hard to hear because different languages have different sound systems, so when your brain tries to apply your native sound system to other languages, the results are not always ideal. But the difference is there.
Thanks! I guess it's the robotic voice of the speaker that makes it a bit hard to differentiate.
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the pronunciation of "as written" will always be understood correctly. Mitigation and simplification are generally associated with illiteracy.
Because does takes the -s ending (that's why it's does and not do), and not have.
«У» is a preposition introducing possessor. I.e. literally the sentence is like "At her [possession, there] is water".
Hey how do I know the difference between a question and a sentence with this? Whats the difference between "Does he/she/they have..." and "He/She/They have..." It seems like they both are some form of у нее есть. My russian keyboard is a bit limited btw. Android.
In speech, by a rising intonation in questions and falling intonation in statements (I agree this might be different with the automated voice). In writing, by a full stop vs. a question mark at the end.
This is a mistake he, she , it takes has
I ,we , you ,they. Takes have
Pls fix it
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Hi...when we used the verb to have and the pronous is "she/he/it"; the correct form is HAS, Why here is "used" have?
Is Russian pronunciation that fast? Because i am trying to practice listening and i get the misunderstanding :(
I put "does she have a water?" as the English translation, but that wasn't correct. Is вода not the word for a single bottle of water? Like if I say I have "a" water, don't I use вода? If not, what do I use to say that I have "a" water?
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The inflection in this audio sounds like a statement. In which case, "she has water" would be an acceptable translation.
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How do you tell when it's a question vs a statement? When it's written down obviously I can see the question mark but when speaking do you just rely on intonation to tell?
Who tf asks i anybody has water tho maybe in public but who does not have access to water???
Are the questions and answers same in Russian, with just a difference of a question mark?
