"I am sorry, I do not have a pencil."
Translation:Извините, у меня нет карандаша.
18 Comments
One is in the nominative and the other is in the genitive case (-a ending). Remember the class about the genitive case when there is absence, the нет behind the word.
You can use it, for example, if you really want something you did to be forgiven. However, you can also use it instead of «извини».
Why isn't "мне жаль..." accepted? I thought Извините is more like Excuse me, instead of I'm sorry?
You use извини when you don't need to be polite, aka with a friend, someone you know. Ex: Excuse-me dad, excuse-me Vasya, excuse-me my son....
You use извините in two case: when you need to be polite and when you talk to a lot of people. Ex: Excuse-me Mr. President, Excuse-me citizens...
Note the -te ending of the "polite" form? It is the 2 p. plural. Without it, it's the 2 p. singular.
Hello! Would "Извините, у меня не есть карандаша" be acceptable? If not, why?
«Не есть» is not used for existence and possession. Нет is used instead.
When do you put есть and when do you not? Because I never know whether to put it in a sentence or not. Example: У меня есть кошка. As opposed to: У меня нет карандаша
