How is the word "у" in Russian used?

[Thuernkgey]

I read a note from Первый Урок Assimil Russian talking a little bit about the word "у". I think I don't really need to know the details now but I would like to. Could anyone explain the ways of using this word? (BTW I am Chinese and I understand both Chinese and English perfectly well so you can write in either of the languages :D)

[antpu238]

the word "y" is a proposition. It has several meaning, depence on context.
Mostly I think two case. First, somebody has somthing- у него есть (имеется) что-то. Second, to describe position у окна - by the window, near the window

[vadimfowler]

What immediately comes to mind is "y меня дома" - "at my place". It is really a special case of the use described above, but I think it is important, since many languages have a special preposition or construction to convey this idea (e.g., French "chez moi", German "zuhause" etc.)

[Thuernkgey]

Thank you very much!

[RealIceDra]

thanks, that helps!

[yarjka]

"at" will usually suffice as a translation.

"у меня есть" literally translates to "at me there is," which is why the object that you have in this construction is in the nominative case.