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Why is it "у" and not "в"? Additionally, what is the meaning of "y"? The only other context we've seen it is "у меня есть..." and I don't see how these are related.
http://masterrussian.com/vocabulary/u_preposition.htm because "y" is a prepositon; it means "at". So when you say "у меня есть...", it literally means "at my place exists...".
So when you say "у меня есть...", it literally means "at my place exists...".
That's quite interesting. But for a even more literal translation for "У меня есть....", woudn't it mean "at me exists..." or "at myself exists"?
But, more importantly, do you know if it would be correct to say:
Они живут в у меня дома.
Update: Now I saw that the link you posted answers my first question:
У меня́ есть собáка.
I have a dog.
literalAt me there's a dog.
> But, more importantly, do you know if it would be correct to say: Они живут в у меня дома.
No more correct than it is in English to say "they live in at my house". You could say "в моём доме", I think.
Please don't use Russian italics. To a beginner, есть looks like a completely different word than есть, but they're the same, they just look different because Russian italics do more than simply slant the letters. т is not м but rather italic т.
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Thanks. I wondered what that word that he was using was about since it didn't like есть to me.
У is like bei in German or chez in French, so I think у меня or у меня дома is how to say at my house. In English it would be more common to say "they live with me" for они живут у меня
Дома = at home
У меня = in my place (idiom)
У + genitive or reflexive pron.
Indicate possession
So is у меня дома a phrase that just has to be learnt, then? Because I don't understand why else it would not be в, as well. What IS the meaning of the у here?
When you say "I am going home" you are not surprised that there's no "to" or "in" before "home", right? You can also say "I am home" instead of "I am at home" when you return from somewhere. Well, Russian does the same thing when "home" is the location where someone currently resides.
http://masterrussian.com/vocabulary/u_preposition.htm because "y" is a prepositon; it means "at". So when you say "у меня есть...", it literally means "at my place exists...".
I think what is confusing everyone, and confused me, is the lack of preposition between "zhivut" and "u menya". Doma indicates the location.
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This sentence has made me think about grammar, and now I am wondering about a sentence like:
кошка у дома ивана
With дома and ивана both being in the genitive (any two nouns in the genitive would do for the purposes of this question).
This sentence seems ambiguous as it stands due to "parenthesis order":
кошка (у дома) ивана = "The cat that is by the house is Ivan's cat"
кошка у (дома ивана) = "The cat is by Ivan's house"
Is this ambiguity real, or only one of these is valid? Maybe one of them would require a "dash" or a marked pause in speech to eliminate the ambiguity?
WARNING: NON-NATIVE SPEAKER
I think you would generally indicate that the cat is Ivan's by saying кошка у Ивана.
Кошка у Ивана дома - Ivan's cat is at home
Кошка у Ивана у дома - Ivan's cat is by the house
Кошка у дома Ивана - the cat is at Ivan's house.
I'd be interested in feedback from a native speaker.
Thanks for the comment! I guess I should have known that for "Ivan's cat" it's enough to say "кошка Ивана".
The second one I think is incorrect, we aren't told that it's by his house, it's just by a house - anyone's house. Therefore "Кошка Ивана у дома" is correct, and "Кошка Ивана у его дома" means "Ivan's cat is by Ivan's house", right?
I wasn't clear with the last one, I meant "by the house", not "in the house", therefore I think "у дома Ивана" is correct.
Does "Ivan's cat is by Ivan's house" mean the cat sitting near the Ivan's house?
The phrases "Кошка Ивана -- у его дома" and "Кошка Ивана -- у него дома" mean different things. First describes a cat sitting near the house (it's better to use "около"), second - a cat located inside the house.
But in both cases, both the cat and the house belong to Ivan, right? If it's just sitting near some house that might be owned by anyone, then "Кошка Ивана у (or около) дома"?
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I think that would be "Они живут у моего дома" , with "моего" being "мой" in the genitive and "дома" being "дом" in the genitive, so that "у" modifies "мой дом".
Notice that in the original sentence, "у"only affects "меня", so it is "by me", not by the house ("дома" is an adverb in that sentence, although it looks exactly the same as "дом" in the genitive).
I really hope someone who actually speaks Russian confirms my reasoning here though XD
Why is "They live with me" not an acceptable translation? "They live at my home" sounds like a fairly cumbersome English sentence to me.
They live with me = Они живут со мной. (В одном номере гостиницы, но гостиница не мой дом)
But in English, "they live with me", without context, strongly implies "at my home" and is a for more natural sentence.
It's hard to argue with you. Since I am a Russian speaking, English language learners. But that's what she told me:
They live at my home.
They live with me.
They are both implying the same thing. The first one just gives more specific information in stating that its your house. Where as #2 it could be their house or somewhere else, but you all live together.
http://masterrussian.com/vocabulary/u_preposition.htm because "y" is a prepositon; it means "at". So when you say "у меня есть...", it literally means "at my place exists...".
http://masterrussian.com/vocabulary/u_preposition.htm because "y" is a prepositon; it means "at". So when you say "у меня есть...", it literally means "at my place exists...".
Everyone at Forvo pronounces "y" as much closer to "oo" than to "oh," while Duo pronounces it here and elsewhere as almost straight "oh." Any native speakers with an explanation?
First time posting here and I would appreciate if anyone could illuminate me, for I am having trouble understanding why this sentence is in the genitive using "у меня" and not as a preposition perhaps using "на" instead of "в" and then of course conjugating the rest of the sentence in the prepositional case. I got this wrong for putting "They live by my house". I learned "у меня" to roughly translate to "by me there is" and it's used to show possession.
Дома is an adverb meaning "at home". У меня дома ("by me at home") equates to "at my home". "By my house" would be у моего дома.
у + gen so I believe "у моего доме" would work as "at my home". (моего - genitive of мой)
However it seems they went with у мена - at me, дома - at home (adverb) which together becomes at my home
What about они живут у моего дома because меня = I and моего =my in genetive Help me please
This sentence is confusing because it literally does not mean "at my home". Objects of the preposition у are cast in genitive case. Дома is the genitive case for дом, but меня is not the genitive form of "my" - that is Моего. So, it you were to literally translate "at my house", it would be у моего дома.
Меня is the genitive form of "me", not "my", so у меня дома actually means "by me at home" which is idiomatically translated as "at my place at home" or shortened to "at my home". It's just that у [мой дом] should be у моего цома but it's not.
