"У меня нет велосипеда."

Translation: I don't have a bicycle.

[uq.]

ah. "велосипед". it's been a while, old friend, but we finally meet again.

[CarlVinggaard]

I don't understand: Why is this in the reflexive lesson? What in this sentence is reflexive?

[carneeki]

I agree, I don't understand what is reflexive about this particular exercise. The other response was not clear.

I think it might be the part about not having an object (a bike) that is reflexive, but it didn't follow the tips and advice (the -ся endings), unless it was one of the few exceptions that they mention they don't have time to discuss in the tips.

Either way, this felt like an easy and welcome break from the sheer volume of new vocab in this lesson :)

[juandenil]

' bike ' is the almost universal abbreviation in English. Is there a Russian equivalent ? ( like ' velo ' in French )

[Nati_magic]

Yes, 'ве́лик', but it is common slang. 'Поеду покатаюсь на ве́лике'. Sometimes called simply 'вел', as slang too, but it is not used in all cases. We can say 'Заберу свой вел.' or 'Смотрю - нет моего вела!', and not 'Езжу на веле'. It may be 'bike' too, especially if bicycle is new and advanced, but more often 'bike' in Russian means motobike. The prefix 'velo' is used in compound words, as 'велодорожка' (track for bicycles), 'велопарковка'(parking for bicycles).

[redactedname2b]

Using the term 'bike' insinuates it is motorized. If I am talking to a stranger, if I say I've got a 'bike' at home, they think its a motorbike. If I clarify it's a bicycle, they say "you have a pushbike then?" . 'Bike' is a ambiguous term.

[TheDreadfulGuy]

И я нет... У меня нет велосипеда потому что сейчас у меня нет денег.

[Zakir12]

Поэтому я вредный.

[Mark841597]

Вы не будете выживать в Нидерландах

[Kifike]

Are you crazy! The two senteces are exactly the same. Don't=do not!!!

[widgeasha]

Hi, are you Russian? Is it really that simple, don't=do not and велосипед=велосипеда.

[Stefan_Hey]

Actually no,
велосипед is not the same as велосипеда.
They are different cases of the word bicycle in Russian

[DavidAfons4]

I don't have any bike

[Buramu_]

yes

[hud214]

It wouldn't accept: I don't have THE bicycle.

[Zakir12]

Because your phrase implies that you don't have some specific bike and it could be translated back to Russian as "У меня нет этого велосипеда." The Russian phrase means that you don't have a bike, any bike.

[Zakir12]

I have no bike. I've got no bike.

[danie492]

You would only say this if you are a female, right?

[MaLu798889]

No, it works for all genders.

[widgeasha]

Hi, I thought that too but apparently that's wrong. I'm confused?

[widgeasha]

Please can someone tell me why the difference with the endings? У меня нет велосипед/а

[Stefan_Hey]

велосипед - nominative case
велосипеда - genitive case

[widgeasha]

Hi, thank you for your quick response. I know I ought to, but I don't understand what nominative and genetive cases are. I will look up on the internet but would much prefer and appreciate more help from you if you are able to explain it easily to me.

[Stefan_Hey]

I’m not a Russian speaker, but basically in many languages there are those cases(which don’t exist in English and this why is hard to explain).
- Nominative is a basic one and answers the question what/who - что/кто so you have nouns in a basic form in this case ( у меня есть яблоко/велосипед)
But when you missing something, then the question (in Russian) is чего/кого and the appropriate form of the noun is different than in nominative case (У меня нет яблока/велосипеда)

[widgeasha]

Thank you for your help, I think I understand a little more.