Russian · TORFL Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 9
У меня есть братI have a brother
How to say "I have". Russian has no everyday verb "to have" — instead of "I have" you say у + меня/тебя + есть: "У меня есть брат", "У тебя есть сестра?". Learn it as a phrase (меня/тебя are cases; the full system is Book 2). New words, including verbs in their base form: to love, to live, to do, to want, to speak, to go, there, nice to meet you. Culture section: ты and вы. Reading: your first full sentences without sounding out the letters.
Dialogue
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У меня есть брат— I Have a Brother
- IvanУтебяестьбратилисестра?Уменяестьбрат.Do you have a brother or a sister? I have a brother.
- MikeЯимеюсестра.I have a sister. (slip: "Я имею" is wrong; Russian says "У меня есть сестра")
- IvanПо-русскине«яимею»—говори«уменяестьсестра».In Russian not "я имею" — say "у меня есть сестра".
- MikeПонял!Уменяестьсестра.Иялюблюмоюсемью!Got it! I have a sister. And I love my family!
Dialogue
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Вы говорите по-русски?— Do You Speak Russian?
- Maria IvanovnaЗдравствуйте!Оченьприятно.Выговоритепо-русски?Hello! Nice to meet you. Do you speak Russian?
- MikeОченьприятно!Тыживёшьздесь?Nice to meet you! Do you live here? (slip: ты with a teacher; use вы)
- Maria IvanovnaСпреподавателемговорите«вы»:выживёте,выговорите.Да,яживутам.With a teacher say "вы": вы живёте, вы говорите. Yes, I live there.
- MikeИзвините!Выживётетамивыговоритепо-русски.Ятожехочуговоритьпо-русски!Sorry! You live there and you speak Russian. I want to speak Russian too!
Vocabulary
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- уменяесть
phr.I have
- есть
verbthere is / have
- любить
verbto love
- жить
verbto live
- делать
verbto do
- хотеть
verbto want
- говорить
verbto speak
- идти
verbto go
- там
adverbthere
- оченьприятно
phr.nice to meet you
Grammar
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У меня есть (how to say "to have")
Explanation
Russian normally does NOT say "я имею" (I have). To say "I have", it uses у + person + есть: у меня есть (I have), у тебя есть (you have), у него есть (he has), у неё есть (she has). Literally it is "at me there-is": "У меня есть брат" = "at-me there-is a brother". Меня and тебя are in a special form (a case) here — for now learn the phrases whole; cases come in Book 2. The question: "У тебя есть сестра?" — "Да, у меня есть сестра."
Examples
- У меня есть брат.I have a brother.
- У тебя есть сестра?Do you have a sister?
- У неё есть дочь и сын.She has a daughter and a son.
- Я люблю мою семью.I love my family. (любить → я люблю)
Culture
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Ты и выты vs вы — the two "you"s
Russian has an informal and a formal "you", and the line between them is taken seriously.
Вы for distance and respect
Вы (the same word is also the plural "you") is used with strangers, elders, bosses, and anyone senior or not yet close. Вы together with name + patronymic is the most respectful pairing: "Вы говорите по-русски, Мария Ивановна?".
Ты for closeness
Ты is for friends, family, children, and close peers. Saying ты to someone who expects вы can sound disrespectful or overly familiar. Moving from вы to ты is a real moment, usually proposed by the older or senior person: "Давай на ты" (let's use ты).
It pairs with the name
Вы and name-and-patronymic go together; ты and the first name (or diminutive) go together. Mixing them — ты with a patronymic — sounds off.
Rule of thumb: default to вы with anyone you don't know well or who is older; switch to ты only once it is offered.
Cyrillic
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Читаем целые предложения— Reading whole sentences
Today, not single words but whole phrases, with no sounding-out. The key one is у меня есть: read it as one unit "u-me-NYA-yest", stress on "nya". Remember the habits: unstressed о → "a" (говорить = "ga-va-RIT"), е at the start of a word = "ye" (есть = "yest"). Read the whole line in one breath, as a single thought, not letter by letter. Trust your ear.
Read aloud in whole phrases:
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