My Family in Russian

Family words are among the first Russians ask about — У вас есть семья? — and they're perfect practice for the two patterns you already own: gender agreement and «у меня есть».

The Cast

Whose?

You know мой / моя / моё. Family adds two more owners:

Это ваш муж? — Да, это мой муж.

Is this your husband? — Yes, this is my husband.

Note: Polite ваш for someone you'd address as вы.

Introducing Them

Two patterns do all the work. У меня есть… says who exists:

У меня есть брат и сестра.

I have a brother and a sister.

And the dash introduces them — it's the written form of the invisible "is":

Common Mistakes

моя папа. The ending says feminine, the person says masculine — the person wins: мой папа.
Дочь without its gender. Soft-sign nouns can go either way; дочь is feminine: моя дочь.
Hunting for “is”. Мой брат студент needs no verb — in writing, a dash marks the spot.

What You Can Do Now

You can present your whole family — who they are, whose they are, what they do, and how old they are (Ему десять лет). That's the second question every Russian conversation asks.