The Genitive: Nothing & Nobody

The genitive is the case of what's missing, where you're from, and whose things are whose. You've been speaking it since your first week — this lesson just turns the lights on.

Absence Speaks Genitive

Нет (there is no…) always takes the genitive:

The Endings

Feminine follows the same spelling rule as plurals: after к, г, х — always и (книги, not книгы).

у + Person

Here's the secret: у меня есть was genitive all along. Меня is the genitive of я — "by me there is". Point it at anyone:

из — From

Origin flows in the genitive too — and so does your oldest self-introduction:

Common Mistakes

• Нет + nominative. Нет молоко is the classic slip — absence always bends: нет молока.
• Missing the му change in time. Время is irregular: нет времени. Memorize the chunk; you'll say it daily.
• Genitive after есть. Presence keeps the dictionary form: у меня есть кот, not кота.

What You Can Do Now

You can say what's missing, out of stock or sold out; who owns what; and where anyone is from. The empty fridge, the full introduction — one case handles both.