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:
| Presence (nominative) | Absence (genitive) |
|---|---|
| Есть молоко. | Нет молока. |
| Есть хлеб. | Нет хлеба. |
| Есть вода. | Нет воды. |
| Есть время. | Нет времени. (irregular — learn as a chunk) |
У меня нет молока.
I have no milk.
Note: Having something: есть + nominative. Not having it: нет + genitive.
The Endings
| Gender | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | -а / -я | хлеб → хлеба |
| neuter | -а / -я | молоко → молока |
| feminine | -ы / -и | вода → воды, книга → книги |
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:
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| У Анны есть кот. | Anna has a cat. |
| У брата есть машина. | My brother has a car. |
| У бабушки есть дом и сад. | Grandma has a house and a garden. |
из — From
Origin flows in the genitive too — and so does your oldest self-introduction:
Я из Лондона. Она из Москвы.
I'm from London. She's from Moscow.
Note: из + genitive. You've been saying this since Chapter 1 — now you know why the endings change.
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.