Learn Hardcore Russian: У меня не было много денег вчера.

У меня literally means “at me” and is used in Russian to indicate possession. Rather than saying “I have,” Russian typically expresses possession by stating that something exists “at me.” So, in this sentence, it conveys the idea of “I didn't have…” by showing that the money was “not at me.”

Why is the verb in the sentence не было in the neuter singular form even though we’re talking about money, which is plural in English?

In Russian, when you express possession with quantity phrases like много денег, the quantified expression is treated as a singular, indefinite amount. That’s why the past tense of быть (to be) appears in the neuter singular form (было) regardless of the fact that денег refers to money in the plural sense.

Why is the noun денег in the genitive case after много?

Quantifiers such as много require the noun that follows to be in the genitive case. The word деньги (money) becomes денег in the genitive plural when it is preceded by много, indicating “a lot of” or “much” money.

What role does вчера play in the sentence, and is its placement significant?

Вчера means “yesterday” and provides the time frame for the statement. Although Russian word order is quite flexible, placing вчера at the end of the sentence is common and natural, emphasizing when the action (or lack thereof) took place.

How does this Russian sentence structure differ from the typical English way of expressing possession and negation?

In English, you would typically say “I didn’t have much money yesterday,” directly using the subject “I” with a verb that expresses possession. In Russian, possession is expressed with the prepositional phrase У меня, and the absence of money is indicated by the negative form of the existential verb (не было). This construction shifts the focus from the subject performing an action to the existence (or nonexistence) of something at the possessor’s side.

Why is the construction У меня не было… preferred over saying something like Я не имел…?

The construction У меня не было… is the standard and most idiomatic way to express a lack of possession in Russian. Although the verb иметь (to have) exists, using it in a personal construction like Я не имел… sounds awkward and is rarely used in everyday speech. The У меня… structure is more natural and commonly understood by native speakers.