Learn Hardcore Russian: Завтра у меня переезд.

Russian often omits the verb "to be" in the present tense and for certain scheduled events. Here, the construction "у меня" expresses possession or an occurrence—literally, "at me"—which we understand as "I have." By placing "завтра" (tomorrow) first, the sentence clearly indicates when the event (переезд, i.e., moving) is happening.

What role does "у меня" play in this sentence?

"У меня" is a fixed construction used to indicate possession or an event that affects the speaker. Instead of using a verb like "have," Russian uses this phrase to show that the speaker is associated with the event. Thus, "у меня переезд" translates contextually to "I have a move" even though no actual "have" verb is present.

Why is "завтра" placed at the beginning of the sentence, and can the word order be changed?

Placing "завтра" (tomorrow) at the beginning emphasizes the time of the event, which is a common stylistic choice in Russian to set the context. While Russian word order is flexible, rearranging the elements (for example, "У меня завтра переезд") is also correct but may shift the emphasis slightly. The chosen order in the original sentence highlights when the move is scheduled to take place.

Which grammatical case is used in "у меня," and why is it important?

In the phrase "у меня," "меня" is the genitive form of the pronoun "я." This prepositional construction with "у" and the genitive case is standard in Russian to denote possession or association. It is the equivalent of saying "I have" in English, even though a direct translation would not include a verb.