Learn Hardcore Russian: Сегодня у меня лёгкий день.

So у меня is the normal, idiomatic way to say “I have …”, while я имею лёгкий день would sound unnatural or overly formal/odd in this context.

What case is меня in, and why is it used here?

Меня is in the genitive case.

The preposition у (“at, by, near”) always takes the genitive. That’s a fixed rule:

у меня – at me
у тебя – at you
у него/неё – at him/her

In this structure у меня means “I have…”, but grammatically it’s literally “at me”, which is why the genitive is used.

Where is the verb “to be”? Why is there no verb in the sentence?

In Russian, the verb “to be” in the present tense is usually omitted in simple sentences of the type “X is Y”.

So instead of:

Сегодня у меня есть лёгкий день.

Russians normally just say:

Сегодня у меня лёгкий день.

The verb есть can appear when you need to emphasize existence (“there is / there exists”), but in a neutral statement like this it’s normally left out.

Why is лёгкий in this form? Could it be лёгкого or something else?

Лёгкий is in the masculine nominative singular form, because:

день is masculine, singular, nominative.
Adjectives in Russian must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

So:

лёгкий день (masc., sing., nom.)
If the noun changed to another case, лёгкий would change too. For example, in the genitive:
- нет лёгкого дня – there is no easy day.

But in Сегодня у меня лёгкий день, день is in the nominative as the main noun of the statement, so лёгкий must also be nominative.

What exactly does лёгкий день mean? Is it literally a “light day”?

Literally, лёгкий means “light” (not heavy).
Figuratively, with things like работа, день, занятия, it means:

“easy, not difficult, not busy, not stressful”

So лёгкий день is best translated as:

“an easy day”
“a light day (not much work)”
“a not-very-busy day”

It does not mean “day with little daylight” or anything about physical weight; it’s about effort or difficulty.

Can I say Сегодня у меня лёгкий день and У меня сегодня лёгкий день? Are both correct, and is there a difference?

Yes, both are correct:

Сегодня у меня лёгкий день.
У меня сегодня лёгкий день.

The meaning is the same: I have an easy day today.

The difference is in emphasis and flow:

Сегодня у меня лёгкий день. – slightly stronger focus on today (as the time frame).
У меня сегодня лёгкий день. – slightly stronger focus on me / my situation (“As for me, today is an easy day”).

In everyday speech, both are very natural and interchangeable.

Could I just say Сегодня лёгкий день without у меня?

Yes, you can:

Сегодня лёгкий день. – Today is an easy day.

This sounds a bit more general, like you’re describing the nature of the day itself (maybe for everyone, or as a general statement).

Сегодня у меня лёгкий день makes it clearly personal: For me, today is an easy day.
Without у меня, the sentence is less obviously about your personal workload and more about the day in general.

Could I use есть here: Сегодня у меня есть лёгкий день?

Grammatically, it’s possible, but it sounds unnatural in normal speech.

Сегодня у меня лёгкий день. – Normal, natural.
Сегодня у меня есть лёгкий день. – Sounds strange, as if you were emphasizing the mere existence of “an easy day”, which doesn’t fit well.

In everyday Russian, есть is usually omitted in sentences like this unless you really need to stress existence or contrast, e.g.:

У меня есть время. – I (do) have time.
(Contrasting with “I don’t have time” or responding to a doubt.)

Why is лёгкий spelled with ё, and can it be written as легкий?

The standard spelling is лёгкий with ё. The stress is on лё: лЁгкий.

In real life, especially in printed texts, Russians often write е instead of ё, so you will see легкий. This is common and usually understood from context.

Important points:

Pronunciation stays the same: [лёгкий], not [легкий].
In dictionaries and learning materials you’ll usually see the full ё spelling: лёгкий.

How do you pronounce лёгкий? What happens with г and к and the soft sign?

Лёгкий is pronounced approximately like [LYOK-kee].

More precisely:

лё – [lʲo] but with ё: [lʲɵ] (a “yo”-type sound, stressed)
г before к is devoiced and sounds like х:
- гк → [hk] or [xk]
ь (soft sign) doesn’t make its own sound, but softens the preceding к, so it’s [kʲ].

Overall: лёгкий ≈ [ˈlʲɵxʲkʲɪj]
For learners, thinking “LYOK-kee” with a clearly stressed LYO and a soft k at the end is close enough.

What is the difference between Сегодня у меня лёгкий день and Сегодня для меня лёгкий день?

Both are understandable, but they have different nuances:

Сегодня у меня лёгкий день.
- The standard, idiomatic way to say “I have an easy day today.”
- Uses the possession/state construction у меня.
Сегодня для меня лёгкий день.
- Literally: Today is an easy day for me.
- для меня emphasizes “from my point of view / for my purposes”.
- Sounds a bit more formal, reflective, or philosophical.

In normal conversation about your schedule or workload, У меня лёгкий день is the natural choice.

Is the word order flexible? Can I say Лёгкий у меня сегодня день?

Yes, Russian word order is quite flexible, and:

Лёгкий у меня сегодня день.

is grammatically correct. However, it sounds unusual and emphatic, something like:

“It’s an easy day I have today” / “Easy is the kind of day I have today.”

Placing лёгкий at the very beginning makes you strongly emphasize the easiness. This kind of order might appear in poetry, literature, or very expressive speech, but not as a neutral, everyday way to say it.

For everyday use, stick to:

Сегодня у меня лёгкий день.
У меня сегодня лёгкий день.