Мой друг приехал в Москву вчера.

the friend

Breakdown of Мой друг приехал в Москву вчера.

• мой: my
• в: to
• вчера: yesterday

Questions & Answers about Мой друг приехал в Москву вчера.

Why is it Мой друг and not Моя друг?

In Russian, possessive pronouns agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify.

• Друг (friend) is a masculine noun in the nominative singular.
• The masculine nominative form of “my” is мой.
• Моя is used for feminine nouns (e.g., моя мама, my mom).

So you must say мой друг, not моя друг.

What does друг mean exactly? Can it mean “boyfriend”?

Друг means friend (male friend, or a friend of unspecified gender in some contexts).

• For a female friend, you normally say подруга.
• In modern Russian, друг by itself does not usually mean “boyfriend.” For romantic partners, people say:
  • парень (boyfriend, young man)
  • мой молодой человек (my boyfriend / my young man, more polite/formal)

So мой друг is best translated as “my (male) friend”, not “my boyfriend.”

Why is it приехал, not приехала or приехали?

The past tense verb agrees with the subject’s gender and number.

• Мой друг is grammatically .