У моей тёти длинные волосы.

My aunt has long hair.

Breakdown of У моей тёти длинные волосы.

• мой: my
• длинный: long
• тётя: the aunt
• волос: the hair

Questions & Answers about У моей тёти длинные волосы.

Why do we say У моей тёти instead of something like “моя тётя имеет длинные волосы”?

Russian normally does not use иметь for everyday “have” with people.
Possession is usually expressed with the structure:

• У + [person in genitive] + (есть) + [thing in nominative]

So:

• У моей тёти (есть) длинные волосы. = My aunt has long hair.

Literally: “At my aunt (there are) long hair.”
This у + genitive construction is the standard, neutral way to say someone has something.

What case is тёти, and why is it used here?

Тёти is genitive singular of тётя.

• тётя – nominative singular (dictionary form)
• тёти – genitive singular (“of my aunt”)

The genitive is required because of the preposition у:

• у кого? у чего? → always genitive

So у моей тёти literally means “at / by my aunt’s (place)” and functions as “my aunt has”.

Why is it моей тёти, not моя тётя?

The possessive pronoun мой / моя / моё / мои must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• Nominative feminine: моя тётя
• Genitive feminine: моей тёти

Because тётя is in genitive singular, feminine, the pronoun also goes to genitive singular feminine: моей.
So:

• У моей тёти… – “My aunt has…”
• Моя тётя… – “My aunt…” (as the subject in nominative)

Where is the verb “to be” / “are” in this sentence? Why is there no есть?

The underlying pattern is:

• У моей тёти есть длинные волосы.

In the present tense, Russian usually omits the verb есть (“there is / there are”) unless it needs special emphasis. So the normal, neutral sentence is:

• У моей тёти длинные волосы.

You should imagine an “is/are” there in English, but in Russian it’s simply dropped in the present tense.

Can I say У моей тёти есть длинные волосы? Is that wrong?

It’s grammatically correct, but in most contexts it sounds unnecessary or slightly awkward.

• У моей тёти длинные волосы. – normal, neutral statement.
• У моей тёти есть длинные волосы. – could sound like you’re emphasizing existence:
  • e.g. contradicting someone: “She *does have long hair, actually.”*

So: correct, but use есть only when you really want to stress the fact that she (indeed) has them.

Why is волосы plural, when in English “hair” is usually singular?

In Russian, “hair” on someone’s head is normally treated as a plural noun:

• волосы – hair (as a whole set on the head)
• волос – one single hair

So:

• длинные волосы – long hair (on her head)
• длинный волос – one long hair (a single strand)

Using singular волос for normal head hair would sound strange or overly specific.

What case are волосы in, and why?

Волосы here are in nominative plural.

The structure is:

• У моей тёти (есть) длинные волосы.

The “thing that is had” (длинные волосы) is in nominative, because it’s logically the subject of the verb есть (“there are long hair at my aunt’s”).

So:

• У моей тёти – location/possessor in genitive (after у)
• длинные волосы – subject in nominative plural

Why is the adjective длинные and not длинный or длинная?

Adjectives in Russian must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• Base adjective: длинный – long
• Nominative:
  • masculine: длинный стол
  • feminine: длинная река
  • neuter: длинное платье
  • plural: длинные волосы

Since волосы is plural nominative, the adjective must also be plural nominative → длинные волосы.

Could the word order be Длинные волосы у моей тёти? Is that still correct?

Yes, it’s grammatically correct but changes the emphasis:

• У моей тёти длинные волосы.
  – neutral: focus is more on what your aunt has.

• Длинные волосы у моей тёти.
  – emphasizes the long hair, like:

  • “It’s my aunt who has long hair” (maybe in contrast to others)
  • or as a descriptive remark, focusing on the hair first.

Both are correct; the first is the more typical, “unmarked” version.

What’s the difference between длинные and долгие? Could I say долгие волосы?

No, долгие волосы is incorrect in standard Russian.

• длинный → long in physical length

  • длинные волосы – long hair
  • длинная дорога – a long road

• долгий → long in time / duration

  • долгий разговор – a long conversation
  • долгие годы – many long years

So for hair, you must use длинные волосы, not долгие волосы.

Why is тётя considered feminine? Does the -я ending always mean feminine?

Тётя is grammatically feminine, which matches its meaning (“aunt” is female):

• feminine: тётя, мама, девочка
• masculine: дядя, папа, мальчик

The ending -я very often indicates a feminine noun, especially for people, but there are exceptions (e.g. дядя is masculine). You know тётя is feminine because of:

• its meaning (female person)
• the pronoun: моя тётя, not мой тётя

How should I pronounce тёти and волосы?

Key points:

• тёти: [ˈтё-тʲи]

  • stress on the first syllable: тЁ-ти
  • ё is always stressed and sounds like “yo” in “yoga”

• волосы: [ˈво-ло-сы]

  • stress on the first syllable: ВО-ло-сы
  • the last ы is the Russian ы sound (back, not like English “ee”)

So the whole sentence is stressed:

• У моей ТЁ-ти ДЛИН-ные ВО-ло-сы.