Я жду курьера у почты.

I am waiting for the courier at the post office.

Breakdown of Я жду курьера у почты.

• я: I
• у: at
• ждать: to wait
• курьер: the courier
• почта: the mail

Questions & Answers about Я жду курьера у почты.

Why is it жду and not something like “am waiting”? How does the tense work here?

Russian doesn’t have a separate present continuous form like I am waiting. The simple present жду covers both:

• Я жду курьера у почты. – I wait for the courier at the post office. (general/habitual, in the right context)
• Я жду курьера у почты. – I am waiting for the courier at the post office. (right now)

Context tells you whether it’s a one‑time, ongoing action (like English am waiting) or a regular action (like English wait / usually wait).

Why is there no preposition before курьера even though English has wait for the courier?

In Russian, the verb ждать already includes the idea of for. It takes a direct object without a preposition:

• ждать кого? чего? – to wait for whom? for what?
  
  • ждать курьера – to wait for the courier
  • ждать автобуса – to wait for the bus

If you add a preposition like для here (ждать для курьера), it becomes wrong or means something completely different. So you simply say ждать + noun with no for-type preposition.

Why is it курьера and not курьер? What case is that?

Курьера is in the genitive singular form of курьер.

The verb ждать normally governs the genitive case:

• ждать кого? чего? – ждать курьера, ждать ответа, ждать автобуса

Here it’s convenient (and confusing) that for an animate masculine noun like курьер, the genitive singular and accusative singular look the same (курьера). But the government of the verb is genitive.

So:

• Nominative: курьер (who? what?)
• Genitive: курьера (of whom? whom are you waiting for?)

That’s why you see курьера.

Why is it у почты and not something like в почте or на почте?

These options express different spatial ideas:

• у почты – literally by / near the post office (next to the building, outside)
• на почте – at the post office, usually meaning inside or engaged in postal business there
• в почте – grammatically possible, but usually means in the mail (e.g. inside your inbox, inside the pile of mail), not the place

So Я жду курьера у почты most naturally means you are standing near the post office building, outside, waiting.

If you want to emphasize you are inside the post office (or at that institution), you’d normally say:

• Я жду курьера на почте. – I am waiting for the courier at the post office (inside / at that place as an institution).

What case is почты in, and why does у use that case?

Почты here is genitive singular of почта.

The preposition у always requires the genitive when it means by / near / at (someone’s place):

• у дома – by the house
• у школы – near the school
• у окна – by the window
• у друга – at a friend’s (house)

So:

• у + генитив → location next to something / at someone’s place
• у почты → by / near the post office

What’s the difference between у почты, возле почты, около почты, and рядом с почтой?

All of them can mean near the post office, but with slight nuances:

• у почты – very common, neutral, by / at the post office (often fairly close).
• возле почты – very close, right by / just next to the post office.
• около почты – also near the post office, often a bit more “around that area” than right up against the building.
• рядом с почтой – next to the post office, emphasizes adjacency; grammatically uses с + instrumental (с почтой).

In everyday speech these are often interchangeable. In your sentence you could say:

• Я жду курьера у почты / возле почты / около почты / рядом с почтой.

Can I change the word order? For example: Я у почты жду курьера or Курьера я жду у почты?

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, and all of these are grammatical; the difference is in emphasis:

• Я жду курьера у почты. – neutral: I am waiting for the courier near the post office.
• Я у почты жду курьера. – light emphasis that you are at the post office (contrasting with some other place).
• Курьера я жду у почты. – emphasizes курьера (as opposed to someone else you might wait for).
• У почты я жду курьера. – emphasizes the location (by the post office).

In normal, neutral speech, the original order Я жду курьера у почты is the most typical.

Can I drop я and just say Жду курьера у почты?

Yes. Russian frequently omits subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows the person:

• Жду курьера у почты. – I’m waiting for the courier near the post office.
• Ждём курьера у почты. – We’re waiting for the courier near the post office.

Including я can add a slight emphasis or formality:

• Я жду курьера у почты. – I (as opposed to someone else) am the one waiting here.

Both forms are correct; omitting я is very natural in casual speech.

What’s the difference between ждать and подождать in this context?

Both can appear with курьера and у почты, but the aspect and nuance differ:

• ждать – imperfective, focuses on the process of waiting

  • Я жду курьера у почты. – I am (in the process of) waiting for the courier at/by the post office.

• подождать – perfective, often means to wait for a while / to wait until something happens

  • Я подожду курьера у почты. – I’ll wait for the courier (for some time) near the post office / I’ll go wait there.

In the present tense, подождать doesn’t really have a simple present meaning; its future is:

• Я подожду курьера у почты. – I will wait (for a bit) for the courier near the post office.

So your original sentence with ждать focuses on what is happening now as an ongoing action.

How would I say this in the past or future?

Using ждать (imperfective):

• Past:

  • Я ждал курьера у почты. (male speaker)
  • Я ждала курьера у почты. (female speaker)
    – I was waiting / used to wait / waited for the courier near the post office (context decides which nuance).

• Future (compound):

  • Я буду ждать курьера у почты. – I will be waiting / I will wait for the courier near the post office.

Using подождать (perfective):

• Past:

  • Я подождал курьера у почты. (m.)
  • Я подождала курьера у почты. (f.)
    – I waited (for a while) for the courier near the post office.

• Future (simple):

  • Я подожду курьера у почты. – I’ll wait (for some time) for the courier near the post office.

Why does почта mean both mail and post office?

Russian почта is a broad word that can mean:

1. The postal service as an institution:
   
   • работать на почте – to work for the post office / at the post office
2. The post office building:
   
   • встретимся у почты – let’s meet by the post office
3. Mail as in letters / emails (in context):
   
   • проверить почту – to check (your) mail / inbox

In your sentence Я жду курьера у почты, the obvious reading is by the post office building.

How do you pronounce жду курьера у почты?

Approximate pronunciation with stress marked:

• Я жду курье́ра у по́чты.

Roughly in English-style transcription:

• ya zhdu koor-YE-ra oo POCH-ty

Details:

• жду – zhdu (like the s in measure
  • doo)
• курье́ра – koor-YE-ra; the рь is a soft r, and stress is on -ье́-
• у – oo as in boot
• по́чты – POCH-ty, чт is pronounced close to шт; stress is on по́-

So in connected speech it sounds close to: ya zhdu kur-YE-ra u POCH-ty.