Learn Hardcore Russian: Я недолго жду друга у входа. - I am not waiting long for a friend at the entrance.

With masculine animate nouns, the accusative and genitive forms look the same in the singular (друга), so you can’t see the difference just from the ending. But grammatically, here it is genitive because of ждать.

With inanimate masculine nouns, you can see the genitive more clearly:

Nom.: поезд
Acc.: поезд
Gen.: поезда

ждать поезда – to wait for the train (here you clearly see the genitive ending).

Why is there no preposition like for after ждать, as in English wait for?

In Russian, ждать already includes the idea of “for”; it doesn’t need a preposition.

So where English says:

wait for a friend

Russian simply says:

ждать друга

Adding a preposition like для or за here would be wrong. You just use ждать + genitive object:

ждать тебя – to wait for you
ждать маму – to wait for mom
ждать ответа – to wait for an answer

What’s the difference between недолго and долго with negation? For example, я недолго жду vs я долго не жду?

The difference is mostly about where the negation falls and what is being contrasted.

Я недолго жду (друга у входа).
- Literally: I wait not long (for my friend at the entrance).
- Meaning: The waiting time itself is short.
- Neutral, factual: I don’t wait for a long time; the wait is brief.
Я долго не жду (друга у входа).
- Literally: I don’t wait for a long time (for my friend at the entrance).
- Very close in meaning, but feels more like:
  I don’t keep waiting; I’m not someone who waits long / I won’t be waiting long (I’ll give up soon).
- There is a bit of focus on the refusal or limit: you don’t wait for a long time.

In many everyday contexts they overlap, but:

я недолго жду → emphasizes that the actual duration of your waiting is short.
я долго не жду → emphasizes that you don’t allow the waiting to last long / you don’t habitually or won’t wait long.

What exactly does недолго mean, and how is it different from немного and ненадолго?

All three are common but not identical:

недолго
- Literally: “not long” (about time).
- Focus: the length of time is short.
- Example: Я недолго жду друга. – I don’t wait long for my friend.
немного
- Literally: “a little, not much” (usually about quantity, but can be used about time with some verbs).
- Often used with подождать:
  - Я немного подожду. – I’ll wait a little (bit).
- Я немного жду друга sounds strange; native speakers wouldn’t normally say this.
ненадолго
- Literally: “for not a long time”, with a stronger sense of temporary / briefly.
- Emphasizes that something will not last long and will end soon:
  - Я ненадолго зайду. – I’ll drop in briefly / I’ll come in for a short time.
- Я ненадолго жду друга sounds awkward; you’d normally say Я ненадолго зайду к другу or Я ненадолго отлучусь etc.

In your sentence, недолго is the natural choice: it describes that the act of waiting is short in duration.

Does я жду mean “I wait” or “I am waiting”?

Я жду can mean both:

I wait (habitual, regular action)
I am waiting (right now, at this moment)

Russian doesn’t have a separate continuous form like English am waiting. The present tense of an imperfective verb (like ждать) covers both:

Я часто жду друга у входа. – I often wait for my friend at the entrance. (habit)
Сейчас я жду друга у входа. – Right now I’m waiting for my friend at the entrance. (current action)

Your sentence Я недолго жду друга у входа could be:

I don’t wait long for my friend at the entrance (habitual), or
I’m not waiting long for my friend at the entrance (this time),

depending on context.

Can this sentence refer to the future, like “I won’t wait long for my friend at the entrance”?

In Russian, Я недолго жду друга у входа is naturally understood as present (actual or habitual), not future.

To clearly express future, you’d typically say:

Я недолго подожду друга у входа.
– I’ll wait for my friend at the entrance for a short while (and then leave).

Я не буду долго ждать друга у входа.
– I won’t wait long for my friend at the entrance.

So:

жду → present (or habitual).
Future meaning is usually expressed with:
- подожду (perfective future of подождать), or
- буду ждать (compound future of ждать).

What is the difference between ждать and подождать, and could I say Я недолго подожду друга у входа?

ждать – imperfective: process, “to be waiting” / “to wait (in general)”.
подождать – perfective: “to wait for a certain (usually limited) time” / “to wait a bit”.

Yes, Я недолго подожду друга у входа is perfectly natural and common. It means:

I’ll wait for my friend at the entrance for a bit / for a short time (and then I’ll stop waiting).

Nuance:

Я недолго жду друга у входа. – focuses on the current or typical duration of your waiting.
Я недолго подожду друга у входа. – focuses on a planned, limited future action: “I’ll wait a little, then that’s it.”

Why is it друга and not мой друг, like я жду мой друг?

Two separate points:

Case and agreement
- You cannot say я жду мой друг — that’s incorrect case usage.
- If you used the possessive, it would have to match the case:
  - я жду моего друга (genitive of мой друг).
Why there’s often no possessive pronoun
In Russian, you usually omit possessive pronouns (мой, твой, наш etc.) when:
- It’s obvious from context whose person/object it is.
- You talk about close people (friend, mother, etc.).

So:

Я жду друга. – naturally understood as I’m waiting for my (the) friend in context.
Я жду моего друга. – still correct, but adds emphasis: my friend (not someone else’s friend).

In your sentence, друга without моего is the normal, neutral choice.

What case is входа, and why is у входа used instead of something like в входе?

Входа is genitive singular of вход.

The preposition у takes the genitive case and usually means “by, at, near (the side of something)”:

у дома – by the house
у окна – by the window
у двери – at/by the door
у входа – at/by the entrance

You cannot say в входе; that’s not how Russians express “at the entrance.”
Instead, they use:

у входа – by the entrance (near the doorway, outside or right next to it)
sometimes перед входом – in front of the entrance

So у входа is the standard way to say “at the entrance” in this sense.

Is there a difference between у входа and на входе?

Yes, there is a nuance:

у входа
- Literally: by the entrance, near the door/doorway.
- Physical location next to the entrance from the outside (or just near it).
- Я жду друга у входа. – I’m waiting for my friend by the entrance (e.g., outside the building).
на входе
- Literally: at the entry point / at the entrance area (focus on the checkpoint/zone of entering).
- Often used about control/security/checkpoints or processes happening as you enter:
  - На входе проверяют документы. – They check documents at the entrance.
  - Меня остановили на входе. – They stopped me at the entrance.

If you simply mean where you’re standing and waiting, у входа is the usual phrase.

Can I change the word order? For example, say Я жду друга недолго у входа or У входа я недолго жду друга?

Russian word order is more flexible than English, but there are neutral and emphatic options.

Я недолго жду друга у входа. – neutral, very natural.
Я жду друга недолго у входа. – understandable but sounds a bit odd; недолго usually goes before the verb here.
Я недолго жду у входа друга. – possible; slight emphasis on друга at the end (it’s the friend that I’m waiting for).
У входа я недолго жду друга. – also possible; у входа is emphasized (“At the entrance, I don’t wait long for my friend.”).

General guideline for this sentence:

Keep недолго directly before the verb: Я недолго жду…
Move у входа or друга around mainly for emphasis, not arbitrarily.

Could I say Я немного жду друга у входа to mean “I wait a little for my friend at the entrance”?

Native speakers would not normally say Я немного жду друга; it sounds unnatural.

To express “I’ll wait a little (bit)”, Russian prefers:

Я немного подожду друга у входа. – I’ll wait a little for my friend at the entrance.
Я чуть-чуть подожду друга у входа. – I’ll wait just a little for my friend at the entrance.

So:

With ждать (imperfective process), you describe ongoing/habitual waiting:
- Я недолго жду друга у входа. – I don’t wait long for my friend at the entrance.
With подождать (perfective), you describe a limited act of waiting (often future):
- Я немного подожду друга у входа. – I’ll wait a little for my friend at the entrance.