У меня на столе стоит сканер, и я часто пользуюсь им, когда нужно отправить справку.

Russian usually expresses possession with the pattern у + genitive + есть / находится / стоит / лежит ...

So У меня на столе стоит сканер literally means something like At my place / with me, on the desk, there stands a scanner, and in natural English this becomes I have a scanner on my desk.

Я имею сканер is grammatically possible, but it sounds formal, unusual, or bookish in everyday speech. In normal Russian, у меня есть... is the standard way to say I have...

In this sentence, есть is omitted because the sentence uses стоит, which adds extra information about the scanner’s position.

After the preposition у, Russian uses the genitive case.

So:

• я = I
• меня = me / of me in genitive-accusative forms
• у меня = literally by me, idiomatically I have / with me

This is one of the most common Russian possession patterns, so it is worth memorizing as a chunk: у меня, у тебя, у него, у неё, у нас, and so on.

Because на столе answers the question where? and therefore uses the prepositional case.

• на стол = onto the desk after motion, answering where to?
• на столе = on the desk, answering where?

Here the scanner is already located there, so Russian uses на столе.

Russian very often uses different verbs depending on the physical position of an object:

• стоит = stands
• лежит = lies
• висит = hangs
• сидит = sits
• находится = is located
• есть = there is / have

With objects like a scanner, printer, bottle, lamp, and so on, стоит is very natural if the object is standing upright on a surface.

So на столе стоит сканер sounds more vivid and idiomatic than simply на столе есть сканер.

Yes and no.

Russian often uses these position verbs more naturally and more often than English does. English might simply say There is a scanner on my desk, but Russian prefers стоит for many objects that are upright or resting in a “standing” position.

So it is partly literal, but also just normal idiomatic Russian.

Because the verb пользоваться requires the instrumental case.

So:

• он = he / it
• его = genitive/accusative
• им = instrumental

Since пользоваться кем? чем? means to use someone/something, the pronoun has to be in the instrumental:

• пользуюсь сканером = I use the scanner
• пользуюсь им = I use it

For English speakers, this is important because Russian does not say use it with a direct-object form here. It uses instrumental instead.

The dictionary form is пользоваться, meaning to use.

It is a reflexive verb, which is why it has -ся / -сь:

• пользоваться
• я пользуюсь
• ты пользуешься
• они пользуются

The -сь is just a shortened spelling of -ся used after vowels in pronunciation/spelling patterns.

This verb does not mean use oneself in a literal English sense. It is simply the normal Russian verb for to make use of / to use.

Yes, you could say я часто использую его, and it would also mean I often use it.

But there is a grammar difference:

• использовать takes the accusative: использую его
• пользоваться takes the instrumental: пользуюсь им

There is also a slight style difference:

• использовать can sound a bit more neutral, technical, or direct
• пользоваться is extremely common in everyday speech for using tools, services, devices, methods, and so on

In this sentence, пользуюсь им sounds very natural.

In this sentence, it is normally included because the speaker is saying what they use: the scanner.

Russian can omit things that are obvious from context, but here пользуюсь without an object would sound incomplete unless the context had already made the object very clear.

So я часто пользуюсь им is the normal full version.

This is an impersonal construction.

• нужно = necessary / needed
• отправить = to send

So когда нужно отправить справку literally means when it is necessary to send a certificate/document.

Russian often leaves the person unstated when it is obvious or unimportant. In this sentence, the understood subject is probably I, but Russian does not need to say it explicitly.

If you wanted to make it explicit, you could say:

• когда мне нужно отправить справку = when I need to send a certificate/document

The original version is a little more general and very natural.

Because отправить is perfective, and here Russian is referring to a complete act of sending something.

Compare:

• отправить = to send, as a completed action
• отправлять = to send, to be sending, to send repeatedly/habitually, or as an ongoing process

In когда нужно отправить справку, the idea is when there is a need to send off a document as one complete task. That is why the perfective verb fits well.

Справку is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of отправить.

The dictionary form is справка. For a feminine noun ending in -а, the accusative singular usually changes to -у:

• справка = nominative
• справку = accusative

So:

• отправить что? → справку

Справка is a common Russian word for an official paper, certificate, note, or document confirming some fact.

Depending on context, it could be:

• a medical note
• a certificate from work or school
• an official confirmation document
• some other formal statement

It usually is not just any random reference or information. In many contexts it suggests a bureaucratic or official document.

Yes, Russian word order is flexible.

The sentence У меня на столе стоит сканер is natural because it starts with the setting/topic and ends with the new information:

• У меня = as for me / in my possession
• на столе = on the desk
• стоит сканер = there is a scanner standing

You could also hear variations such as:

• На столе у меня стоит сканер
• Сканер стоит у меня на столе

These are all grammatical, but they may shift emphasis slightly. The original version sounds very natural in everyday speech.

There are two clauses joined together:

1. У меня на столе стоит сканер
2. я часто пользуюсь им, когда нужно отправить справку

The comma before и separates two main clauses.

The comma before когда introduces a subordinate clause:

• когда нужно отправить справку = when it is necessary to send a document

So both commas are required in standard Russian punctuation.

Yes. Russian adverbs like часто are fairly mobile.

For example:

• я часто пользуюсь им
• я им часто пользуюсь
• часто я пользуюсь им

These versions are all possible, though the emphasis changes a little. The original я часто пользуюсь им is the most straightforward and neutral.

Russian often omits possessive words when the meaning is already clear from context.

Because the sentence begins with У меня, it is already understood that the desk is the speaker’s desk, or at least the desk associated with the speaker.

So У меня на столе naturally means on my desk without needing моём.

If you want to be more explicit, you could say:

• У меня на моём столе стоит сканер

But that often sounds unnecessary or a bit heavy unless you are contrasting desks.