Breakdown of У сестры новая кофта с длинными рукавами, и она часто носит её дома.
с
with
новый
new
и
and
сестра
the sister
Questions & Answers about У сестры новая кофта с длинными рукавами, и она часто носит её дома.
Why does Russian say у сестры instead of using a verb like have?
Russian very often expresses possession with the pattern у + genitive.
So У сестры новая кофта literally feels like At the sister, there is a new sweater/top, but the natural English meaning is The sister has a new sweater/top.
This is one of the main ways Russian says have.
Why is there no verb in У сестры новая кофта?
In the present tense, Russian often leaves out the verb to be.
So instead of saying something like At the sister there is a new sweater, Russian simply says:
У сестры новая кофта
You can also say У сестры есть новая кофта, where есть adds a clearer sense of there is / she has, but it is not always necessary.
Why is it сестры and not сестра?
Because the preposition у requires the genitive case in this possession pattern.
- сестра = nominative
- сестры = genitive singular
So:
- сестра = sister
- у сестры = of the sister / at the sister / the sister has
This is completely normal after у.