Questions & Answers about У моря мы увидели чайку.
Why is it у моря, not у море?
Because the preposition у requires the genitive case.
The dictionary form is море (sea), but after у it becomes моря:
- море — nominative singular
- моря — genitive singular
So у моря means by the sea / near the sea.
What does у mean here?
Here у means by, near, or next to.
It does not mean possession here, even though у is also very common in sentences like:
- У меня есть книга — I have a book (literally, At me there is a book)
In у моря, it is purely a location phrase: by the sea.
Could I say на море instead of у моря?