Questions & Answers about У этой розы мягкие лепестки.
Why does Russian use у этой розы instead of something like this rose’s?
Russian very often expresses possession with у + genitive. So the structure is literally closer to At this rose, there are soft petals, but the natural English meaning is This rose has soft petals.
This pattern is extremely common:
- У меня есть книга. = I have a book.
- У этой розы мягкие лепестки. = This rose has soft petals.
So even though English often uses ’s or has, Russian often uses у.
Why are этой and розы in those forms?
Because у requires the genitive case.
The base forms are:
- эта = this (feminine)
- роза = rose
In the genitive singular, they become:
- эта → этой
- роза → розы
So:
- у этой розы = of/at this rose, which is how Russian builds the possession structure here.
Why is it розы and not роза?