Learn Hardcore Russian: Раз уж у нас есть соковыжималка, утром лучше сделать свежий сок, а не покупать сладкую газировку. - Since we have a juicer, it is better to make fresh juice in the morning instead of buying sweet soda.

Word

Раз уж у нас есть соковыжималка, утром лучше сделать свежий сок, а не покупать сладкую газировку.

Meaning

Since we have a juicer, it is better to make fresh juice in the morning instead of buying sweet soda.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Lesson

Breakdown of Раз уж у нас есть соковыжималка, утром лучше сделать свежий сок, а не покупать сладкую газировку.

What does Раз уж mean here?

Раз уж is a conversational expression meaning something like since, seeing that, or given that.

So:

Раз уж у нас есть соковыжималка
= Since we have a juicer / Seeing that we have a juicer

It often suggests: this fact is already true, so we should act accordingly.

It is a bit more expressive than just раз or поскольку.

Why is there есть in у нас есть соковыжималка?

In Russian, possession is often expressed with the pattern:

у + genitive + есть + thing

So:

Together:

У нас есть соковыжималка = We have a juicer

Russian does not usually use a verb directly equivalent to English have in this kind of sentence.

Also, есть is often omitted in the present tense in some contexts, but in possession sentences it is very common and natural.

Why is it у нас, not мы имеем?