Questions & Answers about У нас вісім яблук.
Ukrainian very often expresses possession with у/в + someone in the genitive case.
So У нас вісім яблук literally means something like At our place / With us, [there are] eight apples, and in natural English that becomes We have eight apples.
This is one of the most common ways to say have in Ukrainian, even though Ukrainian also has the verb мати.
Because ми is the subject form, meaning we, but after the preposition у you need a different form.
Here, нас is the form used after у in this possession structure:
- ми = we
- у нас = at us / with us = we have
So you should learn у нас as a very common chunk meaning we have.
In a sense, yes: Ukrainian often leaves out the present-tense is/are idea that English requires.
So У нас вісім яблук is a complete sentence even without a verb written out.
You can also say У нас є вісім яблук, with є meaning there is/are, and that is also correct. But in everyday Ukrainian, leaving є out is very normal.