Breakdown of Где мама? Она не здесь.
мама
mom
не
not
где
where / wherever
здесь
here
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
Questions & Answers about Где мама? Она не здесь.
How can I tell that мама is feminine just by looking at the word?
In Russian, you can usually tell a noun's gender by its last letter. Words ending in -а or -я in their dictionary form (the nominative case) are almost always feminine. Since мама ends in -а, it's a feminine noun, which is why we use the feminine pronoun она (she) to talk about her in the next sentence.
Where is the word for "is" in these sentences?
Russian almost always skips the present tense of the verb "to be" (is, am, are). You literally say "Where mom?" (Где мама?) and "She not here" (Она не здесь).
How does the word не work here?
The word не means "not," and it always goes exactly in front of the word it is negating. Since we are saying she is not here, не is placed right before здесь.
Could I use тут instead of здесь in this sentence?
Yes! Both тут and здесь mean "here" and can be used interchangeably in a sentence like this. Тут is just slightly more casual and very common in everyday speech.
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