Breakdown of Где улица? Она не там, а здесь.
не
not
где
where / wherever
здесь
here
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
а
and (contrastive)
там
there
улица
street
Questions & Answers about Где улица? Она не там, а здесь.
Why use Она to mean 'it'?
Улица (street) is a feminine noun because it ends in -а. In Russian, pronouns must match the noun's gender, so we use the feminine pronoun она instead of a neutral 'it'.
Where is the word for 'is' in Она не там?
In the present tense, Russian drops the verb 'to be' (is, am, are). You just put the subject and the information about it together. So, 'It is not there' literally translates to Она не там (She not there).
Why does не go right before там?
To make a negative statement, the word не is placed immediately before the word you want to negate. Since there is no verb 'is' in this sentence, you place не directly in front of там to mean 'not there'.
Why use а for 'but' instead of но?
Both can translate to 'but', but а is used specifically to contrast two things, like saying 'not X, but Y'. Because this sentence contrasts не там (not there) with здесь (here), а is the exact word needed to link them.
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