Questions & Answers about Я его не знаю.
Does его mean "him" or "his"?
It can mean both! In this lesson, we are learning the Accusative case, where его is the form of он (he) used when an action is happening to it (the direct object). So here, it means "him" (the person being known). You might remember его meaning "his" from earlier lessons—it is the exact same word, just playing a different role in this sentence.
Why does the "г" in его sound like a "v"?
This is a special pronunciation rule in Russian. Whenever you see the word endings -его or -ого, the letter г is pronounced like an English "v". Because of this rule, его is always pronounced as "yeh-VOH".
Why is его before the verb? Can I say Я не знаю его?
Yes, you can absolutely say Я не знаю его, which perfectly matches the English word order. Russian word order is very flexible, and putting short object pronouns like его before the verb is just a very natural and common way that native speakers build sentences.
Why does не come before знаю instead of after it?
In Russian, the negative word не (not) must be placed immediately before the exact word it is negating. Since you are negating the action of knowing, не has to go right in front of the verb знаю.