Breakdown of У дедушки и бабушки есть старый дом.
дом
house
и
and
старый
old
у
at, by
есть
is, there is, to have
дедушка
grandfather
бабушка
grandmother
Questions & Answers about У дедушки и бабушки есть старый дом.
Why are we using у and есть to say "have"?
In Russian, you usually don't use a verb that translates directly to "have." Instead, you use the construction У (At) + the possessor in the Genitive case + есть (is) + the object in the Nominative case. Literally, this sentence says "At the grandfather and grandmother there is an old house."
If дедушка is a masculine noun, why does it change to дедушки like a feminine noun?
Even though дедушка (grandfather) is masculine, it ends in -а, so it changes its endings exactly like a feminine noun ending in -а. To form the Genitive case, we drop the -а. Normally we would add -ы, but a special spelling rule says we can never write ы after the letter к. So, we write -и instead.
Does бабушки follow the exact same spelling rule?
Yes! The dictionary form is бабушка (grandmother). Since it ends in -ка, we drop the -а and add -и instead of -ы because of that same spelling rule (never write ы after к).
Do both "grandfather" and "grandmother" have to be in the Genitive case here?
Yes. Since both people are the owners in this sentence, both words follow the preposition у and must change to the Genitive case, joined by и (and).
Why isn't старый дом in the Accusative case?
In English, "house" is the direct object of the verb "have". But remember the literal translation of this Russian structure is "An old house is at the grandparents." The house is actually the subject of the sentence, so старый дом stays in the basic Nominative case.
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