Breakdown of У Ивана нет билета и нет паспорта.
и
and
у
at, by
билет
ticket
паспорт
passport
Иван
Ivan
нет
there is no / is not present
Questions & Answers about У Ивана нет билета и нет паспорта.
Why does Иван end in -а here?
In Russian, to say someone has something (or doesn't have it), we use the word у (by/at) followed by the person in the Genitive case. For masculine names ending in a consonant like Иван, we add -а to make it Ивана.
Why do билет and паспорт have an -а at the end?
The word нет means 'there is no' or 'does not have', and the thing that is missing must also be in the Genitive case. Both билет (ticket) and паспорт (passport) are masculine nouns ending in a consonant, so they take an -а ending to become билета and паспорта.
How would I change this sentence to say 'He has no ticket' using the pronouns from this lesson?
You would replace Ивана with него. The sentence becomes У него нет билета и нет паспорта. Remember that the Genitive pronoun его (him) gets an extra 'н' at the beginning to become него when it directly follows a preposition like у.
Do I really need to repeat нет twice in this sentence?
You don't strictly have to, but repeating нет is very common and sounds natural in Russian when listing things someone doesn't have. You could simply say У Ивана нет билета и паспорта, but repeating the word emphasizes that both items are entirely missing.
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