Breakdown of У Ивана нет мяса, а у Анны нет настроения.
а
and (contrastive)
у
at, by
Иван
Ivan
Анна
Anna
нет
there is no / is not present
мясо
meat
настроение
mood
Questions & Answers about У Ивана нет мяса, а у Анны нет настроения.
Why do the names change to Ивана and Анны?
In Russian, to express possession (saying someone has something), we use the preposition у plus the owner in the Genitive case. So, the masculine name Иван takes an 'a' to become Ивана, and the feminine name Анна changes its 'a' to 'ы' to become Анны.
Why do the things they don't have (мяса, настроения) also change their endings?
The word нет (meaning 'there is not' or 'does not have') requires the thing you are lacking to be in the Genitive case too. That is why the neuter words мясо (meat) and настроение (mood) change their endings to мяса and настроения.
How would I say 'He has no meat' or 'She is not in the mood' using pronouns instead of their names?
You would replace the names with Genitive pronouns: у него нет мяса (he has no meat) and у неё нет настроения (she has no mood). Notice that when the 3rd person pronouns его (him) and её (her) come directly after a preposition like у, Russian adds an extra н to the beginning to make them easier to say.
Why does the sentence use а instead of и for 'and'?
Russian uses а to show a soft contrast or comparison between two different situations (Ivan's situation vs. Anna's). While it translates to 'and' in English here, it functions more like 'whereas' or 'while'.
'Anna has no mood' sounds a bit strange. What does нет настроения actually mean?
This is a very common Russian phrase. When someone has 'no mood' (нет настроения), it simply means they are 'not in the mood' to do anything, or they are feeling a bit down.
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