Breakdown of Где ответ? Его здесь нет, и у студента нет выбора.
и
and
где
where / wherever
здесь
here
студент
student (m)
его
him / it (acc)
у
at, by
нет
there is no / is not present
ответ
answer
выбор
choice
Questions & Answers about Где ответ? Его здесь нет, и у студента нет выбора.
Why is его used here to mean "it"?
The word for "answer" (ответ) is a masculine noun, so it is replaced by the pronoun он (he/it). In Russian, when you say something is absent using the word нет, the missing thing must be in the Genitive case. The Genitive form of он is его.
Why is его pronounced with a "v" sound instead of a "g"?
The word его is pronounced like "yevo". This is a special pronunciation rule in Russian: whenever you see the Genitive endings -его or -ого on pronouns and adjectives, the letter г is pronounced as a "v".
Why does the sentence use у студента to mean "the student has"?
Russian doesn't commonly use a verb for "to have". Instead, it uses the structure "by someone there is" or "by someone there is not". The word у means "by" or "at", and it always requires the following noun to take the Genitive case, changing студент to студента.
Why does the word for choice (выбор) end in an "a" in нет выбора?
Because of the word нет. Just as нет changed the pronoun он to его earlier in the sentence, it also forces the noun выбор into the Genitive case. Since выбор is a masculine noun, adding an "a" to the end gives us the Genitive form выбора.
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