Questions & Answers about У Ивана есть два рубля.
Why does the sentence start with У Ивана instead of just Иван?
In Russian, to say that someone has something, you literally say "By [person] there is...". This requires the preposition у followed by the person's name in the genitive case. The genitive form of Иван is Ивана.
Why is the word for two два instead of две?
The number two changes based on the gender of the noun it counts. You use два for masculine and neuter nouns, and две for feminine nouns. Because the currency рубль is a masculine noun, we use два.
If there are two of them, why does the sentence use рубля instead of a plural form?
This is a very important rule for Russian numbers: after the numbers 2, 3, and 4, you do not use the plural! Instead, you must use the genitive singular form of the noun. The genitive singular of рубль is рубля.
How do I form the genitive singular for a word like рубль?
For masculine nouns ending in a soft sign like рубль, you drop the soft sign and add -я. This is why рубль becomes рубля.
Learn У Ивана есть два рубля and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free