Breakdown of Вечеринка завтра, потому что у меня день рождения.
день
day
потому что
because
меня
me
у
at, by
завтра
tomorrow
рождение
birth
вечеринка
party
день рождения
birthday
Questions & Answers about Вечеринка завтра, потому что у меня день рождения.
Why is there no word for "is" in the first part of the sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" is almost always left out. So, Вечеринка завтра literally translates to just "Party tomorrow."
Why do we say у меня here instead of using the word for "my"?
You could technically say мой день рождения (my birthday), but saying у меня день рождения is the most natural way Russians express this. It literally means "I have a birthday" or "by me is a birthday," using the exact same structure you already know for saying you own something.
Why does день рождения consist of two words?
Russian does not have a single combined word for "birthday." Instead, it uses день (day) followed by рождения, which is the Genitive case of рождение (birth). Literally, it means "day of birth." You will see this exact same Genitive "of" pattern when learning to say dates and months in this lesson!
If the sentence was "it is his birthday," would the word рождения change?
No, the phrase день рождения (day of birth) acts as a fixed unit. To say it is his birthday, you only change the person: у него день рождения. The word рождения stays in the Genitive case no matter whose birthday it is.
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