Breakdown of У него есть двигатель, который работает тихо.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
работать
to work
тихо
quietly
у
at, by
есть
is, there is, to have
который
which / who / that (relative pronoun)
двигатель
engine
Questions & Answers about У него есть двигатель, который работает тихо.
Why does который end in -ый in this sentence?
Который translates to "which" or "that". It acts like an adjective, so its ending must match the noun it refers back to: двигатель (engine). Because двигатель is a masculine, singular noun, we use the masculine singular form который. It is in the Nominative case here because "that" is the subject doing the action ("working") in the second part of the sentence.
Why does У него есть translate to "It has" instead of "He has"?
In Russian, он (he) and оно (it) share the same forms in most cases. So у него can mean either "he has" or "it has". In this context, it refers to a machine or vehicle having an engine, so "it has" makes the most sense.
Wait, why is it у него and not у его?
When third-person pronouns (like он, она, оно, or они) come directly after a preposition like у, an н- is added to the beginning to make it easier to pronounce. That is why его becomes него.
Learn У него есть двигатель, который работает тихо 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