Learn Russian: У него интересное хобби.

In Russian, to express possession, we do not usually use a verb for 'to have'. Instead, we use the preposition У (meaning 'by' or 'at'), followed by the person, and then the thing they possess. So, У него literally means 'At him [is]'.

Why is the letter 'г' in 'него' pronounced like a 'v'?

This is a special pronunciation rule in Russian. In the endings of adjectives and pronouns in the genitive case (like -его or -ого), the letter г is pronounced as a 'v' sound. So, него is pronounced 'nevo'.

I learned the word for 'his/him' is 'его'. Why is there an 'н' at the beginning of 'него' here?

Whenever a third-person pronoun (like он for 'he' or они for 'they') comes directly after a preposition (like У), Russian adds an н- to the beginning of the pronoun to make it flow better. That is why его becomes него after У.

Why does the adjective 'интересное' end in '-ое'?

An adjective must match the gender of the noun it describes. The noun хобби (hobby) is a neuter word in Russian. The ending -ое is the standard dictionary ending for neuter adjectives.

Does the word 'хобби' change its ending if it is used in different grammatical roles?