Word
У меня два уха.
Meaning
I have two ears.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
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Questions & Answers about У меня два уха.
Why do we use два here instead of две?
The word for ear, ухо, is a neuter noun because it ends in -o. In Russian, the number two has different forms depending on the gender of the noun: два is used for masculine and neuter nouns, while две is used for feminine nouns. Since ухо is neuter, we must use два.
Why does the word for ear change to уха?
In Russian, when you count with the numbers 2, 3, and 4, the noun that follows must be in the genitive singular case. To form the genitive singular of a neuter noun like ухо, you change the final -o to an -a, which gives us уха.
Isn't the plural word for ears уши? Why aren't we using it here?
Yes, уши is the correct plural form! It is a tricky irregular plural. However, because the number 2 strictly requires the genitive singular case, we cannot use the plural form here. We have to use уха. You would use уши when talking about ears generally (like "My ears hurt") or if you were counting 5 or more, which triggers a different grammar rule.