Breakdown of У этого варианта есть серьёзный недостаток, однако мы должны продолжать.
мы
we
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
у
at, by
есть
is, there is, to have
Questions & Answers about У этого варианта есть серьёзный недостаток, однако мы должны продолжать.
Why use однако here instead of но or зато?
Однако means however and introduces a formal or strong contrast. While you could use но (but) here, однако sounds slightly more professional and emphasizes the contradiction. You wouldn't use зато because зато implies a positive compensating factor (like saying on the plus side), whereas here the second half of the sentence is just a required action despite the negative first half.
Why do we use the у ... есть structure for an option having a disadvantage?
In Russian, the у [someone/something] есть structure isn't just for people owning physical things. It is also the standard way to express that an abstract concept possesses a certain characteristic, feature, or part. So, just like a person has a book, an option has a disadvantage.
What case is этого варианта and why?
It is in the genitive case. The preposition у always requires the genitive case, so the masculine nominative phrase этот вариант changes to этого варианта.
Why is продолжать (to continue) in the imperfective aspect?
The verb продолжать focuses on the ongoing process of doing something. When used after modal words like должны (must/obliged to), the imperfective aspect emphasizes that the action is a continuous, ongoing effort rather than a single, quickly completed event.