Questions & Answers about Там машина брата.
Why is there no word for "is" in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense verb for "to be" (am, is, are) is almost always left out. So instead of saying "Over there is a car," you simply say Там машина (Over there a car).
The translation says "my brother's", but where is the word for "my"?
There isn't one! In Russian, if it's obvious from the situation whose brother it is, words like "my" are often dropped. If you wanted to be very specific, you could add it and say Там машина моего брата, but leaving it out is completely natural.
Why does the word for brother (брат) end in an "a" here?
To show possession (like adding "'s" in English or saying "of the"), Russian changes the ending of the noun. This is called the Genitive case. For most masculine words ending in a consonant like брат, you simply add -а to the end, making it брата.
Why does брата come after машина instead of before it?
In English, we put the owner first ("brother's car"). In Russian, when using the Genitive case to show possession, the owner usually comes after the object they own. So машина брата acts like the English phrasing "the car of the brother".
Learn Там машина брата 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