мець

Having with Мець

Level 3Sounds Like mecʹ

Besides у мяне ёсць, Belarusian often uses the verb мець (to have): Я маю пытанне (I have a question).

How It Works

1. Forms. Present: я маю, ты маеш, ён мае, мы маем, вы маеце, яны маюць. Past: меў (he), мела (she), мела (it), мелі (they). Future: буду мець.

2. Мець or у мяне ёсць? Both mean to have. У мяне ёсць is the everyday choice for things and people: У мяне ёсць брат. Мець is more common in Belarusian than its Russian counterpart. It is neutral and frequent with abstract things (час, пытанне, магчымасць, права, досвед) and in more formal speech.

  • Я маю пытанне. (I have a question.)
  • Ці маеце вы час заўтра? (Do you have time tomorrow?)
  • Раней мы мелі сабаку. (We used to have a dog.)

3. The object. The thing you have is a direct object in the accusative, so animate nouns follow the animate accusative: Я маю брата і сястру.

4. With не. After a negated мець, the thing is usually in the genitive: Я не маю часу. Ён не мае грошай. See у мяне няма for the everyday way to say this.

5. Useful set phrases. мець рацыю (to be right), мець на ўвазе (to mean), мець справу з (to deal with). Мець with an infinitive (supposed to) is taught separately in мець + інфінітыў.

Examples (6)

  1. Я маю пытанне.

    I have a question.

  2. Ці маеце вы час заўтра?

    Do you have time tomorrow?

  3. Ты маеш рацыю.

    You are right.

    Мець рацыю is a set phrase: literally, to have reason.

  4. Я не маю часу.

    I don't have time.

    After не, час takes the genitive часу.

  5. Што ты маеш на ўвазе?

    What do you mean?

  6. Раней мы мелі сабаку.

    We used to have a dog.

    Мелі is the plural past; сабака → сабаку in the accusative.

Common Mistakes

  • Building the present tense from the past stem ме-.

    Я мею пытанне.
    Я маю пытанне.

    The present of мець is маю, маеш, мае. The -ме- stem appears only in the past: меў, мела.

  • Keeping the accusative after не.

    Я не маю час.
    Я не маю часу.

    After a negated мець, the missing thing is normally in the genitive: час → часу.

  • Writing the masculine past with -л.

    Ён мел машыну.
    Ён меў машыну.

    Masculine past forms end in -ў in Belarusian: меў, not мел.

How It Connects

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мецьLevel 3Having with Мець

Learn This First

Мець follows у мяне ёсць.

Words in This Pattern

мець