у мяне няма

Not Having with Няма

Level 1Sounds Like u mâne nâma

Няма + the genitive means "there is no" or "I do not have": У мяне няма часу (I have no time), Тут няма кавы (There is no coffee here).

How It Works

When something is not there, Belarusian does not say "is not". It uses няма and puts the missing thing in the genitive:

  • час → У мяне няма часу. (I have no time.)
  • кава → Тут няма кавы. (There is no coffee here.)
  • машына → У нас няма машыны. (We do not have a car.)

Absent people. The same pattern says that someone is not in a place: Мамы няма дома (Mom is not at home), Бацькі няма дома (Dad is not at home). With a pronoun, use its genitive: Яго няма (He is not here), Мяне заўтра не будзе (I will not be here tomorrow).

Endings. Most feminine nouns in -а take -ы or -і (кава → кавы). Masculine nouns take -а (брат → брата) or, for many substances and abstract ideas, -у (час → часу). See genitive singular endings. Plural-only words take a plural genitive: грошы → У мяне няма грошай.

Past and future. Няма is only for the present. For other times, say не было or не будзе with the same genitive.

Examples (6)

  1. У мяне няма часу.

    I have no time.

    Word by Word: At me there-is-no time.

    Час becomes часу in the genitive.

  2. Тут няма кавы.

    There is no coffee here.

  3. Бацькі няма дома.

    Dad is not at home.

    Бацька becomes бацькі in the genitive.

  4. У нас няма машыны.

    We do not have a car.

  5. Мамы няма, яна на працы.

    Mom is not here, she is at work.

  6. У мяне няма грошай.

    I have no money.

    Грошы is plural only, so it takes the genitive plural грошай.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the missing thing in the nominative.

    У мяне няма час.
    У мяне няма часу.

    After няма, the missing thing is always in the genitive.

  • Using я as the subject of няма.

    Я няма дома.
    Мяне няма дома.

    Няма has no subject. The absent person is in the genitive: мяне, яго, яе.

  • Negating ёсць with не.

    У мяне не ёсць брата.
    У мяне няма брата.

    The negative of ёсць is the single word няма.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

у мяне нямаLevel 1Not Having with Няма

Learn This First

Not having is the negative of having.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

няма