у мене немає

In Ukrainian, possession is often viewed through the lens of existence. To say you don't have something, you use a structure that describes the absence of that thing near you.

1. The Structure:

• Preposition: Use у or в. Use у at the start of a sentence before a consonant, between consonants, or before words starting with в, ф, or consonant clusters like св, хв, тв, льв (e.g., у світі, у Львові). Use в at the start of a sentence before a vowel, or after a vowel if the next word doesn't start with в or ф.
• The Possessor: The person who 'has' the item must be in the Genitive case (e.g., мене, тебе, нас). Regular nouns and names also take the Genitive case (e.g., у брата, у Марії). Note that third-person pronouns add an н- prefix after prepositions: нього, неї, них.
• Dropping the Possessor: If the context is clear, you can drop the possessor entirely and just say what is missing (e.g., Немає грошей - There is no money / I don't have money).
• The Negative Word: Немає is the standard form. It is invariant, meaning it never changes regardless of the gender or number of the object. Crucially, the affirmative word є completely disappears in negative sentences and is entirely replaced by немає. In casual speech, you will often hear the shortened version нема. Be careful with spelling: немає (one word) means 'there is no', while не має (two words) means 'he/she/it does not have' (e.g., він не має).
• The Object: The thing you don't have must be in the Genitive case. Notice the shift from the affirmative: in у мене є (I have), the object is in the Nominative case, but in the negative, it shifts to the Genitive case.

2. Past and Future Tense:
To talk about not having something in other tenses, the structure remains the same, but the negative word changes:

• Past: Use не було (e.g., у мене не було часу). Unlike the affirmative past tense forms (був, була, було, були) which change to agree with the subject's gender and number, the negative form не було is invariant.
• Future: Use не буде (e.g., у мене не буде грошей). Note that не буде never changes to the plural не будуть in this construction, even if the missing object is plural (e.g., У нас не буде грошей - We will not have money).

Both forms are invariant and always govern the Genitive case.

3. Alternative Construction:
You can also use я не маю (I do not have). This is a common, natural alternative in everyday speech. They are synonymous and interchangeable, but я не маю is a native construction highly encouraged in formal, official, and literary contexts. The object of я не маю is usually in the Genitive case, though the Accusative case is also allowed for specific, concrete objects (e.g., я не маю цю книжку).