How to Say "I have" in Russian: есть and иметь

In English, possession is built around one verb — to have. Russian works differently. Instead of one verb of possession, it uses a construction with the verb есть (there is / there are), and the verb име́ть (to have) — though it exists — is almost never used the way English speakers expect.

Let's look at three patterns: when to use есть, when to drop it, and where име́ть actually belongs.

У меня́ есть = "I have" (focus on existence)

Use есть when the focus of your sentence is the fact of existence — whether the thing is there at all. The construction is

• У + Genitive case + есть + Nominative case.

To learn how to form the Genitive case, read this article: Genitive Case: Basics – Nouns and Personal Pronouns.

Examples:

• У бра́та есть маши́на. — My brother has a car.
• У Ани есть соба́ка. — Ania has a dog.
• У студе́нтов есть вопро́сы. — The students have questions.
• У нас есть вре́мя. — We have time.
• — Молоко́ есть? — Есть. — "Is there any milk?" "Yes, there is."

The test: if the question behind your sentence is "does this thing exist, yes or no?" — keep есть.

У меня́ + … = describing quantity, quality, or state (no есть)

Drop есть when the focus shifts from "is it there?" to "what is it like?" or "how much of it?". In these cases, existence is already taken for granted — the new information is the description.

Quantity:

• У Мари́ны мно́го друзе́й. — Marina has a lot of friends.
• У сосе́да два сы́на. — The neighbour has two sons.
• У студе́нтов ма́ло вре́мени. — The students have little time.

Qualities and characteristics:

• У мое́й сестры́ голубы́е глаза́. — My sister has blue eyes.
• У Ива́на краси́вая жена́. — Ivan has a beautiful wife.
• У ба́бушки больша́я кварти́ра. — Grandma has a big apartment.

States, illnesses, sensations:

• У ребёнка боли́т голова́. — The child has a headache.
• У бра́та температу́ра. — My brother has a fever.
• У колле́ги грипп. — My colleague has the flu.

Events, plans, schedules:

• У студе́нтов за́втра экза́мен. — The students have an exam tomorrow.
• У роди́телей сего́дня го́сти. — My parents have guests today.

Compare:

• У Ма́ши есть соба́ка. — Masha has a dog. (Reporting existence.)
• У Ма́ши больша́я соба́ка. — Masha has a big dog. (Describing the dog.)

Rule of thumb: if the English version can be rephrased as "does she have one, yes or no?" — keep есть. If it can be rephrased as "what kind?" or "how many?" — drop есть.

Име́ть = "to have" (but mostly in set phrases)

Russian does have a verb that means to have — име́ть. It conjugates normally:

• я име́ю, ты име́ешь, он / она́ име́ет, мы име́ем, вы име́ете, они́ име́ют.

But Russians almost never use it for everyday possession. Saying Я име́ю маши́ну for "I have a car" is grammatically correct but sounds wrong — like a textbook translation. Native speakers always say У меня́ есть маши́на.

Име́ть is alive in three specific contexts.

1. Fixed expressions — here you have no choice

• име́ть значе́ние — to matter → Э́то не име́ет значе́ния. — It doesn't matter.
• име́ть пра́во — to have the right → Ты не име́ешь пра́ва так говори́ть. — You have no right to say that.
• име́ть возмо́жность — to have the opportunity → Не все име́ют возмо́жность путеше́ствовать. — Not everyone has the opportunity to travel.
• име́ть в виду́ — to mean, to have in mind → Что ты име́ешь в виду́? — What do you mean?
• име́ть де́ло с — to deal with → Я не хочу́ име́ть с ним де́ла. — I don't want to deal with him.
• име́ть успе́х — to have success → Его́ но́вый фильм име́ет большо́й успе́х. — His new film is a great success.
• име́ть о́пыт — to have experience → Она́ име́ет большо́й о́пыт рабо́ты с детьми́. — She has a lot of experience working with children.
• име́ть влия́ние — to have influence → Роди́тели име́ют большо́е влия́ние на дете́й. — Parents have a great influence on their children.

Did you notice something in the negative examples above? Не име́ет значе́ния, не име́ешь пра́ва, не хочу́ име́ть де́ла — the noun isn't in its dictionary form. This is the genitive of negation: when a verb is negated, its direct object often shifts from the accusative into the genitive, especially with abstractions like значе́ние → значе́ния (meaning), пра́во → пра́ва (right), де́ло → де́ла (business).

2. Formal or written Russian

• Компа́ния име́ет пра́во расто́ргнуть догово́р. — The company has the right to terminate the contract.
• Да́нное веществó име́ет высо́кую пло́тность. — This substance has a high density.

In speech this sounds stiff. In contracts, scientific texts, and official writing, it's the norm.

3. With negation

For reasons of idiom, не име́ть sounds far more natural than the positive version:

• Я не име́ю к э́тому никако́го отноше́ния. — I have nothing to do with this. (отноше́ние — relation)
• Я не име́ю поня́тия, где он. — I have no idea where he is. (поня́тие — notion)
• Я не име́ю ничего́ про́тив. — I have nothing against it.

A small warning: avoid using име́ть directly with a person (име́ть тебя́ / её). In colloquial Russian it carries a vulgar second meaning, so for personal contexts always stick with the у… есть construction.

Quick summary

Making it stick

The only way to turn this into instinct is to drill it until you stop thinking about it. Head to the Exercises tab at the top of the page and try the two practice sets that go with this article — you'll feel the difference between "it exists" and "here's what it's like" much faster once you're choosing between them yourself.