у

Daily used word (top 100)

Translation

1.
(possession)
у + subject in genitive case
Example: У неё́ есть маши́на. - She has a car.
2.
by, at (place)
у + object in genitive case
Example: Заброни́руй ме́сто у окна́! - Book a window seat!
3.
with
у + object in genitive case
Example: Он до́лго жил у роди́телей дру́га. - He was living with his friend's parents.
4.
from (take, borrow)
у + object in genitive case
Example: Ма́ша взяла́ это пла́тье у подру́ги. - Masha borrowed this dress from her friend.

Usage info

у окна́ - by the window У Ива́на есть маши́на - Ivan has a car This last example shows that it is imperative for learners of Russian to know that the construction literally means: 'At/near/on ... Ivan is a car'. Otherwise, people who have just the one verb for 'to have' in their native languages (and express possession in an SVO-manner) can't make head nor tail of this most Russian of ways of expressing possession ('име́ть' admittedly means 'to have', but not usually in the literal sense).