Thread: он не в Москве :?:

How can be translated this sentence:

He is not in Moscow

I think that is

Его нет в Москве

but looking in the book "Russian Learner's Dictionary: 10,000 Words in Frequency Order" I find

он не в Москве.

Yes. "Он не в москве." is correct.

No, it's not correct ever though native speakers sometimes do use it. "Он не в Москве, он в Петербурге" is correct. But just, "Он не в Москве", is not. "Его нет в Москве", is correct.

What?!? How the hell does that work?

No, it's not correct ever though native speakers sometimes do use it. "Он не в Москве, он в Петербурге" is correct. But just, "Он не в Москве", is not. "Его нет в Москве", is correct.

I quite agree with you here. Both sentences sound OK to me. "Его нет в Москве" sounds more natural in this context, though.

Crap, more to learn! I thought "его" was only "his" or "its"...
-Fantom

Or "he" in accustive or genetive.

Originally Posted by Darobat

What?!? How the hell does that work?

Beucase it's not fucking English

"He does not exist in Moscow" Literally. It's not that different from English.

Originally Posted by Vesh

... But just, "Он не в Москве", is not. "Его нет в Москве", is correct.

Care to expand on that?

I understand the nom/ gen relationship with negation, but in this case it's not Он, the grammatical and semantic subject, that's being negated, it's в Москве. So why is the first sentence wrong, if both "Он в Москве" and "Он не в Москве, он в Петербурге", are correct?

Originally Posted by scotcher

Originally Posted by Vesh

... But just, "Он не в Москве", is not. "Его нет в Москве", is correct.

Care to expand on that?

I understand the nom/ gen relationship with negation, but in this case it's not Он, the grammatical and semantic subject, that's being negated, it's в Москве. So why is the first sentence wrong, if both "Он в Москве" and "Он не в Москве, он в Петербурге", are correct?

Sorry, I'm not a teacher, I don't know why. But trust my native speaker's instincts.

Hah, I wasn't doubting your native speaker's instinct!

Fair enough if you can't explain it, my wife couldn't either, which is why I asked

So as a general rule, you can say that you use "GEN нет..." when saying that someone is not present somewhere?

Yes.

I have read that negating the verb быть is obliged to write the substantive in the genitive case. Thus, the following sentences are correct:
Ивана нет дома.
Ивана н

On a second (or ever third ) thought I can imagine following dialog:
-- Где он? В Москве?
-- Нет, он не в Москве.
It implies that you know where he is but don't want to say. The only thing that you are willing to say about his location is that he is not in Moscow. And it's not too polite. But it's correct.

Even Pimsleur teaches "Его нет в Москве"

you can see yourself

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0415137 ... eader-page

page 17

Its just like when you call someones house and you ask to speak with Ivan and his dad says Его нет because he's not home.

Yep! you are right. It is in there. And it is by Nicholas Brown too!

Even with that mistake it still looks like a good book. After all, no one has the perfect book or CD.

I should write it!