Re: When do you use "есть"?
Actually, you can say "У него теперь есть новая машина", it isn't a mistake and isn't unnatural.
As for the "rule" about singular objects, the sentence "У него есть апельсины" is more natural for me, than "У него апельсины".
I'd say, it doesn't sound good, when a pronoun is near an object ("У него машина"), so we put "есть" to separate them ("У него есть машина"). But if there is some word between them you don't need in "есть" ("У него красная машина").
And some words about logical stress. If you say "У него есть красная машина", the word "есть" is stressed, so you firstly want to say he has a car. If you say "У него красная машина", you firstly want to say his car is red.
It's really difficult to explain. "У него настоящий друг" (without есть) sounds not very good in spite of my words above :)
But there is a thing I know exactly. In most cases you should prefer passive voice + есть rather than active voice + имею ("У меня есть машина" instead of "Я имею машину")
Re: When do you use "есть"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pranki
Actually, you can say "У него теперь есть новая машина", it isn't a mistake and isn't unnatural.
That is good! That means the singular object "rule" works.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pranki
As for the "rule" about singular objects, the sentence "У него есть апельсины" is more natural for me, than "У него апельсины".
I can understand this also because апельсины acts like a collective noun.
"He has (a bunch) of oranges."
I am guessing that "У него есть дома" would sound weird because it is difficult to imagine houses as being a collective noun.
Whereas "У него есть туфли" would sound fine.
Re: When do you use "есть"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwatts59
Quote:
Originally Posted by pranki
Actually, you can say "У него теперь есть новая машина", it isn't a mistake and isn't unnatural.
That is good! That means the singular object "rule" works.
These sentences are a little different though. As other people noted, "u nego teper' est' novaja mashina" places the emphasis on the existence of the car (which perhaps he did not have before and rode a bike), and "u nego teper' novaja mashina" would normally be used to mean that he has replaced his old car with a new one.
Re: When do you use "есть"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwatts59
The following do NOT use "есть" because the direct object is plural.
He has many friends - у него много друзей
He has two kids - у него двое детей
Now my 2 kopeks:
He has some friends - У него есть друзья.
He has kids - У него есть дети.
;)
Re: When do you use "есть"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwatts59
The following use "есть" because the direct object is singular.
You have a choice - у вас есть выбор.
He has a friend - у него есть друг
He has a car - у него есть машина
He has a cat - у него есть кошка
The following do NOT use "есть" because the direct object is plural.
He has many friends - у него много друзей
He has two kids - у него двое детей
неверно, совершенно нормально будет звучать и так:
You have a choice - у вас выбор.
He has a friend - у него друг
He has a car - у него машина
He has a cat - у него кошка
и так:
He has friends - у него есть друзья
He has kids - у него есть дети
Re: When do you use "есть"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by HA
неверно, совершенно нормально будет звучать и так:
You have a choice - у вас выбор.
He has a friend - у него друг
He has a car - у него машина
He has a cat - у него кошка
и так:
He has friends - у него есть друзья
He has kids - у него есть дети
No. As mentioned above, you use "есть" to indicate the fact of possession. Your examples can be correct but only in praticular contexts.
У него собака? Нет, у него кошка.
У него мотоцикл? Нет, у него машина.
Here the possession is implied (it is known that he has an animal or a vehicle), so "есть" is not used.
But if you're going to say that he has a cat without any context, you should say "у него есть кошка".
Another example:
Он очень богатый. У него огромый дом в престижном районе, несколько шикарных машин, собственный самолет.
Here the second sentence is used to prove the first one, not to indicate the possession, so "есть" is not necessary (but also correct).