Thread: он не в Москве :?:

That's quite easy.

First, compare:

Книга не на столе. - The book is not on the table. (it's somewhere else, probably, on the floor, or in the bag...)

Книги нет на столе. - There is no book on the table. (it doesn't exist there)

Exactly the same in Russian:

Он не в Москве. - He is not in Moscow. (he is somewhere else:
in St.Petersburg, or in New York, or...)

Его нет в Москве. - It should be "There is no him in Moscow", but this phrase is impossible in English, so you just say "He is not in Moscow". However, it means "he does not exist in Moscow" irrespectively where he is indeed.

Hope that helps.

Right, so it's not that Он не в Москве is gramatically incorrect, it's that it's logically incorrect. It sounds wrong or unnatural not because of the actual sentence structure, but because it simply wouldn't make sense to say it on it's own without any follow-up clarification.

I do not see anything wrong with either of the sentences, both sound equally natural. I cannot imagine any of them existing outside of a conversation, so both of them are logically fine as well. The emphasis in Его нет в Москве is on Его, while the emphasis in Он не в Москве is on в Москве . Bob has explained it, although the book example seems to be a stretch.

Good ol' Bob.!

Originally Posted by Dogboy182

Good ol' Bob.!

боб = bean