Ah! That makes sense, kozyablo--so the first one really is more like "does a textbook exist at him" (which is how a similiar sentence is presented in the pimsleur cds (which I'm using to actually practice speaking out loud!), while the second stresses the 'who has the textbook' part? The coverage in the book is a bit vague on using he interrogative particle ли to emphasize part of the sentence, I think I see how this works. How would I ask if he has a textbook (vs some other kind of book)? The word order in English won't change, just the stress -- Has he a textbook? The ли should follow учебник, yes? есть учебник ли у него? Does he have a textbook (and not a novel)?

Would the third option that is presented for asking questions, есть ли у него учебник? also add a slightly different intent? The section on interrogatives suggests (at least at this early point in the book) that у меня? у меня есть? and есть ли у меня? all are 'have I?'. I know this seems really nit-picky, but I want to make sure that I understand why certain structures have certain subtle implications now, since I imagine it gets more complicated; the textbook doesn't really explain the 'why' of things sometimes.

And thank you, CoffeeCup - if it's "(no) him at home..." that explains it. I would say "he is not at home" in English, whereas the Russian is comes at it from the other direction.

Another question: I learned "now" as сейчас and it's presented in the lesson as теперь. Equivalent? My dictionary is apparently too simple to really explain the difference.

Thanks!