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Есть – To Eat Or To HavePosted byon Nov 19, 2020 inlanguage,Russian for beginners

– Пить есть? – Пить есть, есть нет.

Есть пить – To eat a drink?
Not really. This funny play on words was popular in the USSR.

Есть” [jes’t’] are two distinct, not connected etymologically, homonymous verbs in Russian. Before theorthographic reformof 1918, they were even spelled differently: as “есть” ((it) is) and “ѣсть” (to eat). After that, the letter “ѣ” (Yat) was replaced with “е.” There is no writing distinction anymore.

The first one is the infinitive form of “to eat” (есть/кушать).
This word does not mean anything other than “to eat food”:
“Я люблюестьпоздно вечером.”– “I like to eat late at night.”
Естьфрукты полезно для здоровья.”– “Eating fruit is good for your health.”

To eat

Image byMiroslav VajdicfromFlickr

The second one is the third person present tense singular from “to be” (“is”):
– with the meaning of “there is/are” when expressing availability, existence, or presence:
“В домеестьдве спальни”– “There are two bedrooms in the house.”
Естьли в России пустыня?”– “Is there a desert in Russia?”

– rarely used for emphasis (usually omitted when used with a person or a thing):
“Кто тыесть?”– “Who are you (at all)?”
“Любовьестьсила жизни”– “Love is the power of life”

-when expressing possession (to have (иметь)
It is a common way to denote a construct of “someone having something.” The basic formula here is “У“+genitive+”есть“+nominative.
In Russian, we rarely use “I have something” (“яимеючто-то”) for speaking about possession. We usually literally say, “at someone there is something”:
“У негоестьяблоко”– “He has an apple.”
“У тебяестьсовесть?”– “Do you have a conscience?”
“Онимеетяблоко”and “Тыимеешьсовесть?” sound unnatural.

Often “есть” and “иметь” are used interchangeably. But “иметь” is more formal:
“Ответчикимеетвличнойсобственностиквартиру в Кировской области.”– “The defendant owns an apartment in the Kirov region.”
Although a sentence with “иметь” may be grammatically correct, in everyday speech, the verb “есть” is used much more frequently. However, in some set phrases, we cannot replace “иметь”:
“Это неимеетсмысла”– “It makes no sense” or“Яимеюв виду”– “I mean”.

Coffee

Image byNenad StojkovicfromFlickr

In negative sentences, we use “нет” meaning “не + есть”. So you don’t put the verb “есть” in the sentence:
“У негонетяблока.”– “He doesn’t have an apple.”
“У тебянетсовести.”– “You have no conscience.”

There is also a military expression,Есть!”, which means “Yes, sir!” Nowhere else is this verb used in this meaning.

Thus, based on the above, “Естьпить? Питьесть,естьнет.” translates as:
“Is there anything to drink? There is something to drink, but there is nothing to eat”

or “(У тебя)есть(что-нибудь) пить? Пить (у меня)есть, (но)есть(у меня)нет.” – “Do you have anything to drink? I have something to drink, but I don’t have anything to eat.”

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Comments:

  1. Pavel Gromnic:

    I very much enjoy the new vocabulary and grammar I learn here. I’m pretty old, in my seventies, But have loved Russia, the language, customs, and history for all my life. Thank you all so much for enriching my life and giving me insights to a beautiful people.

    • Nadya:

      @Pavel GromnicThank you, Pavel! Glad you found this helpful.
      Hope to see you on this blog again.