Archives for: January 2010, 21
Иметь
January 21st, 2010 by DonThe primary meaning of the verb иметь is “to own, possess.” It's a fairly straightforward first conjugation verb:
| to own, possess | |
| Imperfective | |
| Infinitive | иметь |
| Past | имел имела имело имели |
| Present | имею имеешь имеет имеем имеете имееют |
| Future |
буду иметь будешь иметь будет иметь будем иметь будете иметь будут иметь |
| Imperative | имей(те) |
The owner goes in the nominative case, and the thing owned goes in the accusative case:
| Мой брат — меломан, он имеет семьсот тридцать шесть пластинок. | My brother is a music fanatic. He owns seven hundred thirty-six records. |
| — У вас две пары очков? — Да что вы, я имею четыре пары очков. |
“You have two pairs of glasses?” “Give me a break: I own four pairs of glasses.” |
| Когда я буду взрослой, я буду иметь три машины. | When I grow up, I will own three cars. |
| До распада экономики я имел два дома, а теперь снимаю комнату у бабушки. | Before the economic collapse I owned two houses, but now I'm renting a room from my grandmother. |
Although all the sentences above are perfectly grammatical, I should point out that using иметь for “to own/have” is stylistically marked. It's more formal, higher style, and sometimes more emphatic, than the “у кого есть” construction, so don't automatically assume it's the best way to say “to own.” Soon we'll discuss the overlap between иметь sentences and «у кого есть» sentences.
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