I have / I don't have in Russian

  In Russian we rarely use the verb иметь (to have) when talking about owning something. The most common way to say you have something is to use у меня есть:

У меня есть собака. - I have a dog.

У тебя есть телефон. - You have a phone.

У тебя есть эта штука? - Do you have this thing?

У вас есть блендер? - Do you have a blender?

If you don't have something, you use у меня нет:

У меня нет времени. - I don't have time.

У меня нет сил. - I'm tired (literally: I don't have powers).

У него нет денег. - He doesn't have money.

У них нет детей. - They don't have kids.

У меня нет никакого желания это делать. - I don't have any desire to do it.

In colloquial we often skip есть completely:

У меня собака. - I have a dog.

У меня много дел. - I'm busy (I have a lot to do).
У неё красивые глаза. - She has beautiful eyes.

У России много проблем. - Russia has many problems.

Сил нет. - I'm tired.

Время есть? - Do you have time?

Есть пять минут? - Do you have five minutes?

Нет времени на уборку. - No time for cleaning.

У меня живут собака и кошка. - I have a dog and a cat (here есть is replaced with живут - [they] live, so the sentences can be translated as “A dog and a cat live with me”).

У меня много книг. А у вас?

I have a lot of books. What about you?

Now your turn. Write me about what you have — in Russian :)