иметь

Russian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *jьměti. Compare Belarusian мець (mjecʹ), Bulgarian имам (imam), Ukrainian ма́ти (máty), Polish mieć, Serbo-Croatian имати/imati, Old Church Slavonic имѣти (iměti).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ɪˈmʲetʲ]
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

име́ть • (imétʹimpf (verbal noun име́ние)

  1. to have, to possess
    Я хочу́ име́ть друзе́й.Ja xočú imétʹ druzéj.I want to have friends.
    • 1876, Russian Synodal Bible, Mark 6:18:
      Ибо Иоанн говорил Ироду: не должно тебе иметь жену брата твоего.
      Ibo Ioann govoril Irodu: ne dolžno tebe imetʹ ženu brata tvojevo.
      John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
  2. (euphemistic, colloquial) to fuck, to have
    име́ть кого́-тоimétʹ kovó-toto fuck someone (literally, “to have someone”)
  3. (archaic) to have to; to be obliged (to do something)

Usage notes

Иметь is rarely used in Russian with the sense of 'have', except with abstract concepts, most often in set expressions (име́ть в виду́ (imétʹ v vidú, to mean, to have in mind), име́ть права́ (imétʹ pravá, to have rights), etc.). The most common way to express possession is "у (u) + possessor [in the genitive] + есть (jestʹ) + possession [in the nominative]". However, иметь (imetʹ) is commonly used when an infinitive is needed, as in the above example sentence.

Conjugation

Derived terms