У меня or мне before не- words

Question

Which one is correctly written?

У меня не с кем говорить
Мне не с кем говорить

Thanks!

What did you mean to say? They are both correct, they just mean different things. — Sergey Slepov, Jul 20 '18 at 15:37

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 19 '18 at 14:46

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They are both grammatically correct, but mean different things:

У меня не с кем говорить means "There is none to talk to at my place".

Мне не с кем говорить means "I don't have anyone to talk to".

Note that using imperfective говорить in these sentences assumes some context:

— Поговори с кем-нибудь! — Мне не с кем говорить.

If you just want to state the fact you don't have anyone to talk to, use the perfective verb поговорить.

answered Jul 19 '18 at 14:46

Quassnoi

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More specifically, I would like to say "I have no one to talk to in Russian where I live". Then it would become "у меня не с кем говорить на русском", right? – swrutra Jul 19 '18 at 14:58
@swrutra: у меня in this particular construction means "at my something", like "place", "house", "job" etc. This assumes that there are no Russian speakers at this place, not necessarily for you to talk in Russian to, but for anyone. This is something you'd say to a Russian-only speaker if you invited them to your place: приходи ко мне, но имей в виду: у меня не с кем поговорить по-русски ("you're welcome to visit, but mind you, there is no one around to talk in Russian to at my place"), so this phrase is not about you, but about the place. – Quassnoi Jul 19 '18 at 15:06
"I have no one to talk to in Russian where I live" would be у меня мне не с кем поговорить по-русски, if you wanted to emphasize that it's you who has no one to talk in Russian to at your place. Like if maybe there are some Russians around, but you'd rather not talk to them for some reason. – Quassnoi Jul 19 '18 at 15:15

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 19 '18 at 14:59

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У меня [дома, на работе] не с кем говорить. Мне [в принципе] не с кем говорить. Also may be Мне не с кем поговорить

answered Jul 19 '18 at 14:59

vmsT

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Welcome to Russian SE – Vitaly Jul 19 '18 at 18:04

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 19 '18 at 14:46

The second version is correct (I have no one to talk to). The first one sounds like: 'there's nobody to talk to at my place'. However, у меня can be used in a longer construction like this:

У меня нет никого, с кем можно было бы поговорить.

У меня or мне before не- words

3 Answers3