To Have Or Not To Have

  • Имам is the verb ’to have'
  • Usually a verb can be negated using the не particle
  • In the case of имам there is a specific verb: нямам
  • Имам котка - I have a cat
  • Иямам котка - I don’t have a cat

Conjugation of both verbs at the present tense:

имамнямам
Iазимамнямам
youтиимашнямаш
he/she/itтой/тя/тоиманяма
weниеимаменямаме
youвиеиматенямате
theyтеиматнямат

This is the standard example of conjugation of verbs of the 3rd group. These are verbs that end in -ам, such as харесвам (to like) and искам (to want). The conjugation of these two and many others can be done in the same way:

харесвамискам
Iазхаресвамискам
youтихаресвашискаш
he/she/itтой/тя/тохаресваиска
weниехаресвамеискаме
youвиехаресватеискате
theyтехаресватискат

References