Did you enjoy reading Chapter 17 of Bulgakov’s “Master and Margarita”? «Лично» [personally], I love all of it, from the sniffing dog «Тузбубен» whose «кличка» [name] literally means Ace of Diamonds to the empty suit, «ведущий дела» [conducting business] to the hapless and unwilling «хор» [choir].

But what I love even more is the great examples of everyday conversational Russian. Consider the case of the word «нету» [no] that appears throughout the chapter. Is it just a careless way of saying «нет» [no]?

It seems to be used interchangeably with the word «нет»:

«Никакого мага там не оказалось. Самого Лиходеева тоже нет. Домработницы Груни нету, и куда она девалась, никто не знает.» [No magician was to be found. Nor was Likhodeyev. Grunya the maid wasn’t there either, and no one knew where she had gone.]

«Но прошло десять минут, а его нету.» [But then ten minutes passed, but he wasn’t back yet.]

Then again a lot of times «нету» comes up in «прямая речь» [direct or quoted speech], as in

«Сдачи, что ли, нету?» – робко спросил бухгалтер.

[“Are you short on change?” the bookkeeper asked timidly.]

«Нету, нету, нету, милые мои! – кричала она, обращаясь неизвестно к кому. – Пиджак и штаны тут, а в пиджаке ничего нету!»

[“He’s not there, not there, not there, my dears!” she was screaming, to no one knows whom. “His jacket and trousers are there, but there’s nothing in the jacket!”]

Ok, no more suspense – yes, such word exists as confirmed by a number of most-respected dictionaries of Russian language. It is generally used as «сказуемое» [a predicate] – a word or phrase in a sentence that answers the question of what the object of the sentence is doing, did in the past or will do in the future.

It’s true that in many cases the words «нет» and «нету» can be used interchangeably, although the latter is viewed as «просторечие»  [vernacular], «разговорная речь» [everyday speech].

So if you’re talking about an absence of something or someone, go ahead and use «нету» instead of «нет» if you wish:

«Нет, денег у меня нету.» [No, I don’t have money.] – handy when talking to whomever it is you don’t feel like «дать взаймы до получки» [to lend money ‘til payday]

«Нет у нас подушки, нету одеяла» [We have neither a pillow, nor a blanket]. That’s actually a line from «Кошкин дом» [Cat’s House], a beloved old cartoon.

«У меня нету слов!» [The words fail me!]. It’s well-known that a person who indignantly proclaims this is impossible to shut up.

«Результатов лотереи ещё нету» [There are no lottery results yet]

However, if «нет» is used as a negative determiner, then it can’t be replaced with «нету» without losing the original meaning. Example would be the phrase «Он приехал или нет?» [Has he arrived or not?] or a popular (in the US) anti-drug slogan «Просто скажи – нет» [Just say “no”]. Using «нету» in the former sounds funny while in the latter it changes the meaning of the phrase to “Just say “there are none”.

Finally, a quick note on the word «нетушки» [no] – it is a diminutive of «нет», not of «нету». It is a vernacular particle that’s used mostly by children (and by adults who act childishly) to express their «несогласие» [disagreement] and «протест» [objection] tinged with «обида» [bitterness].

«Нетушки, я не буду делиться с Васей игрушками!» [No way I will share toys with Vasya!]