simple grammar question

[Svetlana Grenier]

Dear Nola,

> Ольга не была сегодня в магазине. Olga was not in the shop today
>  
>
But really the sentence means "she did not go to/show up at  the store 
today"

 To say "She was not in the shop/She was absent from the shop today" you 
would say:  Ольги сегодня не было в магазине (This implies that she 
works [or normally hangs out] there but was not at work today).  Thus,

Ольга не была сегодня в магазине -- means the same as
Ольга не ходила сегодня в магазин.

As in: Вчера мы были в кино =  Вчера мы ходили в кино.

So in such examples the subject is "present" in the sentence and 
performs or does not perform some action (going somewhere)..  Therefore 
the verb agrees with the subject.  The sentence answers the implied 
question about Olga's trip to the store.

In your second example the subject is absent from a place, and that is 
the focus of the sentence; therefore, the negative verb with the 
genitive shows that absence.  The same  goes for 

>Тогда  её не было в Москве. At that time, she wasn't in Moscow.= She was absent from Moscow.
>
>The implication is that she lives in Moscow and was not there.  But, for example, she lives in the US.  We would say that she "never was in Moscow": Ольга (никогда еще) не была в Москве.
>
My two cents!
Best,
Svetlana

-- 
Svetlana S. Grenier

Associate Professor
Department of Slavic Languages
Box 571050
Georgetown University
Washington, DC 20057-1050
202-687-6108
greniers at georgetown.edu

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