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была кошка

had a cat

→ быть
phrase Uncommon #20,834
had a cat In a sentence with у + a person, this means that the person had a cat. Elsewhere, it can mean “there was a cat” or “it was a cat.”
RU: У меня в детстве была кошка.
EN: I had a cat when I was a child.

У Тома была кошка.

Tom had a cat.

Возможно, это была кошка.

It might have been a cat.

Были брат и сестра — Вася и Катя; и у них была кошка.

There were a brother and sister, Vasya and Katya, and they had a cat.

У Вас была кошка.

You had a cat.

У Марии была кошка.

Maria had a cat.