In short

Ukrainian has two ways to say “you” to a single person: ти and ви. Use ти with one person you are close to — a friend, a family member, a child, someone your own age you already know well. Use ви to be polite with one person you do not know, someone older, or someone in a formal role (a teacher, a shop clerk, an official). Ви is also the ordinary plural: whenever you address two or more people, it is always ви, no matter how close they are.

This is the same T/V split you may know from French (tu/vous) or German (du/Sie). It is not an honorific system — it is one simple choice about a single word, but the choice shapes every verb and pronoun you use with that person.

The rule

There are really only two questions to ask.

1. How many people am I talking to? More than one -> always ви.
2. If it is one person, do I address them informally or politely? Informal (close, familiar, a child) -> ти. Polite (a stranger, someone older, a formal setting) -> ви.

When you speak to one person with ви, the verb still takes the plural form, exactly as if you were speaking to several people. So Ви ма́єте (“you have”) looks and sounds plural even though you mean one polite “you”.

In careful, respectful writing — a letter, an email, a formal note — the polite singular ви is often capitalised as Ви to show extra respect. In ordinary speech and casual texting this capital is not required.

When you are unsure which to use with an adult you have just met, choose ви. It is never rude to be polite. Switching to ти too early can feel over-familiar; staying on ви is always safe. Ukrainians often mark the moment they become close by explicitly agreeing to switch: Дава́й на «ти» (“let’s use ти”).

Forms & patterns

The pronoun ти and the pronoun ви each carry their own verb form and their own possessive. Compare the same short sentences side by side.

Notice that the verb ending after ви is always the plural ending (-ете / -єте), and the possessive shifts from твій / твоя́ / твоє́ to ваш / ва́ша / ва́ше.

A quick look at the “you” forms of the verb бу́ти in meaning, using the present of “to have” as the model, shows the pattern that repeats across all verbs:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Ви маєш -> Ви ма́єте — with ви the verb must take the plural ending, even for one polite person.
• Ти маєте -> Ти ма́єш — with ти the verb is always singular; do not borrow the ви-form.
• (to a new adult) Ти не знаєш, де вокзал? -> Ви не зна́єте, де вокза́л? — a stranger you have just met gets ви, not ти.
• (to two friends) Ти готові? -> Ви гото́ві? — more than one person is always ви, however close they are.
• ваше ім’я, друже (to one close friend) -> твоє́ ім’я́, дру́же — with ти the possessive is твій / твоя́ / твоє́, not ваш.
• Як тебе звати? said to your new boss -> Як вас звати? — match the pronoun object to the polite level too (тебе́ is informal, вас is polite).

Tips

• Default to ви with any adult you do not already know. Politeness is never a mistake; over-familiarity can be.
• Remember the one-way rule: ви covers both “polite you (one person)” and “you all (plural)”. ти is only ever one familiar person.
• Let the verb ending confirm your choice: -еш/-єш-type singular endings go with ти; -єте/-ете plural endings go with ви.
• Use ти freely with children, close friends, family, pets, and God in prayer — these are traditionally informal.
• Watch for the switch signal Дава́й на «ти» (“let’s switch to ти”). Until you hear or offer it with a new acquaintance, stay on ви.
• In letters and emails, capitalising Ви shows respect to one addressee; lowercase ви is fine for the plural “you all” and for casual messages.
• The object and possessive forms follow the same split: informal тебе́ / тобі́ / твій go with ти; polite вас / вам / ваш go with ви.

In short

Ukrainian dislikes clumsy runs of consonants or vowels, so several tiny words come in “twin” forms that you swap to keep speech flowing smoothly. This is called милозву́чність (euphony, literally “sweet-soundedness”). The most common pairs are the preposition/prefix у / в, the conjunction і / й, and the preposition з / зі / із. The rule of thumb: pick the form that avoids piling up consonants or vowels. These are stylistic, not grammatical, choices — the meaning never changes.

The rule

Ukrainian speech alternates vowels and consonants for an even, singable rhythm. When a small function word would create an awkward cluster (two consonants jammed together, or two vowels colliding), you switch to its partner form:

• у / в — both mean “in / into / at” (or start a word). Use у near consonants (harder to pronounce otherwise) and в near vowels.
• і / й — both mean “and”. Use і near consonants and at the start of a sentence; use й to smooth a vowel that would otherwise collide.
• з / зі / із — all mean “with / from / out of”. Plain з is the default; зі appears before sibilant clusters (з-, с-, ш-, щ-, ч- + another consonant); із helps between two consonants.

The trigger is the sound on each side, not spelling: look at how the previous word ends and how the next word begins. At the very start of a sentence (a pause counts as “no vowel before”), pick the form that matches the following sound. None of this touches case — у / в still take the same case, and з / зі / із still behave identically.

Forms & patterns

у / в (“in, into, at”; also a word-initial prefix)

і / й (“and”)

з / зі / із (“with, from, out of”)

Examples

Common mistakes

• Він був в школі -> Він був у школі — a consonant on both sides (“в” + “школі”) needs у to break the cluster.
• Вона була у Одесі -> Вона була в Одесі — a vowel on both sides (“була” + “Одесі”) takes в.
• У Україні -> В Україні — before the vowel “У-” of Україна, use в, not у.
• брат й сестра -> брат і сестра — two consonants meet, so the conjunction is і.
• мама і тато -> мама й тато — after the vowel of “мама”, й flows better than і.
• з школи -> зі школи — before the cluster “шк-” the preposition expands to зі.
• взяв з столу -> взяв зі столу — before “ст-” use зі, not bare з.
• зі другом -> з другом — зі is only for sibilant clusters; here plain з is correct.

Tips

• Read the sentence aloud: whichever twin lets your mouth glide without a stumble is the right one. Euphony is literally an ear rule.
• Quick default: у / і / з next to consonants, в / й next to vowels.
• Remember the special cluster trap: у always wins before в-, ф-, and льв-/св-/тв-/хв- (у Львові, у формі, у своїй хаті), even after a vowel.
• зі is your signal for a sibilant pile-up: зі школи, зі столу, зі свята, зі мною. If the next word does not start with such a cluster, you almost never need зі.
• These forms are optional polish, not grammar. If you slip, you will still be understood perfectly — but matching them makes you sound noticeably more natural.
• The same у/в and і/й swaps also happen with the word-initial letters of some verbs and adverbs (вчора / учора, він упав / вона впала); the sound logic is identical.

In short

The nominative (називни́й відмі́нок) is the base, “dictionary” form of a noun, adjective or pronoun. Its main job is to name the subject — the person or thing that the sentence is about. It answers the questions хто? (“who?”, for people and animals) and що? (“what?”, for things and ideas). When you look a word up, this is the form you find, and this is where you should start before learning any of the other six cases.

The rule

Ukrainian marks a noun’s role in the sentence by changing its ending (its case). The nominative is the “resting” case — the one with no special job attached beyond naming. Use it for:

• The subject — the doer of the action or the thing being described: Ді́ти гра́ють (“The children are playing”).
• A naming/predicate noun after це (“this is / these are”): Це кни́га (“This is a book”). The named thing stays nominative, it does not change.
• A predicate noun in the present tense, because Ukrainian normally drops the present-tense verb “to be”: Вона́ лі́карка (“She is a doctor”). Both the pronoun and the noun are nominative.
• The label of a thing standing on its own — a title, a sign, a word in a list: Украї́на, Ки́їв, вода́.

Because the nominative is the citation form, the ending also tells you the noun’s gender: a bare consonant is usually masculine, -а/-я usually feminine, -о/-е neuter (see the gender lesson).

Forms & patterns

The nominative has no added case ending of its own — the endings below are simply the noun’s natural shape. Notice how the plural is formed, and how the stress often shifts between singular and plural.

The two questions the nominative answers:

Personal pronouns in the nominative: я, ти, він, вона́, воно́, ми, ви, вони́. These are the subject forms — the ones you meet first before the pronoun declension lesson.

Examples

Common mistakes

• Це мою́ кни́гу -> Це моя́ кни́га — a naming word after «це» stays nominative, it does not take the accusative.
• Вона́ є студе́нтка -> Вона́ студе́нтка — Ukrainian drops «є» in the present; the predicate noun stays nominative, not something “special”.
• Хло́пця чита́є -> Хло́пець чита́є — the doer of the action is the subject, so it must be nominative, never genitive or accusative.
• шука́ти «во́ду» у словнику́ -> шука́ти «вода́» у словнику́ — dictionaries cite the nominative singular, so look up вода́, not an inflected form.
• Це є стіл -> Це стіл — there is no present-tense “is”; adding «є» here sounds unnatural.

Tips

• The nominative is the form you meet in a dictionary — every noun, adjective and pronoun is listed here, so make it your reference point.
• To find the subject, ask хто? for people and animals or що? for things; the word that answers is in the nominative.
• No copula in the present: say «Це стіл», not «Це є стіл». The nominative alone carries the “is”.
• Predicate nouns after це and after a dropped «бути» stay nominative — both halves of “X is Y” share the same case.
• Learn the whole word, not just the ending: the plural frequently moves the stress (вікно́ → ві́кна, земля́ → зе́млі).
• The nominative ending is your gender clue — consonant → usually masculine, -а/-я → feminine, -о/-е → neuter.

In short

To say “X is Y” in Ukrainian present tense you use no verb at all. You simply set the subject next to what it is: Я студе́нт = “I (am a) student”. The verb бу́ти (“to be”) does have living forms, but they surface only in the past (був / була́ / було́ / були́) and the future (бу́ду / бу́деш …). English forces an “am/is/are” into every equation; Ukrainian leaves that slot empty in the present.

The rule

• Present = zero copula. A present-tense “to be” sentence is built from two parts and nothing between them: subject + predicate. Він лі́кар — “He is a doctor.” Ми ра́зом — “We are together.” There is no word for “is/are/am”.
• The one surviving present form is є. Historically бу́ти had a full present paradigm; modern standard Ukrainian keeps only є, and even that is normally dropped. Reserve є for when you must be explicit — emphatic identity (“X is indeed Y”) or existence/“there is”. You will meet it again in the “to have” pattern у ме́не є (there-is-at-me).
• Write a dash for the missing copula. When both the subject and the predicate are nouns, standard orthography marks the gap with a dash: Ки́їв — столи́ця Украї́ни (“Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine”). This is the written trace of the zero copula.
• бу́ти appears in past and future. The past agrees with the subject’s gender and number (був / була́ / було́ / були́), not with person — so я був, я була́ differ by the speaker’s gender. The future conjugates by person (бу́ду, бу́деш …).
• Negation of “is” is just не. Я не студе́нт = “I am not a student” — still no verb, only не before the predicate (see lesson 7).

Forms & patterns

Infinitive: бу́ти.

Present — the copula is normally omitted; є appears only when made explicit:

Past — one form per gender/number (no person distinction):

Future — conjugated by person:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Я є студе́нт. -> Я студе́нт. — the present copula is zero; don’t render English “am” with є.
• Це є кни́га. -> Це кни́га. — “this is …” also needs no verb; це already does the work.
• Вона́ був удо́ма. -> Вона́ була́ вдо́ма. — past бу́ти agrees with gender/number (був/була́/було́/були́), not person.
• Він був студе́нт. -> Він був студе́нтом. — after past/future бу́ти the predicate noun takes the instrumental (lesson 21), unlike the present nominative.
• Ки́їв столи́ця Украї́ни. -> Ки́їв — столи́ця Украї́ни. — in writing, put a dash where the copula is dropped between two nouns.

Tips

• Default habit: to say “X is Y” now, just put the two side by side and stop — resist the urge to insert a verb.
• Keep the present predicate in the nominative (lesson 4): Він студе́нт, not any oblique case.
• Use the dash in writing when both halves are nouns: Мій брат — інжене́р.
• Treat є as special, not default: use it for emphasis or “there is/exists”, and expect it in у ме́не є (lesson 11).
• Full бу́ти lives outside the present: past by gender/number, future by person — learn those two tiny tables and the present takes care of itself (nothing).
• Questions keep the zero copula and let intonation carry them: Ти студе́нт? (see the question-formation lesson here, and the intonation lesson in the reading & pronunciation guide).
• Watch the case switch: nominative in the present, but usually instrumental after past/future бу́ти (lesson 21).

In short

A personal pronoun (я = I, ти = you, він = he, вона́ = she) is not a frozen word. Like a Ukrainian noun, it changes shape depending on its job in the sentence: “I” is я as the subject, but мене́ as an object and мені́ as a recipient. This change is called declension (відмінювання), and it runs through the six cases. You already met the subject form in the nominative lesson; here you get the whole set in one place so that, as each new case arrives in later lessons, you can recognise the pronoun instantly. Focus first on я / ти / він / вона́ — they are the ones you will say every day.

The rule

• Ukrainian has six cases. A personal pronoun has a distinct form in most of them, so one pronoun can look like several different words. The subject form (nominative) is the “dictionary” form you have already learned: я, ти, він, вона́, воно́, ми, ви, вони́.
• Which form you pick depends on the pronoun’s role, not its meaning:
  • subject of the sentence -> nominative (я чита́ю — I read);
  • direct object of a verb -> accusative (ти зна́єш мене́ — you know me);
  • recipient “to me / to you” -> dative (дай мені́ — give to me);
  • “of / from” and after many prepositions -> genitive (для ме́не — for me);
  • “with / by” -> instrumental (зі мно́ю — with me);
  • “on / about / in” -> locative, which is always used with a preposition (на мені́ — on me).
• The н- rule (third person). The he/she/it/they forms (він, вона́, воно́, вони́) add an initial н- after a preposition: його́ -> у ньо́го, її́ -> до не́ї, їх -> на них. Bare його́ / її́ / їх are used only without a preposition.
• Register. ти addresses one person you are close to; ви is polite to one person and the only form for a group. Both decline the same way as any other pronoun (вас, вам, ва́ми).

Forms & patterns

Singular pronouns (parenthesised forms are the н- variants used after a preposition):

Plural pronouns:

Note the stress shifts: мене́ / тебе́ carry final stress on their own, but a short preposition pulls the stress forward — у ме́не, до те́бе, для се́бе. In the third person the н- form is likewise first-stressed: ньо́го, не́ї, ньо́му.

Examples

Common mistakes

• для його́ -> для ньо́го — after a preposition the third person needs the initial н-.
• до її́ -> до не́ї — same н- rule; bare її́ only stands without a preposition.
• з їм -> з ним — the instrumental he/it form is ним (with н-), never їм (that is dative).
• я люблю́ ти -> я люблю́ тебе́ — a direct object takes the accusative, not the nominative ти.
• дай ме́не кни́гу -> дай мені́ кни́гу — the recipient “to me” is dative мені́, not мене́.
• вона́ ду́має про я -> вона́ ду́має про ме́не — after a preposition you must use a case form, never the bare я.
• з мно́ю -> зі мно́ю — before the cluster мн- the preposition з becomes зі (euphony).

Tips

• Learn the nominative row first (я, ти, він, вона́) — you already know it — then treat every other form as the same pronoun simply “wearing” a case ending.
• Anchor two pairs early: object мене́ / тебе́ versus recipient мені́ / тобі́. Mixing them up is the single most common A1 slip.
• Whenever a preposition sits in front of він / вона́ / воно́ / вони́, reach for the н- form: у ньо́го, до не́ї, з ними, на них.
• After a short preposition the stress jumps to the front of the pronoun: у ме́не, до те́бе. Say the whole phrase as one unit and the stress will fall naturally.
• ти and ви decline identically to the rest — practise the polite chain ви / вас / вам / ва́ми so you can be formal without hesitating.
• його́ and її́ double as possessives (“his”, “her”) — the word does not change, so let the context tell you whether it means “him/her” or “his/her”.

In short

To make almost anything negative in Ukrainian, put the little word не directly in front of it. It works with verbs (я не зна́ю - “I don’t know”), with predicate nouns where the present-tense copula is silent (це не кни́га - “this is not a book”), and with single words you want to contrast (не я, не сього́дні). не never changes its form - no agreement for person, number, gender or tense - and it is always written as a separate word.

The rule

1. Placement. не stands immediately before the word it negates. To negate a whole statement, place не before the verb: Він не спить. To negate just one element for contrast, place не before that element: Прихо́дь не сього́дні, а за́втра.

2. With the copula. In the present tense Ukrainian has no spoken “is/are” (see the zero-copula lesson), so “this is not X” is simply Це не X - не sits before the predicate noun and no є is added: Це не пробле́ма.

3. Invariance. не is a fixed particle. Whatever the person or tense of the verb, the negator is the same single word; only the verb itself is conjugated.

4. Spelling. не is written apart from the following word, with a space. It carries no stress of its own - the stress stays on the word that follows.

5. Existential “there is no”. For “there isn’t / I don’t have”, Ukrainian does not use plain не but the special word нема́(є) followed by the genitive case (нема́є кни́ги, not нема́є кни́га). That construction belongs with the genitive and is taught there - see the See-also links.

Forms & patterns

не is invariant - it simply attaches to the front of a fully conjugated verb. Compare the present tense of зна́ти (“to know”), affirmative vs. negative:

The same не negates any part of speech, not only verbs:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Це є не книга / Це не є книга -> Це не кни́га - the present tense has no spoken copula; place не before the predicate noun, and add no є.
• Я знаю не -> Я не зна́ю - не goes before the verb, never after it.
• нехочу / незнаю -> не хо́чу, не зна́ю - не is a separate word, written with a space (the few solid-written words like нема́є, нема́ are lexical exceptions).
• немає книга -> нема́є кни́ги - existential negation uses нема́(є) + the genitive (кни́ги), not plain не with the nominative; this is covered with the genitive case.
• Я нічого знаю -> Я нічо́го не зна́ю - a negative pronoun still needs не on the verb (obligatory double negation); this is covered in the negative-pronouns lesson.

Tips

• Put не immediately before the word you mean to negate - verb, predicate noun, adjective, adverb, or a single word for contrast.
• не never changes: not for person, number, gender or tense. Only the verb conjugates.
• In the present tense there is no “is/are”, so “this is not X” is just Це не X - no є.
• Keep не as a separate word with a space; it is unstressed, so read the stress off the next word (не зна́ю, не кни́га).
• To negate the whole clause, не sits before the verb; to negate one element, put не directly before that element (не я, не за́втра).
• For “there is no / I don’t have”, Ukrainian switches to нема́(є) + genitive - you’ll meet it with the genitive case, not here.
• Negative pronouns keep не on the verb too: Ніхто́ не зна́є - double negation is the norm, not a mistake.

In short

The accusative case (Знахі́дний відмі́нок) marks the direct object — the thing or person a verb acts on directly: I am reading a book, She sees a student. It answers the questions кого́? (whom?) and що? (what?).

For most nouns the endings are easy. The one rule an English speaker must burn into memory is the animacy rule for masculine nouns: a masculine noun that names a living being takes the genitive form in the accusative (я ба́чу бра́та), while a masculine noun that names a thing looks exactly like the nominative (я ба́чу стіл).

The rule

Ukrainian marks the direct object by changing the noun’s ending. Which change happens depends on the noun’s gender and — for masculine nouns — on whether it is animate (a person or animal) or inanimate (a thing).

• Feminine nouns in -а / -я: swap the ending for -у / -ю (кни́га → кни́гу, земля́ → зе́млю). This is the most visible change.
• Feminine nouns ending in a consonant or -ь (ніч, сіль): no change, accusative = nominative.
• Neuter nouns: no change, accusative = nominative (вікно́ → вікно́).
• Masculine animate (people, animals): accusative = genitive, i.e. add -а / -я (студе́нт → студе́нта, кіт → кота́).
• Masculine inanimate (things): accusative = nominative, i.e. no change (стіл → стіл, журна́л → журна́л).

The animacy split (the категорія істо́т, “category of living beings”) is what tells бра́та apart from стіл. Ask yourself: does this masculine noun breathe? If yes, borrow the genitive ending; if no, leave it alone.

Forms & patterns

Masculine singular — animacy decides everything

Feminine singular

Note the stress jumping to the front in рука́ → ру́ку and земля́ → зе́млю: the ending changes and the stress moves with it.

Neuter singular — never changes

Plural — animacy governs all three genders

Personal pronouns

Examples

Common mistakes

• Я бачу брат -> Я бачу брата — a masculine animate noun takes the genitive form in the accusative.
• Я бачу стола -> Я бачу стіл — стіл is a thing (inanimate), so its accusative equals the nominative; don’t add -а.
• Я читаю книга -> Я читаю книгу — a feminine noun in -а becomes -у in the accusative.
• Вона любить земля -> Вона любить землю — feminine -я becomes -ю, and the stress shifts (земля́ → зе́млю).
• Я запрошую друг -> Я запрошую друга — друг is animate, so accusative = genitive (add -а).
• Я знаю він -> Я знаю його — a pronoun object must be accusative (він → його), never nominative.

Tips

• Ask кого́? (whom?) or що? (what?) after the verb; the word that answers is your direct object and goes in the accusative.
• The masculine litmus test: is it alive? Animate → borrow the genitive ending (-а / -я). Inanimate → leave it looking like the nominative.
• Feminine nouns are the reliable ones: replace the nominative -а / -я with -у / -ю, and you are done.
• Neuter nouns, and feminine nouns that end in a consonant (ніч, сіль), never change: accusative = nominative.
• Watch the stress leap forward in feminine nouns: рука́ → ру́ку, вода́ → во́ду, нога́ → но́гу.
• The animacy = genitive rule also works in the plural, and there it applies to all genders: я ба́чу студе́нтів, but я ба́чу столи́.
• Memorise the pronoun set (мене́, тебе́, його́, її́, нас, вас, їх) — you will reach for it in almost every sentence.

In short

The genitive (родови́й відмі́нок) is the “of” case. It answers кого́? (of whom?) and чого́? (of what?). Reach for it whenever English would use of, an apostrophe-s, or the word without: кни́га сестри́ = “sister’s book”, скля́нка води́ = “a glass of water”, чай без цу́кру = “tea without sugar”.

We pull it early because two other A1 topics cannot work without it:

• Absence. To say something is not there you use нема́є + genitive: нема́є ча́су (there is no time).
• Not having. The negative of “I have” is у ме́не нема́є + genitive: у ме́не нема́є кни́ги (I don’t have the book).
• Quantity. After бага́то, ма́ло, кі́лька, тро́хи, скі́льки the noun goes genitive (usually genitive plural): бага́то книг (many books).

The rule

The genitive marks a noun that stands in one of these roles:

1. Possession / “of”. The owner or the whole is put last and in the genitive; Ukrainian has no apostrophe-s. маши́на бра́та = “brother’s car” (literally “car of-brother”), центр мі́ста = “the centre of the city”.
2. Absence — negation of existence. є (“there is”) negates to нема́є (also spelled нема́), and what is missing goes genitive: нема́є уро́ку (there is no lesson). This holds at every tense: present нема́є, past не було́, future не бу́де — always + genitive.
3. The negative of “have”. у ме́не є кни́га (I have a book) becomes у ме́не нема́є кни́ги (I don’t have a book). The thing you lack switches from nominative to genitive.
4. Quantity words. бага́то, ма́ло, кі́лька, тро́хи, скі́льки govern the genitive. Countable things take the genitive plural (кі́лька студе́нтів), mass/uncountable things take the genitive singular (ма́ло ча́су, тро́хи води́).
5. After certain prepositions, which always take the genitive: без (without), для (for), від (from), до (to, until), з / із (from), пі́сля (after), бі́ля (near).

Singular endings. Feminine -а/-я becomes -и/-і; neuter and most masculine nouns take -а/-я; masculine mass and abstract nouns often take -у/-ю (час → ча́су).

Forms & patterns

Genitive singular

Genitive plural (this is the form quantity words usually need)

Notice that masculine nouns usually add -ів/-їв, while many feminine -а and neuter -о nouns take a zero ending (кни́га → книг, сло́во → слів) — sometimes inserting a vowel to break the final cluster (гри́вня → гри́вень).

Examples

Common mistakes

• у мене немає книга -> у ме́не нема́є кни́ги — after нема́є the noun must be genitive, never nominative.
• немає час -> нема́є ча́су — negation of existence takes the genitive; час → ча́су.
• книга сестра -> кни́га сестри́ — “sister’s book”: the owner goes in the genitive, because there is no apostrophe-s in Ukrainian.
• багато книги -> бага́то книг — countable nouns after бага́то take the genitive plural, not the singular.
• я не маю книгу -> у ме́не нема́є кни́ги — a negated object drops the accusative and becomes genitive.
• без цукор -> без цу́кру — the preposition без (“without”) governs the genitive.

Tips

• Test yourself with English: if you could slot in of or ‘s, or the word without, Ukrainian almost certainly wants the genitive.
• Possession puts the owner last and in the genitive: маши́на бра́та (“car of-brother”), дім дру́зів (“the friends’ house”).
• The absence pattern is one frame across all tenses — present нема́є, past не було́, future не бу́де — and everything after it is genitive: нема́є / не було́ / не бу́де ча́су.
• To say you lack something, flip the “have” frame: affirmative у ме́не є … becomes negative у ме́не нема́є … + genitive.
• With quantity words, let the noun tell you the number: countable → genitive plural (кі́лька днів), mass → genitive singular (тро́хи води́, ма́ло ча́су).
• Memorise the always-genitive prepositions as a set: без, для, від, до, з / із, пі́сля, бі́ля.
• Numerals from five upward also demand the genitive plural (п'ять студе́нтів) — see Numeral–noun agreement.

In short

When you call someone or something by name in Ukrainian, you do not use the dictionary form. You use a special seventh case, the vocative (кли́чний відмі́нок), reserved for direct address. English lost this centuries ago (only “O Lord!” survives), but Ukrainian keeps it fully alive and uses it every single day: па́не (sir), Окса́но (Oksana!), дру́же (my friend!). If you address a person with the plain nominative, you sound like a machine reading a list, or even rude. Learn the vocative early: it is how you politely say “Excuse me…”, call your mother, or greet a colleague.

The rule

The vocative has its own endings, added to the noun’s stem instead of the nominative ending. Which ending you get depends on gender and stem type.

• Masculine (2nd declension) takes -е, -у or -ю:
  • hard stems usually take -е: бра́т -> бра́те, Іва́н -> Іва́не, па́н -> па́не;
  • a group of hard nouns (and endearments) takes -у: си́н -> си́ну, това́риш -> това́ришу, ба́тько -> ба́тьку;
  • soft stems take -ю: Андрі́й -> Андрі́ю, учи́тель -> учи́телю, І́гор -> І́горю.
• Feminine (1st declension) takes -о or -е / -ю:
  • hard stems take -о: ма́ма -> ма́мо, Окса́на -> Окса́но, сестра́ -> се́стро;
  • soft stems take -е: Марі́я -> Марі́є, Наді́я -> Наді́є, земля́ -> зе́мле;
  • endearing/soft-suffix nouns take -ю: мату́ся -> мату́сю, бабу́ся -> бабу́сю.
• Feminine (3rd declension), like любо́в, ра́дість, takes -е: любо́в -> любо́ве, ра́дість -> ра́досте.
• Neuter nouns and all plurals have no separate vocative — reuse the nominative: се́рце!, Дру́зі!, Ді́ти!, Па́ні та пано́ве!

Two things to watch. First, before the ending -е, a final г, к, х or ц often swaps to ж, ч, ш / ч: дру́г -> дру́же, коза́к -> коза́че, хло́пець -> хло́пче. Second, when you address someone by title + name, both words go into the vocative: па́не профе́соре, па́ні Окса́но.

Forms & patterns

Masculine nouns (2nd declension):

Feminine nouns (1st declension):

Endearing forms of address (здрібні́лі фо́рми зверта́ння) — the warm, everyday “pet” way to call family. They are formed with diminutive suffixes and still take a real vocative ending:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Окса́на, приві́т! -> Окса́но, приві́т! — a name used to call someone must take the vocative, not stay in the nominative.
• Мій друг, допоможи́! -> Дру́же, допоможи́! — direct address needs the vocative дру́же (with г -> ж), not the dictionary form друг.
• Приві́т, ма́ма! -> Приві́т, ма́мо! — feminine hard nouns in -а become -о in the vocative.
• Дя́кую, пан! -> Дя́кую, па́не! — a polite address to a man uses па́не, never the bare nominative пан.
• Сино́к, іди́ сюди́! -> Синку́, іди́ сюди́! — an endearment still needs its own vocative ending (-у), it is not “already” a form of address.
• Пане Оксана -> Па́ні Окса́но — with a title + name, both words go into the vocative (and пані is the feminine of пане).

Tips

• Ukrainian is one of the few living Slavic languages that keeps a full, everyday vocative — you will hear it constantly, so treat it as a real seventh case, not a museum piece.
• Memorise the four default endings: masculine hard -> -е (бра́те), masculine soft -> -ю (Андрі́ю), feminine -а -> -о (ма́мо), feminine soft/endearing -> -е / -ю (Наді́є, мату́сю).
• Watch the consonant swap before -е: к/г/х/ц soften to ч/ж/ш/ч (друг -> дру́же, коза́к -> коза́че, хло́пець -> хло́пче).
• Endearments have their own vocative too: синку́, до́нечко, мату́сю, діду́сю — say them with -у/-о/-ю, do not leave them in the plain form.
• Plurals need nothing new: to address a group, just reuse the nominative plural — Дру́зі!, Ді́ти!, Па́ні та пано́ве!
• Stress can jump when you form the vocative (Петро́ -> Пе́тре, сестра́ -> се́стро): learn the whole pair, not only the ending.
• Default to polite ви with strangers, and pair it with па́не / па́ні + the vocative for a natural, respectful “Excuse me…”.

In short

To say “I have a car” in everyday Ukrainian, you do not use a verb “to have” the way English does. Instead you say the equivalent of “at me is a car”: у ме́не є маши́на. The possessor goes into the genitive after the preposition у (or в), and the thing possessed stays in the nominative as the grammatical subject, followed by є (“is/exists”). The verb ма́ти (“to have”) does exist and is fully correct, but it sounds more bookish and is used less often in casual speech. Master у + genitive + є first — it is what Ukrainians actually say.

The rule

Ukrainian expresses possession with an existential frame, literally “by/at someone there-is something”:

у / в + [possessor in GENITIVE] + є + [thing in NOMINATIVE]

• у ме́не є — I have (lit. “at me there is”)
• у те́бе є — you have (informal)
• у ньо́го / у не́ї є — he / she has

Key points:

1. The possessor takes the genitive case (see Genitive case). With pronouns you use their special genitive-after-preposition forms (ме́не, те́бе, ньо́го, не́ї, нас, вас, них).
2. The thing possessed is the subject and stays in the nominative.
3. є means “is / there is / exists”. In the present tense it is often dropped when you merely describe what kind of thing you have, but it is kept when you assert that you have something at all (see Tips).
4. у becomes в before a vowel for euphony (в А́нни є…); this is the ordinary у/в alternation from Euphony: у/в, і/й, з/зі/із.
5. Negation uses a different verb: instead of “не є” you say нема́є (“there is no”), and — importantly — the thing possessed then switches to the genitive: у ме́не нема́є маши́ни (“I don’t have a car”).

The bookish alternative is the verb ма́ти + a direct object in the accusative: я ма́ю маши́ну. It conjugates like a normal verb (я ма́ю, ти ма́єш, він ма́є…). Use it in writing, fixed phrases (ма́ти ра́цію “to be right”, ма́ти на ува́зі “to mean/have in mind”), but prefer у + genitive + є in conversation.

Forms & patterns

Genitive pronoun forms used after у / в (the possessor slot):

Nouns as possessor simply go into the genitive: у бра́та є (brother), в А́нни є (Anna), у ба́тька є (father), у студе́нтів є (students).

Present vs. negative (note the case switch on the possessed thing):

Bookish ма́ти (present tense), object in the accusative:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Я є маши́на. -> У ме́не є маши́на. — “I have a car” is not “I am a car”; use the у + genitive frame, not a copula.
• У я є час. -> У ме́не є час. — after у/в the pronoun must be genitive (ме́не), never nominative (я).
• У ме́не не є соба́ки. -> У ме́не нема́є соба́ки. — negate possession with нема́є, not “не є”.
• У ме́не нема́є маши́на. -> У ме́не нема́є маши́ни. — after нема́є the thing goes into the genitive (маши́ни), not the nominative.
• Я ма́ю маши́на. -> Я ма́ю маши́ну. — the verb ма́ти takes a direct object in the accusative, not the nominative.
• У ме́не ма́ю час. -> У ме́не є час. or Я ма́ю час. — do not blend the two constructions; pick one.

Tips

• Default to у + genitive + є in speech; save ма́ти for writing and set phrases (ма́ти ра́цію, ма́ти на ува́зі, ма́ти можли́вість “to have the opportunity”).
• Keep є when you assert that something exists (“Do you have a pen?” — У вас є ру́чка?). You can drop it when the focus is which kind: У ме́не га́рна ру́чка (“My pen is nice / I have a nice pen”).
• Remember the negation flip: affirmative є + nominative, but negative нема́є + genitive. This mirrors the genitive of negation you saw in Negation with «не».
• у before a consonant, в before a vowel: у бра́та, but в Оле́ни, в А́нни. Same rule as Euphony: у/в, і/й, з/зі/із.
• Use ти-forms (у те́бе) with friends and family, ви-forms (у вас) for politeness or plural — the ordinary ти/ви address (informal vs formal) choice.
• To ask “who has…?” say У ко́го є…? — ко́го is the genitive of хто.
• Past and future reuse the frame with бу́ти: у ме́не був час (“I had time”), у ме́не бу́де час (“I will have time”) — you will meet these tenses later.

In short

Ukrainian verbs conjugate: you drop the infinitive ending and add a personal ending that already tells you who acts, so pronouns are often optional. There are two ending sets — Conjugation I (theme vowel -е-/-є-) and Conjugation II (theme vowel -и-/-ї-). One present tense covers both “I read” and “I am reading.” A handful of stems shuffle their final consonant or grow an extra -л- in the “я” form — that is where most beginner errors live.

The rule

The dictionary form is the infinitive, which ends in -ти: чита́ти “to read”, говори́ти “to speak”, ходи́ти “to walk”. To build the present tense you take the present stem and add a personal ending for each of six persons (я, ти, він/вона/воно, ми, ви, вони).

Which ending set you use depends on the verb’s conjugation class:

• Conjugation I uses the theme vowel -е-/-є- and ends the “вони” form in -уть/-ють: чита́єш, чита́є, чита́ють.
• Conjugation II uses the theme vowel -и-/-ї- and ends the “вони” form in -ать/-ять: гово́риш, гово́рить, гово́рять.

You cannot always tell the class from the infinitive (спа́ти looks like чита́ти but conjugates as Conjugation II). The safe test is the second/third-person singular vowel: -е-/-є- → Conjugation I, -и-/-ї- → Conjugation II.

Consonant changes in the “я” form. In Conjugation II, the stem-final consonant of many -ити verbs alternates, but only in the “я” (1sg) form: ходи́ти → ходжу́ (д → дж), вози́ти → вожу́ (з → ж). Every other person keeps the plain stem (хо́диш, во́зиш).

Inserted -л- after a labial. If the stem ends in a labial consonant (б, п, в, м, ф), an epenthetic -л- appears — this time in both the “я” and the “вони” forms: люби́ти → люблю́ … лю́блять; роби́ти → роблю́ … ро́блять; спа́ти → сплю … сплять. The forms in between (лю́биш, ро́биш, спиш) have no -л-.

Forms & patterns

Personal endings

Conjugation I — чита́ти “to read”

Conjugation II — говори́ти “to speak” (note the mobile stress: on the ending in “я”, back on the stem elsewhere)

The fold-in verbs — Conjugation II alternations (change surfaces only in the marked cells)

Examples

Common mistakes

• я ходю́ -> я ходжу́ — a -дити verb shifts д → дж, but only in the “я” form.
• я любю́ -> я люблю́ — a stem-final labial inserts -л- in the “я” form: любити → люблю, робити → роблю, спати → сплю.
• ти чита́їш -> ти чита́єш — Conjugation I takes -еш/-єш, never -иш.
• вони хо́дють -> вони хо́дять — Conjugation II’s “вони” ending is -ать/-ять, not -уть/-ють.
• я є чита́ю -> я чита́ю — there is no auxiliary in the present; the personal ending alone carries person and number.
• ми чита́єм -> ми чита́ємо — the full “ми” ending is -емо/-ємо; the clipped -ем is nonstandard in writing.

Tips

• The infinitive (in -ти) is your dictionary form; strip it and attach a personal ending to the present stem.
• Read the class off the 2sg/3sg vowel: -е-/-є- means Conjugation I (чита́єш), -и-/-ї- means Conjugation II (гово́риш). Don’t judge by the infinitive — спа́ти is Conjugation II.
• One present tense does the work of English “read” and “am reading” — there is no separate progressive.
• Alternations (д→дж, з→ж) and the inserted -л- surface in the “я” form; the -л- also returns in the “вони” form of labial stems (лю́блять, ро́блять), while all the middle forms keep the plain stem.
• Watch mobile stress: it can sit on the ending in the “я” form and jump back to the stem elsewhere (ходжу́ but хо́диш; говорю́ but гово́риш).
• Let the ending show who acts — Ukrainian freely drops я/ти/ми because the verb already says it.
• With the polite ви always use the plural verb (ви чита́єте), even about a single person.

In short

A reflexive verb is an ordinary Ukrainian verb with the little tail -ся glued onto the end: зва́тися (to be called), подо́батися (to please / to like), вчи́тися (to study). The good news for you: you already know how to conjugate them. Take the plain present-tense endings from lesson 12, then stick -ся on after every single form. Nothing else changes. Master three verbs here and you can say your name, say what you like, and say what you are learning.

The rule

• -ся is a fixed particle that rides on the end of the verb. Unlike French se or Spanish me/te/se, it does not move to a separate word and it does not change for person: it is always -ся for I, you, he, we, they — everyone.
• To build a reflexive form: conjugate the verb normally (conjugation I or II, per lesson 12), then append -ся to the ending you produced. So я чита́ю (I read) → я вчу́ся (I study), ти чита́єш → ти вчи́шся, and so on.
• After the letter -ш the particle is written -ся but pronounced as one fused sound; the spelling stays -шся (ти вчи́шся). Just write both letters.
• The -ся carries several meanings at once. The three you need at A1:
  1. True reflexive / everyday routine — the action turns back on the doer: вмива́тися (to wash oneself), одяга́тися (to get dressed).
  2. “To be called” — зва́тися: Мене́ зва́ти… is one way to say your name, and Я зву́ся Окса́на is another.
  3. Liking (the подобатися pattern) — Ukrainian says “X pleases me”, not “I like X”. The thing liked is the subject; the person who likes it goes in the dative (you meet the dative fully in lesson 19). For now learn the frame Мені́ подо́бається + noun = “I like (noun)”.
• подобатися agrees with the thing liked, not with you: one thing → подо́бається, more than one thing → подо́баються.

Forms & patterns

вчи́тися — “to study / to learn” (conjugation II, take -и- endings + -ся):

зва́тися — “to be called” (conjugation I):

подо́батися — “to please / to be liked” (used mostly in the 3rd person):

Notice the pattern across all three: the ordinary present-tense ending is still there (-ся added to -у, -еш, -е, -емо, -ете, -уть for conj. I; to -у, -иш, -ить, -имо, -ите, -ать for conj. II), and -ся is simply appended to each.

Examples

Common mistakes

• я вчу ся -> вчу́ся — -ся is never a separate word; write it joined to the verb.
• я сь вчу -> вчу́ся — the particle goes on the end, not before the verb; it does not float like French se.
• ти вчися -> вчи́шся — keep the -ш of the “ти” ending: the form is -шся, not bare -ся.
• Я подо́баюся му́зику -> Мені́ подо́бається му́зика — you don’t “like” the music; the music “pleases” to me, so the person is dative (Мені́) and the thing is the subject.
• Мені́ подо́бається ці кни́ги -> Мені́ подо́баються ці кни́ги — the verb agrees with the plural thing liked, so use -ються.
• я вчи́ються -> вчу́ся — don’t borrow the “вони” ending for “я”; each person keeps its own ending, then + -ся.

Tips

• One habit fixes almost everything: conjugate first, then bolt on -ся. If your base form is right, the reflexive form is right.
• The -ся tail never changes for person. Stop looking for a me/te/se — Ukrainian has only this one fixed ending.
• Learn the liking frame as a chunk: Мені́ подо́бається… / Тобі́ подо́бається…? You will use it constantly, and it also gently introduces the dative (lesson 19).
• Ask and answer your name with reflexive forms: Як ти зве́шся? — Я зву́ся… (informal), Як Ви звете́ся? — Я зву́ся… (formal). Match ти/ви to the person, per lesson 2.
• Watch the spelling -шся in the “ти” form (вчи́шся, зве́шся): two letters, pronounced as one hushing sound.
• A few very common verbs are reflexive in Ukrainian though not in English: смія́тися (to laugh), усміха́тися (to smile), боя́тися (to be afraid). Just memorise them with the tail attached.

In short

Ukrainian builds questions in three easy ways, and none of them rearranges the sentence the way English does. Start with a question word (хто, що, де, коли…) for an open question; add the little particle чи at the very front for a yes/no question; or just keep the plain statement and raise your voice at the end — intonation alone turns it into a question. There is no auxiliary “do”, and the word order barely changes.

The rule

• Open (information) questions begin with a question word: хто (who), що (what), де (where), коли́ (when), чому́ (why), як (how), скі́льки (how much/many), куди́ (where to), зві́дки (where from). The rest of the sentence follows, usually in normal order: Де ти живе́ш? (Where do you live?)
• Yes/no questions with чи: put чи first, then the statement unchanged. Чи ти студе́нт? (Are you a student?) The answer is так (yes) or ні (no). чи is optional but always correct and slightly more formal.
• Yes/no questions by intonation only: keep the exact word order of a statement and raise the pitch on the key (stressed) word. Ти студе́нт. (statement) -> Ти студе́нт? (question). In speech the tone rises; in writing only the question mark differs.
• Crucially, there is no “do”-support and no subject-verb inversion like in English. Ukrainian never adds an auxiliary verb and does not swap subject and verb to ask a question.

Forms & patterns

Core question words (all are stressed on the syllable marked; monosyllables carry no mark):

The three question types side by side:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Ти робиш що? -> Що ти робиш? — the question word normally comes first, not at the end.
• Чи ти є студент? -> Чи ти студе́нт? — the present-tense copula “є” is usually dropped; add “чи” but not “є”.
• Do ти любиш чай? -> Ти лю́биш чай? — Ukrainian has no auxiliary “do”; use intonation or “чи”.
• Живеш ти де? -> Де ти живе́ш? — do not invert subject and verb English-style; lead with the question word.
• Чи де ти? -> Де ти? — never combine “чи” with a question word; “чи” is only for yes/no questions.
• Як багато це коштує? -> Скі́льки це ко́штує? — for “how much/many” use “скі́льки”, not “як багато”.

Tips

• One rule beats three: leave the statement alone and just raise your voice at the end — that alone makes a valid spoken question.
• Reach for чи when you want to sound a touch more formal or written; in everyday speech pure intonation is the norm.
• Question words carry the meaning, so they naturally take the strongest stress in the sentence — lean on them.
• Distinguish де (where, at rest) from куди́ (where to, motion) and зві́дки (where from, origin) — English “where” covers all three.
• Remember there is no “do”: if you catch yourself translating “do/does/did”, drop it entirely.
• In writing, the only visible marker of an intonation question is the question mark, so never forget it.
• чи also means “or” inside a sentence (чай чи ка́ва? — tea or coffee?); at the very start it flags a yes/no question.

In short

Possessive pronouns say whose something is: my, your, our. In Ukrainian most of them behave like adjectives — мій, твій, наш, ваш change their ending to match the gender and number of the noun that follows. The big exceptions are його́ (his/its) and її́ (her): these never change at all. Pick його or її by the owner’s sex, and keep the word exactly the same before any noun.

The rule

• мій (my), твій (your, to a «ти» person), наш (our), ваш (your, to a «ви» person or to several people) agree with their noun. In the singular they take a masculine, feminine or neuter form; in the plural one form covers all genders.
• Agreement follows the noun’s gender, not the owner’s: because маши́на is feminine, “my car” is моя́ маши́на, even if the owner is a man.
• його́ (his / its), її́ (her) and їх / ї́хній (their) express possession by a third person. його and її are invariable — one fixed word before masculine, feminine, neuter and plural nouns alike. Choose them by the possessor: його = belonging to him, її = belonging to her.
• These pronouns also change by case (like adjectives) when the noun is in the accusative, genitive, and so on. At A1 you mainly meet the nominative forms below; the full case pattern follows the adjective model.
• Ukrainian has no present-tense “to be”, so Це мій дім is literally “This my house” = “This is my house.”

Forms & patterns

Nominative forms by the gender and number of the following noun:

Notice the two blocks that share endings: мій / моя́ / моє́ / мої́ and твій / твоя́ / твоє́ / твої́ decline the same way (end-stressed), while наш / на́ша / на́ше / на́ші and ваш / ва́ша / ва́ше / ва́ші share theirs (stem-stressed). The rows for його́, її́ repeat one form on purpose — that is the whole point: they do not agree.

Examples

Common mistakes

• мій маши́на -> моя́ маши́на — маши́на is feminine, so the possessive takes the feminine form моя́, not masculine мій.
• ваш кни́га -> ва́ша кни́га — кни́га is feminine, so use ва́ша.
• наш ді́ти -> на́ші ді́ти — a plural noun takes the plural form на́ші (one plural form for every gender).
• твій ім’я́ -> твоє́ ім’я́ — ім’я́ is neuter, so use the neuter form твоє́.
• його́ва сестра́ / trying to make his agree -> його́ сестра́ — його never changes shape; it stays його before masculine, feminine, neuter and plural nouns alike.
• її́ брат meaning “his brother” -> його́ брат — choose його / її by the owner’s sex (his = його, her = її), never by the noun.

Tips

• Treat мій, твій, наш, ваш like adjectives: match the noun’s gender in the singular, and use the single plural form for everything plural.
• Memorise each set as a four-word block — мій / моя́ / моє́ / мої́ — instead of one form at a time; the endings repeat across твій.
• його and її are your friends: they never change. If you are unsure how to make a possessive agree with a tricky noun and the owner is a “he” or “she”, його / її always fits.
• Choose his vs her by the possessor, not the thing: його́ кни́га = a man’s book, її́ стіл = a woman’s table.
• Use твій for someone you address as ти, and ваш for ви (also for “your” when speaking to several people).
• Ukrainian often drops the possessive when ownership is obvious — say Я ми́ю ру́ки (I wash my hands), not «мої́ ру́ки».

In short

Most Ukrainian nouns build their nominative plural with one of three endings: -и, -і, or -ї. Which one you use depends on the noun’s stem. Hard stems take -и, soft and sibilant stems take -і, and stems ending in a vowel + [j] take -ї. Neuter nouns are the exception — they take -а/-я — so this lesson focuses on masculine and feminine nouns, where the -и/-і/-ї system does its work.

The rule

Ukrainian sorts nouns into stem groups, and the group decides the plural ending. To find the group, look at how the singular ends.

• Hard stems → -и. A masculine noun ending in a plain hard consonant, or a feminine noun in hard -а, drops nothing and adds -и: студе́нт → студе́нти, кни́га → кни́ги. The velars к, г, х are hard too, so they also take -и (ру́ки, доро́ги), never -і.
• Soft stems → -і. A masculine noun in -ь, or a feminine noun in soft -я or in -ь, takes -і: день → дні, земля́ → зе́млі, ніч → но́чі. The sibilants ж, ч, ш and -ць pattern with the soft group and also take -і: ніж → ножі́, хло́пець → хло́пці.
• [j]-stems → -ї. When the stem ends in a vowel + [j] — masculine -й, or feminine -ія/-я after a vowel or apostrophe — the ending is -ї: край → краї́, наді́я → наді́ї, сім’я́ → сі́м’ї.

Two things shift as you go plural. Stress is mobile: it frequently jumps (рука́ → ру́ки, земля́ → зе́млі, сім’я́ → сі́м’ї), so learn the plural stress together with the word. And a fleeting о/е often drops from the stem (день → дні, хло́пець → хло́пці), while an о/е that had become і in a closed syllable comes back (стіл → столи́, дім → доми́).

Forms & patterns

The stem group predicts the ending:

Masculine nouns:

Feminine nouns:

Examples

Common mistakes

• столі́ (as a plural) -> столи́ — a hard masculine stem takes -и in the nominative plural; столі́ is a case form of the singular, not the plural.
• кни́гі -> кни́ги — after к, г, х the hard plural is written -и (кни́ги, ру́ки, доро́ги), never -і.
• надіі -> наді́ї — a stem ending in a vowel takes -ї, so надія → наді́ї (write ї, not plain і).
• ножи -> ножі́ — sibilant stems (ж, ч, ш) pattern with the soft group and take -і in the plural, not -и.
• вікни -> ві́кна — neuter nouns fall outside the -и/-і/-ї system; вікно́ → ві́кна (ending -а).

Tips

• Read the ending as a clue to the group: -и = hard stem, -і = soft, ь-stem or sibilant (ж, ч, ш, -ць), -ї = stem in a vowel + [j] (-й or -ія/-я).
• Learn the plural stress with the word — it often jumps: рука́ → ру́ки, земля́ → зе́млі, сім’я́ → сі́м’ї.
• Velars к, г, х stay hard and keep -и (кни́ги, ру́ки) — resist switching them to -і.
• Expect a fleeting о/е to drop from the stem: день → дні, хло́пець → хло́пці.
• An о that turned into і in a closed singular syllable returns in the plural: стіл → столи́, дім → доми́, ніс → носи́.
• A few high-frequency nouns are irregular and must be memorised: дити́на → ді́ти, люди́на → лю́ди, друг → дру́зі.

In short

Cardinal numerals (кількісні числівники) answer the question скі́льки? “how many?” — оди́н, два, три, чоти́ри, п’ять… They are the words you count with. Two of them change for gender: only оди́н (одна́, одне́) and два/дві look at whether their noun is masculine, feminine or neuter; from три onward the number itself stays put.

The one thing worth learning now, before the full mechanics in later lessons, is that a numeral governs its noun: it decides what case and number the counted noun appears in. Roughly, 1 keeps the noun singular, 2–4 pull it into the plural, and 5 and up push it into the genitive plural.

The rule

Ukrainian numerals put the following noun into one of three shapes:

• 1 — оди́н / одна́ / одне́ behaves like an adjective. It agrees with its noun in gender (and, later, in case), and the noun stays in the nominative singular: оди́н стіл, одна́ ла́мпа, одне́ вікно́.
• 2, 3, 4 — два/дві, три, чоти́ри take the noun in the nominative plural: два столи́, три кни́ги, чоти́ри дні. Only два distinguishes gender here (два / дві); три and чоти́ри have a single form for all genders.
• 5 and above — п’ять, шість, … два́дцять, сто… take the noun in the genitive plural: п’ять столі́в, де́сять книг, сто днів.

A useful early warning: the teens 11–14 (одина́дцять … чотирна́дцять) count as “5 and up”, not as “2–4” — одина́дцять днів, not одина́дцять дні.

At A1 you use these numerals mostly in the nominative (counting, prices, ages, “I have…”). Their own declension across the cases, and the finer agreement details, come in Numeral–noun agreement (case government) and Numeral declension (5–100, compound; collective).

Forms & patterns

The numerals

«Оди́н» agrees in gender

The plural одні́ is used only with nouns that have no singular (одні́ две́рі “one door”, одні́ окуля́ри “one pair of glasses”).

«Два» vs «дві»

Which case does the numeral impose?

Examples

Common mistakes

• два кни́ги -> дві кни́ги — feminine nouns take дві; два is only masculine/neuter.
• п’ять кни́ги -> п’ять книг — from 5 up the noun goes into the genitive plural, not the nominative.
• три днів -> три дні — 2, 3, 4 take the nominative plural, never the genitive.
• оди́н сестра́ -> одна́ сестра́ — оди́н agrees in gender with its noun.
• два́дцять два ро́ків -> два́дцять два ро́ки — in a compound the LAST word rules; …два → nominative plural.
• пять, девять -> п’ять, де́в’ять — the apostrophe is a required letter, not decoration.

Tips

• Drill the three-way counting reflex: 1 → noun stays singular (nom.), 2/3/4 → nominative plural, 5+ → genitive plural. The full rule is Numeral–noun agreement (case government).
• Only оди́н and два change for gender (оди́н/одна́/одне́, два/дві). From три onward the numeral looks identical before masculine, feminine and neuter nouns.
• In a compound number only the FINAL word decides the case: два́дцять оди́н рік (nom. sg.), два́дцять два ро́ки (nom. pl.), два́дцять п’ять ро́ків (gen. pl.).
• The teens 11–14 pattern with “5 and up”, not with 2–4: одина́дцять днів, not одина́дцять дні.
• Build the teens transparently — unit + -на́дцять (“on ten”): три + на́дцять → трина́дцять, п’ять + на́дцять → п’ятна́дцять.
• Mind the apostrophe in п’ять, де́в’ять, п’ятна́дцять: it is spelled and you can hear the tiny break before я.

In short

Ukrainian points with two demonstratives: цей (“this”, something near) and той (“that”, something farther away). Unlike English this/that, they are not fixed words — they behave like adjectives and must agree with their noun in gender, number and case. So “this book” is not one form but four, depending on what you point at: цей, ця, це, ці. Learn to change the ending to match, and you can point at anything.

The rule

A demonstrative pronoun stands in front of a noun and identifies it: this one here, or that one over there. In English the word never changes; in Ukrainian it copies three features from the noun it points to:

• Gender (in the singular): masculine цей / той, feminine ця / та, neuter це / те.
• Number: in the plural gender disappears and you use one form for all genders — ці (“these”) and ті (“those”).
• Case: whatever case the noun takes in the sentence, the demonstrative takes the matching ending. It declines almost exactly like a hard adjective.

Two practical consequences to remember from the start:

1. For a masculine animate noun in the accusative, the demonstrative copies the genitive form: Я зна́ю цього́ студе́нта (“I know this student”). For inanimate masculine nouns the accusative equals the nominative: Я чита́ю цей журна́л.
2. Sentence-initial це meaning “this is / these are” (Це кни́га — “This is a book”) is a separate, unchanging pointing word. Do not confuse it with the agreeing neuter це that sits before a neuter noun (це сло́во — “this word”).

Forms & patterns

цей — “this” (near). It declines like a hard adjective; note the mobile stress.

той — “that” (far). Same endings, same shifting stress.

In the accusative the two masculine forms and the two plural forms split by animacy: inanimate copies the nominative (цей / ці), animate copies the genitive (цього́ / цих).

Examples

Common mistakes

• цей кни́га -> ця кни́га — the demonstrative must match gender; кни́га is feminine, so it takes ця, not the masculine цей.
• ця дім -> цей дім — дім is masculine, so use цей; do not be misled by nouns that “sound” feminine.
• це студе́нти -> ці студе́нти — for a plural noun use ці / ті; це / те are the neuter singular, not a plural.
• Я ба́чу цей хло́пця -> Я ба́чу цього́ хло́пця — a masculine animate object in the accusative takes the genitive-shaped form цього́ / того́.
• у той мі́сті -> у тому́ мі́сті — after a preposition of place the demonstrative goes into the locative; the nominative той is wrong here.

Tips

• Keep the two directions clear: цей / це / ця / ці point at what is near (“this / these”), той / те / та / ті at what is farther (“that / those”).
• Decline the demonstrative together with its noun, the way you would an adjective — same case, same number, matching gender.
• In the plural, gender vanishes: just ці for “these” and ті for “those”, whether the noun is masculine, feminine or neuter.
• For a masculine animate accusative, reach for цього́ / того́ (identical to the genitive): Я зустрі́в того́ вчи́теля.
• Watch sentence-initial Це…: Це мій друг (“This is my friend”) uses це as a fixed pointing word that never changes — different from це before a neuter noun.
• цей and той are register-neutral: the forms are the same whether you address someone with ти or ви.

In short

The dative case (давальний відмінок) answers the questions кому́? (“to whom?”) and чому́? (“to what?”). Its core job is to mark the recipient — the person you give, show, tell, or write something to. Ukrainian also uses it for a second, very frequent job: the experiencer. In impersonal sentences about feelings, needs and states, the person who feels stands in the dative while there is no nominative subject at all — мені́ подо́бається, мені́ тре́ба, мені́ хо́лодно.

The rule

1. The recipient (indirect object). Where English says “give something to someone” or “buy something for someone”, Ukrainian usually just puts the person in the dative — no preposition:

• Я дав бра́тові кни́гу. — I gave my brother a book.

A small but everyday set of verbs takes the dative directly, where English uses a plain direct object. Learn them together: допомага́ти (help), дя́кувати (thank), телефонува́ти / дзвони́ти (phone), ра́дити (advise), заважа́ти (disturb). “I help him” is Я допомага́ю йому́, not an accusative.

2. The experiencer (давальний суб’єкта стану). In impersonal one-member sentences the feeler goes in the dative, and the predicate is a special adverb or a modal word. There is no nominative subject and no present-tense form of «бути»:

• Мені́ хо́лодно. — I am cold.
• Мені́ ціка́во. — I find it interesting.
• Мені́ тре́ба / потрі́бно відпочи́ти. — I need to rest.

With подо́батися (“to be pleasing”) the thing you like is the grammatical subject (nominative) and the liker is dative — the mirror image of English: Мені́ подо́бається му́зика = “music is pleasing to me”. Age works the same way: Мені́ два́дцять ро́ків (“I am twenty”).

Forms & patterns

Singular endings by gender and stem type. Animate masculine nouns favour -ові/-еві; the shorter -у/-ю is also standard.

In the plural the ending is uniform -ам/-ям for every gender: студе́нтам, вчителя́м, ді́тям, дру́зям.

Personal pronouns (memorize these — they carry most of the experiencer sentences):

Examples

Common mistakes

• Я телефону́ю дру́га -> Я телефону́ю дру́гові — телефонува́ти/дзвони́ти govern the dative, not the accusative.
• Я допомага́ю мою́ сестру́ -> Я допомага́ю мої́й сестрі́ — допомага́ти takes a dative object.
• Дя́кую тебе́ -> Дя́кую тобі́ — дя́кувати takes the dative; “thank to you”, literally.
• Я хо́лодно -> Мені́ хо́лодно — the experiencer is dative; there is no nominative “I” here.
• Я тре́ба відпочи́ти -> Мені́ тре́ба відпочи́ти — треба/потрібно need a dative feeler, never a nominative one.
• Я подо́баюся це мі́сто -> Мені́ подо́бається це мі́сто — with подо́батися the liked thing is the subject; the liker is dative.
• Мені́ є хо́лодно -> Мені́ хо́лодно — no copula «бути» in the present tense.

Tips

• English “to/for + person” after give, show, tell, write, buy is normally a bare dative in Ukrainian, with no preposition: Я показа́в дру́гові фо́то.
• Keep a fixed list of dative-governing verbs: допомага́ти, дя́кувати, телефонува́ти, ра́дити, заважа́ти. They feel transitive in English but are dative in Ukrainian.
• Feelings and needs are impersonal: person in the dative + a predicate word (хо́лодно, ціка́во, ва́жко, тре́ба, мо́жна). Drop the nominative subject and the present-tense “to be”.
• подо́батися flips the word order of English like: the thing enjoyed is the subject, the enjoyer is dative.
• Watch the consonant swap in feminine -га/-ка/-ха before the dative -і: по́друга -> по́друзі, рука́ -> руці́, кни́жка -> кни́жці.
• Age and time use the dative feeler: Скі́льки тобі́ ро́ків? — Мені́ де́сять ро́ків.
• Use polite ви for the dative вам with strangers and elders; тобі́ only with friends, family and children.

In short

The locative (Місцевий відмінок) is the case of place and topic: it tells you where something is, or what a statement is about. Its one defining habit is that it never stands alone — it always follows a preposition. Because of that, this is the natural place to meet the core spatial prepositions в/у (in), на (on, at), при (by, attached to) and по (around; after). Its default ending is -і, and it answers the questions (на/у) ко́му? / (на/у) чо́му? — “on/in whom?”, “on/in what?”.

The rule

• A bound case. Unlike the nominative or accusative, the locative can never appear without a preposition in front of it. If you form a locative and there is no в, на, при, по (or о/об for clock time) before it, the phrase is broken.
• Core meaning: static location. в/у for being inside something, на for being on a surface or at an open place or event: у кімна́ті (in the room), на столі́ (on the table), на робо́ті (at work).
• Location vs. direction. The same prepositions в/на take the accusative for motion towards a goal and the locative for being there. Ask куди́? “where to?” (accusative) vs. де? “where?” (locative): йти в шко́лу (going to school, acc.) but бу́ти в шко́лі (being at school, loc.).
• в or у is a matter of euphony (sound flow), not meaning — both mean “in”; pick the one that reads smoothly (see Euphony: у/в, і/й, з/зі/із).
• Topic and time too. The locative also expresses the field you are versed in (розумі́тися на му́зиці — to know about music), clock time with о/об (о сьо́мій), months (у сі́чні), and “after” with по (по обі́ді).

Forms & patterns

Singular. The default ending is -і. Watch the consonant swaps it triggers on the stem — г→з, к→ц, х→с — and note that masculine animates often take -ові/-еві, while masculine stems in -к/-г/-х often take -у.

Plural. Simple and uniform — every gender takes -ах / -ях.

Examples

Common mistakes

• Я в Украї́на. -> Я в Украї́ні. — after в/у the noun must take the locative ending (-і), never stay in the nominative.
• Я йду в шко́лі. -> Я йду в шко́лу. — motion towards a goal is accusative (в шко́лу); в шко́лі (locative) means being at school.
• у кни́ги (“in the book”) -> у кни́зі — the feminine stem in -га softens to -зі (г → з) before the locative -і.
• на робо́та -> на робо́ті — “at work” needs the locative на робо́ті, not the base form.
• Ми живемо́ Ки́єві. -> Ми живемо́ в Ки́єві. — the locative can never appear without a preposition, so в is obligatory.
• на руки́ (“on the hand”) -> на руці́ — remember к → ц before -і (and the stress moves).

Tips

• The locative is the only case that is never bare: if you see an -і/-у/-ах form with no в, на, при, по or о in front of it, a preposition is missing.
• The default ending is -і; drill the three stem swaps that come with it — г→з, к→ц, х→с (кни́га→у кни́зі, рука́→на руці́, ву́хо→у ву́сі).
• в vs. у carries no meaning — it is pure euphony; choose whichever flows better with the surrounding sounds (see lesson 3).
• One preposition, two cases: на/в + locative = where you are; на/в + accusative = where you are going. Test with де? (locative) vs. куди́? (accusative).
• Clock time uses о (об before a vowel) + locative: о пе́ршій, о во́сьмій годи́ні, об одина́дцятій.
• The locative also covers months and “after”: у сі́чні (in January), по обі́ді (after lunch).
• при means “attached to / in the presence of”: при шко́лі (attached to the school), при мені́ (in my presence).

In short

The instrumental (орудни́й відмі́нок) is the case of the tool you act with and the thing you become or are called. Its two everyday jobs map onto two English words:

• by / with (a means) — write with a pencil, travel by train: no preposition, just the ending. Its question is чим? “with what” (or ким? “by/with whom”).
• be / become something — after an overt бути (“be”) in the past or future, and after ста́ти (“become”) or працюва́ти (“work as”), the predicate noun takes the instrumental: Він був студе́нтом “He was a student.”

Watch one spelling twist: soft feminine nouns like сіль, ніч, тінь double their last consonant before the ending — сі́ллю, ні́ччю, ті́нню.

The rule

1. Means and instrument — bare instrumental. The thing you use to do something goes straight into the instrumental, with no preposition: писа́ти олівце́м (write with a pencil), рі́зати ноже́м (cut with a knife), ї́хати по́їздом (go by train).

2. “With” as company — з + instrumental. English “with” also means “in the company of”. For that, Ukrainian uses the preposition з: з дру́гом (with a friend), з ча́єм (with tea). So писа́ти олівце́м (tool, no з) but гуля́ти з дру́гом (company, з). Do not put з in front of a tool.

3. Predicate instrumental — бути + орудний. When you say “X is/was/will be a Y”, the role noun Y takes the instrumental — but only once the verb «бути» is spoken:

• Present, zero copula → nominative: Він лі́кар. “He is a doctor.”
• Past / future бути → instrumental: Він був лі́карем. Він бу́де лі́карем.
• Become / work → instrumental: Вона́ ста́ла лі́карем. Вона́ працю́є лі́карем.

The same holds after здава́тися (seem), вважа́тися (be considered), назива́тися (be called).

4. Prepositions that govern the instrumental. A fixed set always takes this case: з (with), над (above), під (under), пе́ред (before, in front of), за (behind), між (between). Also a few verbs: пиша́тися (be proud of), ціка́витися (be interested in), займа́тися (be occupied with), керува́ти (manage, drive).

5. Time. Parts of the day and seasons stand in the bare instrumental to mean “during”: ні́ччю (at night), ра́нком (in the morning), ве́чором (in the evening), весно́ю (in spring).

6. The doubling behind сі́ллю / ні́ччю / ті́нню. Third-declension feminine nouns (soft, ending in a consonant) add -ю, and a single consonant caught between two vowels is lengthened, written as a doubled letter: сіль → сі́ллю, ніч → ні́ччю, тінь → ті́нню, по́дорож → по́дорожжю. This is the very same sound-lengthening that is frozen into a set of neuter -я nouns — знання́ (knowledge), життя́ (life), обли́ччя (face) — where the double letter is simply part of the word. Seeing the doubling there is the передумо́ва, the precondition, for spelling it here: it is one phonetic rule, once lexical, once grammatical.

Two brakes on that doubling: after a labial (б, п, в, м, ф) there is no double letter — write an apostrophe instead: любо́в’ю, кро́в’ю; and after a consonant cluster the consonant does not double: ра́дість → ра́дістю.

Forms & patterns

Endings by gender and hard/soft stem (singular):

Third-declension feminine — the consonant-doubling group in focus:

Plural (all genders): -ами / -ями, with a few irregulars in -ми.

Personal pronouns:

Examples

Common mistakes

• писа́ти з олівце́м -> писа́ти олівце́м — a tool takes the bare instrumental; з is only for company, not for means.
• Він був учи́тель -> Він був учи́телем — after an overt бути (past/future) the predicate role noun goes to the instrumental, not the nominative.
• Він є лі́карем (about the plain present) -> Він лі́кар — in the present with zero copula the predicate is nominative; the instrumental appears only when бути / ста́ти / працюва́ти is spoken.
• сі́лю / ніч’ю / тінью -> сі́ллю / ні́ччю / ті́нню — a single soft consonant doubles before -ю; no apostrophe, no single letter.
• любо́вю / кро́вю -> любо́в’ю / кро́в’ю — after a labial (б, п, в, м, ф) there is no doubling; you write an apostrophe instead.
• ра́діттю -> ра́дістю — no doubling when the stem already ends in a consonant cluster (-ст-).
• знаням / життям (single н, single т) -> знання́м / життя́м — these neuter nouns carry a doubled letter in the stem; keep both letters in the instrumental.

Tips

• Ask чим? “with what” (things) or ким? “with/by whom” (people) to locate an instrumental in a sentence.
• No preposition for a means (олівце́м, по́їздом); reserve з for accompaniment (з дру́гом, з ча́єм).
• Reach for the predicate instrumental the moment бути is voiced: був / бу́де / ста́ти / працюва́ти + -ом / -ем / -ою / -ею.
• Memorise the six instrumental prepositions as a block: з, над, під, пе́ред, за, між.
• For сіль-type nouns, say the ending aloud: a lengthened consonant + ю — сі́л-л-ю, ні́ч-ч-ю, ті́н-н-ю. The doubled letter just writes that length down.
• Let the neuter nouns знання́, життя́, обли́ччя remind you what the doubling sounds like before you apply it to сі́ллю, ні́ччю, ті́нню.
• Mind mobile stress: it often jumps onto the ending — стіл → столо́м, ніж → ноже́м, вода́ → водо́ю.

In short

A Ukrainian adjective is not a fixed word: it copies the gender, number and case of the noun it describes. You have now met all seven noun cases (lessons 4, 10, 11, 12, 21, 22, 23), so this lesson finally lets you dress every noun in an adjective that matches it everywhere. The good news: while noun endings scatter across four declension types, adjectives follow just two tidy patterns — a hard group (до́брий, нови́й) and a soft group (си́ній, оста́нній) — and each pattern has one ending per gender-and-case slot.

The rule

• An attributive adjective agrees with its noun in three things at once: gender (masculine / feminine / neuter, singular only), number (singular / plural), and case (all seven).
• Choose the ending in two steps: first work out what case the noun is in (from its role or its preposition), then give the adjective the matching cell from the table below.
• The masculine and neuter forms are identical in every case except the nominative/accusative (masc. -ий/-ій vs neut. -е/-є). Learn them as one column with one exception.
• In the plural there is no gender: one set of endings serves masculine, feminine and neuter together.
• Two slots borrow another case’s form, exactly as nouns do:
  • Masculine animate accusative = genitive (I see a good friend → до́брого дру́га), while masculine inanimate accusative = nominative (нови́й буди́нок).
  • Plural animate accusative = genitive (до́брих друзі́в); plural inanimate accusative = nominative (нові́ буди́нки).
• The masc./neut. locative has two equally correct forms, -ому and -ім (на до́брому столі́ / на до́брім столі́); -ому is the everyday choice.
• Hard vs soft is decided by the stem, not the meaning: hard stems take -ий, -ого, -ому, -им; soft stems take -ій, -ього, -ьому, -ім. The soft group is small (си́ній, оста́нній, дома́шній, ра́нній, сере́дній…).

Forms & patterns

Hard group — до́брий (good, kind). Stem-stressed; the stress stays on до́бр- through the whole paradigm.

Soft group — си́ній (blue). Same slots, softened vowels; also stem-stressed.

* The right-hand form is the animate accusative (= genitive): a masculine or plural noun that names a living being takes it, both on the adjective and on the noun.

Examples

Common mistakes

• нови́й су́кня -> нова́ су́кня — су́кня is feminine, so the adjective must take the feminine -а, not the masculine -ий.
• до́брого дру́г -> до́брого дру́га — a masculine animate object goes into the accusative-as-genitive on both words together, never on just one.
• у вели́кий буди́нку -> у вели́кому буди́нку — the locative of a masc./neut. adjective is -ому (or -ім); do not leave it in the nominative -ий.
• си́ня оліве́ць -> си́ній оліве́ць — оліве́ць is masculine; a soft-stem adjective still needs its masculine ending -ій.
• з до́брим друзя́ми -> з до́брими друзя́ми — the noun is plural, so the instrumental adjective must be plural -ими, not singular -им.
• си́нею ру́чкою -> си́ньою ру́чкою — a soft-stem feminine instrumental is -ьою; the sequence -нею belongs to no adjective type.
• Я зна́ю до́брі лю́ди -> Я зна́ю до́брих люде́й — plural animate accusative equals the genitive on both the adjective and the noun.

Tips

• Two-step reflex: find the noun’s case first, then hang the matching ending on the adjective. Never pick the adjective ending on its own.
• The question word яки́й? / яка́? / яке́? / які́? (“which? / what kind of?”) always stands in the same gender-number-case as the noun — say it to yourself as a quick agreement check.
• Do not expect the adjective and noun to share the same letters. до́брого дру́га, ново́ї кни́ги: the endings differ, yet the case matches — that is what agreement means.
• Masculine = neuter in five of seven cases; only the Nom./Acc. differ (-ий vs -е). Memorise the pair together and you have learned both.
• The plural is gender-blind: one row of endings (-і, -их, -им, -ими) covers all three genders, which shrinks the workload considerably.
• For the masc./neut. locative, prefer -ому in speech (на нові́м is a bookish variant); either is accepted.
• Soft-group adjectives are a short closed list (си́ній, оста́нній, ра́нній, дома́шній, сере́дній, тре́тій). Learn the list, and treat everything else as hard.

In short

Every Ukrainian preposition demands a particular case from the noun that follows it — this is called case government. Some prepositions always take the same case (біля + genitive), while the spatial ones switch case depending on whether you mean location (де? — where?) or motion (куди? — where to?). This lesson pulls the whole case block together: once you know which case each preposition governs, you already know most of the endings.

The rule

A preposition never stands alone: it forces its noun (and any adjective agreeing with it) into a fixed case. Learn the preposition and its case as one unit.

Fixed-case prepositions. Some govern only one case:

• біля, коло, поблизу (near) + genitive: біля вікна́.
• над, перед, за (above / in front of / behind, as a static position) + instrumental: над столо́м.
• о / об (at, with clock time) + locative: о шо́стій.

Two-case (spatial) prepositions. в/у, на, під answer two different questions with two different cases:

• де? (location) → locative after в/у, на; instrumental after під: у кімна́ті, на столі́, під столо́м.
• куди? (motion toward) → accusative: у кімна́ту, на стіл, під стіл.

Note on в vs у. These are the same preposition with the same government; the choice between в and у is pure euphony (see the euphony lesson) — it never changes the case.

Time and date. Ukrainian sorts time words by unit:

• days of the week → в/у + accusative: у понеді́лок, у се́реду.
• months and years → у + locative: у сі́чні, у 2025 ро́ці.
• weeks → на + locative: на цьо́му ти́жні.
• clock hours → о (об before a vowel) + locative: о дев’я́тій годи́ні, об одина́дцятій годи́ні.

To ask and tell the time, use the feminine ordinal: Котра́ годи́на? (“Which hour is it?”) is answered in the nominative (тре́тя), while “at what time” uses the locative: о котрі́й? — о тре́тій.

Forms & patterns

Which case does each preposition govern?

Time and date patterns

Telling the time (feminine ordinal; nominative for “it is”, locative for “at”)

Examples

Common mistakes

• Я йду в шко́лі -> Я йду в шко́лу — motion (куди?) takes the accusative, not the locative.
• в сі́чень -> у сі́чні — months answer коли? with в/у + locative, not accusative.
• в шо́сту годи́ну -> о шо́стій годи́ні — clock time uses о + locative (о котрі́й?).
• біля вікно́ -> біля вікна́ — біля always governs the genitive.
• над стіл -> над столо́м — над names a static position, so it needs the instrumental.
• пятни́ця -> п’я́тниця — the apostrophe after п is a mandatory letter, never optional.

Tips

• Bind each preposition to its case as a single chunk: “біля + genitive”, “під + instrumental”. Memorising them apart is what causes errors.
• For the spatial trio (в/у, на, під) ask де? or куди? first: location keeps the “resting” case, motion switches to the accusative.
• в and у are the same word — pick whichever sounds smoother; it never affects the case. See the euphony lesson.
• Time units each have their own pattern: days = accusative (у вівто́рок), months/years = locative (у бе́резні, у 2025 ро́ці), weeks = на + locative (на цьо́му ти́жні).
• Clock hours use о + feminine ordinal in the locative; switch о to об before a vowel (об одина́дцятій).
• Beware Russian look-alikes: it is під (not под) and у (not в by default) — Ukrainian keeps і where Russian has о.

In short

Almost every Ukrainian verb comes as a matched pair of two “aspects”. The imperfective (недоконаний вид) looks at an action as a process — ongoing, repeated, or unfinished. The perfective (доконаний вид) looks at it as a single whole event with a result. Before you can build a past or a future, you must first pick the aspect: that one choice decides which forms even exist. The most important consequence: perfective verbs have no present tense, and their present-shaped endings mean the future.

The rule

Aspect answers “how do I view this action?”, not “when did it happen?”.

• Недоконаний вид (imperfective) — the action as a process: it is going on, it happens regularly, it lasts, or you simply do not care whether it finished. чита́ти = “to read / to be reading”.
• Доконаний вид (perfective) — the action as one completed whole, usually with a result or a clear end point. прочита́ти = “to read (through), to finish reading”.

The two verbs form a видова пара (aspectual pair) — the same lexical meaning, opposite aspect. You learn them together, like English go / went.

Aspect controls the tense system:

• An imperfective verb has all three tenses: present (пишу́), past (писа́в), and a compound future (бу́ду писа́ти).
• A perfective verb has only two: past (написа́в) and future. Crucially, it has no present tense — conjugating it with present-tense endings produces a future meaning (напишу́ = “I will write”).

So the decision tree for every verb form is: first choose the aspect (finished-and-single vs process-or-repeated), then attach the tense.

Forms & patterns

Aspectual pairs are built in several ways. Most often the perfective adds a prefix; sometimes the two differ by a suffix, and a few pairs use two different stems (suppletive).

Now the key contrast. The same personal endings give a present meaning on the imperfective but a future meaning on the perfective:

The full tense grid for one pair makes the gap visible — note the empty present cell on the perfective side:

Examples

Common mistakes

• я бу́ду написа́ти -> я напишу́ — a perfective builds its future with present-tense endings, never with «бу́ду».
• Я прочита́ю газе́ту щора́нку -> Я чита́ю газе́ту щора́нку — a repeated, habitual action is imperfective.
• Вона́ написа́ла листа́ ці́лу годи́ну -> Вона́ писа́ла листа́ ці́лу годи́ну — a stated duration (“for an hour”) describes a process, so it needs the imperfective.
• напишу́ (meaning “I am writing right now”) -> пишу́ — a perfective has no present; напишу́ can only mean “I will write”.
• Він взя́в кни́жку щодня́ -> Він бра́в кни́жку щодня́ — «щодня» (every day) signals repetition, which forces the imperfective бра́ти.

Tips

• Ask two questions before choosing a verb: (1) Is it finished, with a result? (2) Is it a single event or a repeated one? “Finished / single” → perfective; “process / repeated” → imperfective.
• Memorise verbs in pairs from the start (роби́ти / зроби́ти), the same way you would learn go / went.
• Remember the whole system hangs on one fact: a perfective verb has only past and future — no present.
• If a verb is conjugated like a present tense but is perfective (напишу́, зроблю́, ви́вчу), it always points to the future.
• Let time words guide you: щодня́, за́вжди, ча́сто, зазвича́й → imperfective; уже́, наре́шті, ра́птом, за годи́ну → usually perfective.
• Many pairs differ by a single prefix that adds only “completedness” (писа́ти → на-писа́ти), not a new meaning — so learning the pair costs almost nothing.
• When you are unsure in speech and the action is happening now, default to the imperfective; it is the safer, “process” aspect.

In short

The Ukrainian past tense is the language’s simplest finite form. You drop the infinitive’s final -ти and add just one of four endings: -в (masculine), -ла (feminine), -ло (neuter), -ли (plural). That is the whole system. Unlike English or the Ukrainian present tense, the past has no personal endings — it does not care whether the subject is я, ти or він. Instead it agrees, exactly like an adjective, with the gender and number of the subject. So «я чита́в» and «я чита́ла» are both “I read”, and the only difference is whether я is a man or a woman.

The rule

To build the past tense of most verbs:

1. Take the infinitive: чита́ти (“to read”).
2. Remove the ending -ти to get the stem: чита-.
3. Add the gender/number ending:
   • -в if the subject is masculine singular → чита́в
   • -ла if the subject is feminine singular → чита́ла
   • -ло if the subject is neuter singular → чита́ло
   • -ли if the subject is plural (any gender) → чита́ли

Two things to internalise:

• Agreement is with the subject, not the speaker’s grammar of person. A woman says «я була́ вдо́ма»; a man says «я був удо́ма». For ти it works the same way: «ти прийшла́?» to a woman, «ти прийшо́в?» to a man.
• Formal ви takes the plural form, even for one person: «Ви вже обі́дали?» — one polite guest, but the verb is -ли.

A small but frequent group of verbs whose stem ends in a consonant (type нести́, могти́, везти́, пекти́) take no -в in the masculine: the bare consonant stem stands alone (ніс, міг, віз, пік), often with an о/е → і vowel shift. The feminine, neuter and plural of these verbs are perfectly regular (несла́, несло́, несли́).

Forms & patterns

Regular pattern — чита́ти “to read” and бу́ти “to be”:

Note how бу́ти shifts its stress onto the ending in every form except the masculine: був → була́ → було́ → були́.

One form covers all persons — the past does not distinguish я / ти / він:

Consonant-stem masculines — no -в, with an о/е → і shift:

Reflexive verbs — the particle -ся goes after the gender/number ending:

Examples

Common mistakes

• я чита́ю вчо́ра -> я чита́в / чита́ла вчо́ра — a past action needs a past form, not the present.
• я чита́лаю / вона́ чита́лає -> я чита́ла, вона́ чита́ла — the past has NO personal endings; never glue a present-tense ending onto it.
• (man speaking) я чита́ла -> я чита́в — the form agrees with the subject’s gender, so a male speaker uses -в.
• вони́ чита́в -> вони́ чита́ли — a plural subject always takes -ли.
• Ви прийшо́в? (polite, to one person) -> Ви прийшли́? — formal ви governs the plural form even for a single addressee.
• він нісв / він мігв -> він ніс, він міг — consonant-stem masculines take no -в at all.
• він сяучи́в -> він учи́вся / вчи́вся — the reflexive -ся attaches AFTER the gender/number ending, not before the stem.
• бу́ла, бу́ло -> була́, було́ — remember the stress jumps to the ending in бути (був stays, the rest move).

Tips

• Think of the past tense as a gender-marked adjective in disguise: match it to the subject the way you would match an adjective (він до́брий → він чита́в; вона́ до́бра → вона́ чита́ла).
• There is nothing to memorise per person — four forms (m., f., n., pl.) cover я, ти, він, вона, воно, ми, ви, вони between them.
• With polite ви, default to the -ли form; using -в or -ла to one person sounds like informal ти.
• For the tricky masculines, learn them as pairs by ear: нести́ → ніс, могти́ → міг, везти́ → віз, пекти́ → пік — no -в, plus the о/е → і vowel shift.
• To negate, just place не before the verb: не чита́в, не прийшла́, не було́ — the ending never changes.
• Keep aspect in play: the imperfective past describes an ongoing or repeated action (чита́в = was reading), while the perfective past reports a completed one (прочита́в = read through, finished).

In short

Imperfective verbs (ongoing, repeated, or planned future actions) have one future meaning expressed by two interchangeable forms:

• Compound (складена): the future of «бути» + an imperfective infinitive — бу́ду чита́ти “I will read / will be reading”.
• Synthetic (проста): the same infinitive with a fused ending in -му — чита́тиму, one word, exactly the same meaning.

The synthetic -му form is a signature of Ukrainian: it packs the whole future tense into a single word, and Russian has no equivalent. Learn both — they are equally correct and you will hear both constantly.

The rule

Both forms build only on IMPERFECTIVE infinitives (чита́ти, роби́ти, писа́ти — lesson 24). A one-off completed result uses the perfective future instead (lesson 27).

Compound. Conjugate «бути» in the future (бу́ду, бу́деш, бу́де, бу́демо, бу́дете, бу́дуть) and add the unchanged imperfective infinitive: бу́ду + чита́ти → бу́ду чита́ти.

Synthetic. Take the same imperfective infinitive (it ends in -ти) and glue a personal ending straight onto it: чита́ти + му → чита́тиму. Historically these endings are worn-down forms of an old verb “яти”, now fused to the infinitive. The stress stays on the same syllable as in the infinitive throughout the whole paradigm.

Forms & patterns

Compound and synthetic side by side (verb чита́ти “to read”):

The synthetic endings (identical for every verb, added after the full -ти stem):

The same synthetic pattern on роби́ти “to do” and писа́ти “to write”:

Notice the stress never moves: чита́ти → чита́тиму, роби́ти → роби́тиме, писа́ти → писа́тимеш.

Examples

Common mistakes

• бу́ду чита́тиму -> бу́ду чита́ти / чита́тиму — pick ONE form; never stack «буду» with the -му ending.
• бу́ду прочита́ти -> прочита́ю / бу́ду чита́ти — «буду» + infinitive takes only IMPERFECTIVE infinitives; a perfective verb uses the present-as-future (lesson 27).
• чита́му -> чита́тиму — keep the full infinitive in -ти, then add -му; don’t drop the -ти.
• я чита́тимеш -> я чита́тиму — the ending -му is 1st person singular; -меш is “ти”.
• ти бу́деш чита́є -> ти бу́деш чита́ти — after «буде»-forms comes the INFINITIVE, not a conjugated present-tense verb.

Tips

• Both forms are 100% interchangeable in meaning; the choice is only style. The synthetic -му is compact and unmistakably Ukrainian.
• Build the synthetic form mechanically: imperfective infinitive (in -ти) + -му / -меш / -ме / -мемо / -мете / -муть. No stem changes.
• Build the compound form from «бути» in the future (бу́ду, бу́деш…) plus any imperfective infinitive — handy when you’re unsure of the fused spelling.
• Use either form for ongoing, habitual, or planned future actions: “I’ll be reading tonight”, “we’ll study next year”.
• For a single completed future result (“I’ll read it through, and finish”), switch to the perfective future — прочита́ю, напишу́ (lesson 27).
• Stress sits on the same syllable as in the infinitive, so once you know чита́ти, the whole synthetic paradigm is stressed on -та-.

In short

A perfective verb has no present tense. When you conjugate it with the ordinary present-tense endings you already know, the result points to the future — and to one completed, whole action: напишу́ = “I will write (and finish it)”, not “I am writing”. This is the simple (one-word) future, and it is the natural counterpart to the imperfective future you met in the previous lesson.

The rule

Ukrainian builds two futures, split by aspect:

• Imperfective future (lesson 26): бу́ду чита́ти or чита́тиму — an ongoing, repeated, or in-progress action (“I will be reading”).
• Perfective future (this lesson): take the perfective partner of the verb and add the present-tense endings to it. The single word already means the future, because the perfective stem cannot mean “now”: прочита́ю = “I will read it through”.

The trick is that the endings are identical to the present tense of an imperfective verb. Only the stem differs — and that difference (usually a prefix) is what makes it perfective:

So the same shape (-у/-ю, -еш/-єш, -е/-є, -емо/-ємо, -ете/-єте, -уть/-ють or -у/-ю, -иш, -ить, -имо, -ите, -ать/-ять) means present on an imperfective verb but future on a perfective one. Aspect, not the ending, decides the tense.

Forms & patterns

The endings are exactly the two present-tense sets from lesson 12 (conjugation I and II). Here they sit on perfective stems, so every form is future:

Notice the mobile stress in написа́ти: it lands on the ending in напишу́ but retreats to the stem in напи́шеш … напи́шуть. In прочита́ти it stays put on -та- throughout, and in зроби́ти it shifts from зроблю́ back to зро́биш … зро́блять (with the inserted -л- in зроблю́ and зро́блять, just like in the present tense of роби́ти).

A reflexive perfective verb keeps its -ся on every form:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Я бу́ду написа́ти листа́ -> Я напишу́ листа́ — a perfective verb never takes бу́ду; its one-word form is already the future.
• бу́ду зроблю́ -> зроблю́ — never stack бу́ду on a conjugated perfective form; pick one, not both.
• Я прочита́ю за́раз (meaning “I am reading now”) -> Я чита́ю за́раз — the perfective-shaped form is future; “now, in progress” needs the imperfective present.
• Я напишу́ листи́ щодня́ (for a daily habit) -> Я писа́тиму листи́ щодня́ — a repeated action is imperfective; the perfective means one finished act, not a routine.
• Я зроблю́ уро́ки дві годи́ни -> Я роби́тиму уро́ки дві годи́ни — a stated duration is a process, so use the imperfective future.

Tips

• Perfective verbs have no present tense at all — so their present-looking endings can only mean the future. That is the whole idea of this lesson.
• Ask yourself: one finished action, or an ongoing/repeated one? Finished → perfective simple future (напишу́); process or habit → imperfective future (бу́ду писа́ти / писа́тиму).
• The perfective partner usually adds a prefix the base lacks: писа́ти → написа́ти, чита́ти → прочита́ти, роби́ти → зроби́ти, купува́ти → купи́ти.
• You already know the endings from lesson 12 — reuse them unchanged; only the stem becomes perfective.
• Time markers like за́втра, вве́чері, за ти́ждень, о шо́стій fit this “by then it will be done” meaning perfectly.
• For an on-the-spot promise or decision, Ukrainian reaches for the perfective: «Я зроблю́!», «Я поду́маю».
• Both ти and ви use the same rule; only the ending changes — ти напи́шеш, ви напи́шете.

In short

Ordinal numerals name a position in a sequence — first, second, third — and answer the question «котри́й?» (“which one in order?”), as opposed to cardinals, which answer «скі́льки?» (“how many?”). In Ukrainian every ordinal is grammatically an adjective: пе́рший, дру́гий, тре́тій… take adjective endings and must agree with their noun in gender, number and case. This one fact — decline them like adjectives — carries the whole topic, and it is also how Ukrainian says dates and clock hours.

The rule

• They are adjectives. пе́рший behaves exactly like the hard-stem adjective до́брий; тре́тій is the only soft-stem ordinal and behaves like си́ній. So they inflect for gender (пе́рший / пе́рша / пе́рше), number (пе́рші) and all six cases.
• Agreement. The ordinal copies the gender, number and case of the noun it modifies: дру́гий по́верх (nom. m.), на дру́гому по́версі (loc. m.), дру́га спро́ба (nom. f.), з дру́гої спро́би (gen. f.).
• Compound ordinals: only the LAST word is ordinal, all earlier parts stay cardinal and do not decline. So 21st = два́дцять пе́рший (cardinal два́дцять + ordinal пе́рший), 125th = сто два́дцять п’я́тий. Compare cardinal два́дцять оди́н (“twenty-one”).
• Dates. The day is a neuter ordinal, the month goes in the genitive: Сього́дні пе́рше тра́вня (“Today is the first of May”). To say on a date, shift the ordinal to the genitive: пе́ршого тра́вня (“on the first of May”). The year is a locative ordinal (last word only): у дві ти́сячі два́дцять шо́стому ро́ці (“in 2026”).
• Clock hours use a feminine ordinal in the locative after о(б): о пе́ршій, о дру́гій, о деся́тій (годи́ні) — “at one / two / ten o’clock”.
• Rank. With result or place, Ukrainian often uses the instrumental: він фіні́шував во́сьмим (“he finished eighth”), вона́ ста́ла пе́ршою (“she became first”).

Forms & patterns

Most ordinals are hard-stem adjectives. The full paradigm of пе́рший:

* animate accusative copies the genitive.

третій is the sole soft-stem ordinal — note ь and the vowels -є/-і:

The lemmas 1–12 and the round tens/hundreds (nominative masculine):

Examples

Common mistakes

• два́дцять оди́н ли́пня -> два́дцять пе́рше ли́пня — a date takes the (neuter) ordinal, never the cardinal.
• двадця́тий пе́рший -> два́дцять пе́рший — in a compound ordinal only the LAST word is ordinal; the earlier parts stay cardinal.
• на дру́гий по́версі -> на дру́гому по́версі — the ordinal must agree in case (locative) with its noun.
• тре́того / тре́тому -> тре́тього / тре́тьому — тре́тій is soft-stem, so its endings carry ь: -ього, -ьому.
• пе́рший ли́пня (“on July 1st”) -> пе́ршого ли́пня — “on a date” needs the genitive of the ordinal.
• второ́й по́верх / пе́рвий день -> дру́гий по́верх / пе́рший день — use the Ukrainian ordinal, not the Russian look-alike.

Tips

• Ordinals answer «котри́й?»; cardinals answer «скі́льки?». If English has -th / -st / -nd, you need an ordinal.
• They decline exactly like adjectives — make them agree in gender, number and case with the noun, the same agreement as in Adjective declension & agreement.
• Only третій is soft-stem (тре́тього, тре́тьому, тре́тя, тре́тє, тре́ті); everything else is hard-stem like до́брий.
• Dates in three moves: neuter ordinal for the day, genitive for the month, and switch the ordinal to the genitive for “on that day”: пе́рше тра́вня -> пе́ршого тра́вня.
• In compounds, make ordinal and decline only the final word: сто два́дцять п’я́тий, сто два́дцять п’я́того.
• Clock hours are feminine locative ordinals after о: о пе́ршій, о дру́гій, о деся́тій.
• Mind the spellings: во́сьмий and сьо́мий have ь; п’я́тий and дев’я́тий keep the apostrophe.

In short

An adverb (прислі́вник) tells you how, where, when or to what degree something happens. Its best feature for a learner: it never changes. Unlike a noun or an adjective, an adverb has no gender, no number and no case — you learn one fixed form and reuse it everywhere. Most manner adverbs are built from an adjective by swapping the ending for -о (шви́дкий -> шви́дко). Place, time and degree adverbs are a fixed vocabulary you memorise, and this lesson sorts them into four groups so they are easier to hold in your head.

The rule

Ukrainian adverbs fall into four everyday groups, each answered by its own question word:

• Manner (спо́собу ді́ї) - answers як? (how?): шви́дко, ти́хо, до́бре.
• Place (мі́сця) - answers де? куди́? зві́дки? (where? where to? where from?): тут, там, право́руч.
• Time (ча́су) - answers коли́? (when?): сього́дні, за́втра, за́вжди.
• Degree (мі́ри і сту́пеня) - answers наскі́льки? як ду́же? (how much?): ду́же, тро́хи, ма́йже.

The one productive formation rule is for manner adverbs: take a qualitative adjective, drop its ending (-ий / -ій), and add -о. So шви́дкий -> шви́дко, ти́хий -> ти́хо, ва́жкий -> ва́жко. A small set uses -е instead (до́брий -> до́бре; adjectives with stems in ж, ч, ш: гаря́чий -> гаря́че). Place, time and degree adverbs are not derived this way — many of them are old preposition-plus-noun combinations that fused into a single word (в+о́сінь -> восени́ “in autumn”, у+ра́нок -> ура́нці “in the morning”), so learn each one whole.

An adverb usually stands next to the verb it modifies (Він до́бре співа́є) or, for degree adverbs, right before the word it intensifies (ду́же до́бре).

Forms & patterns

Manner adverbs from adjectives (regular -о, plus the small -е set). Notice how the stress often jumps to the first syllable in the adverb:

The four types at a glance (question word + typical members):

Place adverbs come in threes — one word for a static location, one for motion toward, one for motion away. Match the adverb to the question:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Він співа́є га́рний -> Він співа́є га́рно — a verb is modified by an adverb, not an adjective; the adverb never agrees.
• Вона́ говори́ть ти́ха -> Вона́ говори́ть ти́хо — the neuter adjective (ти́хе) and the adverb (ти́хо) look alike but are not interchangeable; with a verb use the -о adverb.
• Де ти йдеш? -> Куди́ ти йдеш? — motion “to where” is куди́; де asks only about a static location.
• Я йду там (meaning “over there”) -> Я йду туди́ — with a verb of motion use the direction adverb туди́, not the location adverb там.
• Він розмовля́є хорошо́ -> Він розмовля́є до́бре — хорошо́ is Russian; the Ukrainian adverb is до́бре (or га́рно).
• весе́ло from весе́лий? watch the stress: висе́ло -> ве́село — the stress moves to the first syllable and the first vowel stays е.

Tips

• To make a manner adverb, just replace the adjective ending with -о: -ий / -ій -> -о (ти́хий -> ти́хо). This covers the large majority of cases.
• Sort every adverb by its question — як? (manner), де/куди/звідки? (place), коли? (time), наскі́льки? (degree). Grouping them makes them far easier to memorise.
• Adverbs are invariable: no gender, no number, no case. One form fits every sentence.
• Keep the place system in threes: тут / сюди́ / зві́дси, там / туди́ / зві́дти — static, toward, away.
• Degree adverbs (ду́же, на́дто, зо́всім, тро́хи) go before the word they strengthen: ду́же до́бре, тро́хи хо́лодно.
• Many time and place adverbs are fused preposition + noun — восени́, взи́мку, ура́нці, надво́рі. Learn them as single whole words, not as two pieces.
• Listen for stress: it frequently shifts from the adjective to the adverb (весе́лий -> ве́село, голосни́й -> го́лосно).

In short

Ukrainian uses one small set of pronouns to do two jobs. At the front of a question they ask about a person, a thing, or a quality: хто (who?), що (what?), яки́й (which? / what kind?). The very same words, placed between two clauses, become relative pronouns that hook a subordinate clause onto a noun or onto a whole idea: люди́на, яка́… (the person who…), усе, що… (everything that…). Learn the forms once and you have both functions for free — only the word’s role in the sentence changes, not its shape.

The rule

• хто points at people (and animals); що points at things, ideas and situations. They do not agree with anything — they only change by case (кого́, кому́, ким…).
• яки́й means which / what kind of. It declines exactly like a hard adjective and agrees in gender, number and case with the noun it describes: яки́й буди́нок, яка́ пі́сня, яке́ мі́сто, які́ лю́ди.
• As an interrogative, the pronoun opens the question and usually carries rising intonation: Хто це? Що це? Яки́й ко́лір?
• As a relative, the pronoun opens a subordinate clause and refers back to something in the main clause. It takes the case its own clause needs, not the case of the noun it points to: буди́нок (nom.), у яко́му (loc., because of у) я живу́.
• хто / що also head noun-clauses after verbs of knowing, saying, asking: Я не зна́ю, хто це. Скажи́, що ста́лося. Here they are still relative/connective, even without a preceding noun.
• After a preposition you normally need the declinable яки́й (у яко́му, з яко́ю, про яки́й), because що as a relative word does not itself take a preposition.

Forms & patterns

хто and що — no gender, no number, only case:

яки́й — declines like a hard adjective, agreeing in gender / number / case:

In the accusative, the second (genitive-like) form яко́го / яки́х is used when the noun is animate; яки́й / які́ when it is inanimate.

Examples

Common mistakes

• Хто твоя́ адре́са? -> Яка́ твоя́ адре́са? — хто asks about a person; for a thing or property use що / яки́й.
• Я зна́ю, яки́й прийшо́в. -> Я зна́ю, хто прийшо́в. — a person as the subject is хто, not яки́й.
• Як кни́га тобі́ подо́бається? -> Яка́ кни́га тобі́ подо́бається? — як = how; яки́й/яка́ = which and must agree with the noun.
• Яки́й пі́сня? -> Яка́ пі́сня? — яки́й agrees in gender: feminine пі́сня takes яка́.
• Дім, в що я живу́. -> Дім, в яко́му я живу́. — after a preposition use the declinable яки́й in the right case, not invariable що.
• з яки́й -> з яки́м — яки́й must decline; the instrumental after з is яки́м.

Tips

• Split the meanings cleanly: хто = who (people/animals), що = what (things/ideas), яки́й = which / what kind (a quality of a noun).
• Because яки́й declines like an adjective, decide its ending by asking which gender, which number, which case? — the same reflex you already use for до́брий, нови́й.
• A relative pronoun looks back at a noun but is dressed by its own clause: маши́на, яку́ я купи́в (яку́ = accusative object of купи́в), even though маши́на is nominative outside.
• Interrogative and relative are the same word doing different work: Хто це? (question) → Я не зна́ю, хто це. (linked clause). The form does not change.
• When a preposition is involved, reach for яки́й: у яко́му, з яко́ю, до яко́го, про яки́й. Both хто and що take prepositions too (про що, з ким, до кого).
• Keep яки́й apart from як (how) and from котри́й (which one of a set); mixing them is a frequent slip.

In short

The imperative mood (наказо́вий спо́сіб) is how Ukrainian gives orders, requests, and invitations: do it, write, let’s go. Unlike English, which has a single bare form (“Read!”), Ukrainian chooses among three forms depending on who you are talking to:

• ти form — one person you address informally: роби́ “do”;
• ви form — one person you address politely, or several people: робі́ть “do”;
• ми form — “let’s …”, an invitation that includes you: зробі́мо “let’s do”.

All three are built from the present/future stem, and a soft будь ла́ска (“please”) turns any of them into a polite request.

The rule

1. Find the stem. Take the third-person plural of the present (imperfective) or simple-future (perfective) verb and drop the ending: чита́ють → чита́й-, пи́шуть → пиш-, ро́блять → роб’-.

2. Build the ти form with one of three endings:

3. Build ви and ми from the ти form:

• ви = ти form + -те; a final -и softens to -і: чита́й → чита́йте, роби́ → робі́ть.
• ми = ти form + -мо; a final -и softens to -і: чита́й → чита́ймо, роби́ → робі́мо.

4. Third-person “let …” is analytic: неха́й (or shorter хай) + the present/future form — Неха́й вона́ відпочи́не “Let her rest”.

Forms & patterns

Core paradigm — every verb has exactly these three cells:

A few high-frequency verbs with an irregular or contracted ти form:

Perfective vs imperfective — same slots, different focus:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Ви ро́бите! (as a command) -> Робі́ть! — the command form is робі́ть, not the present-tense ро́бите (“you are doing”).
• хо́димо (as “let’s go”) -> ході́мо — the “let’s” form shifts stress and vowel; the present хо́димо just states a fact.
• Не зачини́ две́рі -> Не зачиня́й две́рі — prohibitions normally use the imperfective, not the perfective.
• Не хвилю́й! -> Не хвилю́йся! — reflexive verbs keep -ся in the imperative; dropping it changes the meaning.
• Сядь! (to a stranger) -> Сіда́йте, будь ла́ска — use the ви form plus будь ласка when politeness is due.

Tips

• Default to the ви form with anyone you address as ви; adding будь ла́ска softens any command into a polite request.
• The -мо form is your ready-made “let’s …”: ході́мо, зробі́мо, почні́мо, танцю́ймо.
• Choose aspect by meaning: perfective for one completed result (Зачини́ вікно́!), imperfective for a process, habit, or general rule (Чита́й щодня́).
• Negative commands almost always take the imperfective: не роби́, не заходь, не бі́йся.
• Keep -ся / -сь on reflexive verbs: одяга́йся, не хвилю́йся, посміхні́ться.
• For “let him / her / them …”, use неха́й (or хай) + present/future: Неха́й ска́жуть пра́вду.
• Stress tends to fall on the ending in -и verbs (роби́, скажи́, принеси́) but stays on the stem in zero-ending verbs (сядь, встань, будь).

In short

A small group of Ukrainian motion verbs comes in pairs. One verb of the pair is unidirectional (односпрямоване) — one trip, one direction, happening at a definite moment: іти́, ї́хати. The other is multidirectional (різноспрямоване) — habitual, repeated, round trips, or motion in general: ходи́ти, ї́здити. English uses one word (“go”) for all of this; Ukrainian makes you choose. A second split runs across the pairs: іти́/ходи́ти = on foot, ї́хати/ї́здити = by vehicle.

The rule

Both verbs of a pair are imperfective, and both mean “to go”. The difference is the shape of the motion, not its completeness:

• Unidirectional (іти́, ї́хати) — a single journey in one direction, viewed as in progress or as one specific occasion:
  • happening now: Я йду додо́му. (I am walking home.)
  • a single planned trip: За́втра ми ї́демо у Львів. (Tomorrow we are going to Lviv.)
  • timetabled transport moving toward a goal: По́їзд іде́. (The train is coming / running.)
• Multidirectional (ходи́ти, ї́здити) — motion that is repeated, habitual, back-and-forth, or an ability:
  • a habit: Я хо́джу до шко́ли щодня́. (I go to school every day.)
  • a completed round trip (there and back), even once: Учо́ра я ходи́в у магази́н. (Yesterday I went to the shop — and returned.)
  • a general ability: Дити́на вже хо́дить. (The child already walks.)

On top of that, pick the pair by means of travel: іти́/ходи́ти for going on foot, ї́хати/ї́здити for going by any vehicle (car, bus, train, bike). Saying іти́ в Ки́їв implies walking the whole way.

Adverbs are a reliable signal. Habit words — щодня́, ча́сто, і́ноді, за́вжди́, щоро́ку — pull the multidirectional verb. Point-in-time words — за́раз, ось, тепе́р, за́втра (one planned trip) — pull the unidirectional verb.

Forms & patterns

The four core verbs, present tense. Note the stress shift in ходи́ти (ходжу́ → хо́диш):

Past tense (gender and number). іти́ has two accepted variants — the й-form after a vowel, the і-form after a pause or consonant:

The same uni/multi split runs through the other motion pairs:

Examples