In short

Determinative pronouns (означа́льні займе́нники) point not to a specific thing but to totality, distribution or identity. This lesson covers the four workhorses: весь (“all, the whole”), ко́жен/ко́жний (“each, every”), сам (“-self; alone; the very”) and і́нший (“other, another, a different one”). They all behave like adjectives: they agree with their noun in gender, number and case, and they can stand on their own once the noun is understood.

The rule

• весь expresses totality — a whole undivided thing (весь день “the whole day”) or, in the plural, all members of a set (всі лю́ди “all the people”). It has an irregular pronoun declension and an optional initial у-: уве́сь ~ весь, уся́ ~ вся, усе́ ~ все, усі́ ~ всі. Choose the у- or в- form for euphony (after a consonant say уве́сь, after a vowel весь) — see the euphony lesson.
• ко́жен (= ко́жний) is distributive: it singles out every member of a set one by one, so it is normally singular and takes a singular verb (ко́жен зна́є “everyone knows”). The plural ко́жні appears only with a plural time-span or a plural-only noun: ко́жні три дні “every three days”.
• сам does three jobs. It intensifies (“in person, oneself”: дире́ктор сам… “the director himself…”), it means “alone, unaided” (я зроби́в це сам “I did it by myself”), and — in its са́мий form — it points to an extreme edge of something (на са́мому краю́ “at the very edge”). Keep that extremity use apart from the second job of са́мий — identity, which it carries after той: той са́мий “the same”.
• і́нший means “other, another, different”. It contrasts one entity with the rest of a set: оди́н… і́нший “one… another”. Keep it apart from дру́гий “second (in a sequence)”.
• All four decline like adjectives (hard group), except that весь and сам have irregular, stress-shifting paradigms you simply memorize.

Forms & patterns

весь (“all, the whole”) — irregular; the у-/в- alternation is euphonic, not grammatical, and it runs through every cell below with the stress unmoved: усього́, усіє́ї, усі́х, усьому́, усі́й, усі́м, усю́, усіє́ю, усіма́.

ко́жен / ко́жний (“each, every”) — hard-adjective endings, fixed stress on ко́-.

сам (“-self; alone; the very”) — irregular; stress shifts onto the ending.

і́нший (“other, another”) — regular hard-adjective endings, fixed stress on і́-.

Examples

Common mistakes

• весь лю́ди -> всі лю́ди — a plural noun needs the plural всі, not the masculine singular весь.
• ко́жні день -> ко́жен день — ко́жен is singular; the plural ко́жні only fits a plural span (ко́жні три дні).
• на все сві́ті -> на всьо́му сві́ті — весь must agree in case; the locative is всьо́му (the stress retracts after the preposition), not the bare nominative все.
• я сам собо́ю зроби́в це -> я сам зроби́в це — сам already means “on one’s own”; adding собо́ю is redundant.
• самий важли́вий пункт -> найважливі́ший пункт — Ukrainian builds superlatives with the prefix най-, never with самий (a Russian calque).
• да́й дру́гу ча́шку meaning “give me another cup” -> да́й і́ншу ча́шку — дру́гий means “second in order”; for “a different/other one” use і́нший.

Tips

• Remember two irregular instrumental forms: всіма́ (not “всими”) and сами́ми — they shift the stress onto the ending.
• ко́жен and ко́жний are fully interchangeable; ко́жен is more frequent in speech, ко́жний is a touch more bookish. Both stay singular.
• Keep сам (“-self / alone”) apart from са́мий (“the same”): сам intensifies or means “unaided”; той са́мий marks identity, and на са́мому/з са́мого marks an extreme point (“at the very…”, “from the very…”).
• сам agrees with its subject: він сам, вона́ сама́, вони́ самі́, and a woman says я зроблю́ це сама́.
• Pair оди́н… і́нший for “one… another”, and reserve дру́гий for counting (“the second”).
• For totality, switch number with the sense: весь клас “the whole class” (one undivided group) vs. всі у́чні “all the pupils” (every member).