When learning Ukrainian it’s important not to rush. Let’s take our time to review everything we have learnt by now. You’ll see that you’ve made a great progress and are able to express many ideas. Here is a small summary of last 4 lessons.

Review of the phrases
Listen and repeat the following sentences:

Lesson 6 |
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Вчо́ра я нічо́го не знав, але́ сього́дні зна́ю все! |

Lesson 7 |
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Менí подо́бається пíца. |

Lesson 8 |
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Я не зна́ю хто мій найкра́щий друг. |

Lesson 9 |
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Мене́ зва́ти Тетя́на, а як тебе́ зва́ти? |

Ukrainian vocabulary
Read, listen and repeat the basic vocabulary of this lesson.
Question words in Ukrainian
Asking questions is essential when holding a conversation. We already know a lot of useful words that help us form questions. Let’s review them:
Що?
What?
Хто?
Who?
Як?
How?
Коли́?
When?
Де?
Where?
Чому́?
Why?
The word “чи” in questions.
To say or not to say?
In some Ukrainian questions you might find the mysterious word “чи”, for example:
- Чи він га́рний друг? – Is he a good friend?
- Чи ти була́ в кінотеа́трі? – Have you been to the cinema?
The word “чи” is used in sentences without question words (why, when etc.).
You can omit it without changing the meaning of the sentence. Most native speakers prefer using it. Whether to say it or not is up to you.
However, it’s a more traditional way to ask this kind of questions and Ukrainians try to keep it.
Family members
In lesson 8, we have already learnt the name of family members in Ukrainian. Let’s continue our list:
діду́сь
grandfather
бабу́ся
grandmother
ба́тько / ма́ти
father / mother
батьки́
parents
син / до́нька
son / daughter
брат / сестра́
brother / sister
дя́дько / тíтка
uncle / aunt
двою́рідний брат
cousin (male)
двою́рідна сестра
cousin (female)
племíнник
nephew
племíнниця
niece

Ukrainian grammar
Read the following grammar explanations for this lesson:
How to form the past tense
First, you remove “ти” from the verb (for example сказа́ти / сказа-). Then you add:
- -в for masculine singular (сказа́в)
- -ла for feminine singular (сказа́ла)
- -ло for neuter singular (сказа́ло)
- -ли for every form of plural (сказа́ли) and for formal forms (both in singular and plural)
How to build reflexive verbs
We build a reflexive verb adding either -ся or -ться.
- We use -ться for the third person in present.
- For the rest we use -ся.
Possessive pronouns in Ukrainian
In lesson 8 we have seen a complete explanation about them. Here they are:
Singular | Plural | English |
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мій / моя́ / моє́ | мої́ | my |
твій / твоя́ / твоє́ | твої́ | your |
його́ | його́ | his |
її́ | її́ | her |
наш / на́ша / на́ше | на́ші | our |
ваш / ва́ша / ва́ше | ва́ші | your |
ї́хній / ї́хня / ї́хнє | ї́хні | their |
The Ukrainian cases
We have learnt that Ukrainian is a language where some words are “declined” (or transformed).
In English, pronouns also undergo transformations to mark different functions in a sentence:
- Subject: he (he is my friend)
- Object: him (I asked him something)
- Nominative
- Genitive
- Dative
- Accusative
- Instrumental
- Prepositional
- Vocative
In Ukrainian these declinations are more common. They are sorted in “grammatical cases”:
The nominative case
This case represents the “normal” word, without transformations, as it appears in a dictionary.
A noun, pronoun or adjective in the nominative case marks the subject of the sentence. It is the noun that “is doing” what the verb says.
Examples (the nominative is highlighted in a different colour) =>
Мій брат йде у кіно́. | My brother goes to the cinema |
Це моя́ кни́га | This is my book |
Менí подо́баються га́рні фíльми | I like good movies |
Let’s learn the cases
WHAT IS A CASE? In English we change a word to express “singular” or “plural” (car/cars, foot/feet). In Ukrainian, words can be changed to express other concepts (subject, direct object, possession,…). Those changes are called “cases”..
Do cases exist in English? Yes, but they are rare and are not called “cases”. For example, the pronoun “he” changes into “him” in sentences like “I saw him” (in this example “him” is in the accusative case).
Why do cases exist? Each language evolves differently. In English there are articles (a/an, the), but not in Ukrainian. In Ukrainian there are cases, but not in English.
We have created a course to help you understand Ukrainian cases. Here you can go to lesson 1.