Free Ukrainian Course. Lesson 10

Free Ukrainian Course
Ukrainian lessons for beginners

Lesson 10: Review of lessons 6 – 9


In this lesson you will learn:

  • the most important points from lessons 6 to 9
  • the case you already know: the nominative

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.

Useful phrase in Ukrainian

Review of the phrases

Listen and repeat the following sentences:

Useful phrase 6
Lesson 6
Вчо́ра я нічо́го не знав, але́ сього́дні зна́ю все!
Useful phrase 7
Lesson 7
Менí подо́бається пíца.
Useful phrase 8
Lesson 8
Я не зна́ю хто мій найкра́щий друг.
Useful phrase 9
Lesson 9
Мене́ зва́ти Тетя́на, а як тебе́ зва́ти?
Ukrainian vocabulary

Ukrainian vocabulary

Read, listen and repeat the basic vocabulary of this lesson.

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.

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

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:

  • 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
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)
    • In Ukrainian these declinations are more common. They are sorted in “grammatical cases”:

  • Nominative
  • Genitive
  • Dative
  • Accusative
  • Instrumental
  • Prepositional
  • Vocative

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.

This Ukrainian course will always be free.
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