Adjectives (words like “good/beautiful/delicious” etc.) play a very important role in all languages making our speech more expressive and informative. Using adjectives in Ukrainian is not difficult. Let’s enrich our vocabulary with some very useful words and expressions.
Useful phrase in Ukrainian
Listen and repeat the following sentence:
Я не зна́ю хто мій найкра́щий друг.
I don’t know who my best friend is.
How to read Ukrainian: After 8 lessons you already know how to say many things in Ukrainian. But, can you read Ukrainian without any problem? If you still can’t, we recommend our course “how to read in Ukrainian”. You can click here to go to lesson 1.
Ukrainian vocabulary
Read, listen and repeat the basic vocabulary of this lesson:
хто
who
вже
already
ма́ти / ба́тько, та́то
mother / father
батьки́
parents
до́нька / син
daughter / son
сестра́ / брат
sister / brother
по́друга / друг
friend (female) / friend (male)
дру́зі
friends
кра́ще
better (adverb)
кра́щий
best (adjective)
вели́кий
big
мале́нький
small
Dialogues
These dialogues will help you memorise this lesson’s vocabulary:
Dialogue 1
Ма́ша, ви́бач, ти зна́єш хто він?
Masha, excuse me, do you know who he is?
Звича́йно, зна́ю. Він мій ба́тько.
Of course I know. He is my father.
О, це означа́є, що вона́ твоя́ ма́ти.
Oh, it means that she is your mother.
Так, вони́ мої́ батьки́.
Yes, They are my parents.
А хто вони́? Вони́ твої́ дру́зі?
And who are they? Are they your friends?
Це моя сестра́, її́ найкра́ща по́друга та її́ найкра́щий друг.
This is my sister, her best (female) friend and her best (male) friend.
Dialogue 2
Що краще́? Вели́ка пíца чи мале́нька пíца?
What is better? A big pizza or a small pizza?
Менí подо́бається вели́ка пíца коли́ я хо́чу подиви́тися фільм.
I like a big pizza when I want to watch a movie.
Та кра́ще коли́ фільм ціка́вий, вíрно?
And it’s better, when the movie is interesting, right?
Звича́йно. Тому́ що коли́ фільм неціка́вий, то кра́ще мале́нька пíца.
Of course. Because when the movie is not interesting, then a small pizza is better.
Dialogue 3
Мої́ батьки́ хо́чуть йти у кіно́, але́ я не хо́чу.
My parents want to go to the cinema, but I don’t want to.
Ти не хо́чеш йти, але́ йдеш. Чому́?
You don’t want to go, but you are going. Why?
Тому́ що я ї́хня до́нька та я за́вжди роблю́ те, що хо́чуть мої́ батьки́.
Because I am their daughter and I always do what my parents want.
Пе́дро ніко́ли не ро́бить те, що хо́чуть його́ батьки́.
Pedro never does what his parents want.
Це тому́ що він пога́ний син.
That’s because he is a bad son.
Але́ його́ друг завжди́ ка́же, що він га́рний друг.
But his best friend always says that he is a good friend.
Ukrainian grammar
Read the following grammar explanations for this lesson:
Possessive pronouns in Ukrainian
Here you will find a complete list of Ukrainian possessive pronouns sorted in two groups:
- Only one thing is possessed (book) which is possessed by one person (my book) or many people (our book).
- Many things are possessed (books) which are possessed by one person (my books) or many people (our books).
| One thing possessed (singular form) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| English pronouns | Ukrainian pronouns | Examples | Translation |
| my | мій | Це мій фільм | This is my movie |
| моя | Це моя кни́га | This is my book | |
| моє | Це моє село́ | This is my village | |
| your | твій | Це твій фільм | This is your movie |
| твоя | Це твоя кни́га | This is your book | |
| твоє | Це твоє село́ | This is your village | |
| his | його́ | Це його́ кни́га | This is his book |
| her | її́ | Це її́ кни́га | This is her book |
| our | наш | Це наш ба́тько | This is our father |
| на́ша | Це на́ша до́нька | This is our daughter | |
| на́ше | Це на́ше се́ло | This is our village | |
| your | ваш | Це ваш ба́тько | This is your father |
| ва́ша | Це ва́ша кни́га | This is your book | |
| ва́ше | Це ва́ше се́ло | This is your village | |
| their | ї́хній | Це ї́хній ба́тько | This is their father |
| ї́хня | Це ї́хня кни́га | This is their book | |
| ї́хнє | Це ї́хнє село́ | This is their village |
As you can see, for each singualr pronoun in English, we have three forms in Ukrainian (one for each gender). The only exceptions are the pronouns “his” and “her”.
Good news
The pronouns “his” and “her” never change
The pronouns “його́” (his) and “її́” (her) have the same form for all genders. It means that we don’t have to change their endings. For example, no matter if we want to say “father” (masculine), “book” (feminine) or “village” (neuter), the pronoun will stay the same:
- Це її́ ба́тько / кни́га / село́. – This is her father / book / village.
- Це його́ ба́тько / кни́га / село́. – This is his father / book / village.
| More than one thing possessed (plural form) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| English pronouns | Ukrainian pronouns | Examples | Translation |
| my | мої́ | Це мої́ фíльми / кни́ги / се́ла | These are my movies / books / villages |
| your | твої́ | Це твої́ фíльми / кни́ги / се́ла | These are your movies / books / villages |
| his | його | Це його́ фíльми / кни́ги / се́ла | These are his movies / books / villages |
| her | її | Це її фíльми / кни́ги / се́ла | These are her movies / books / villages |
| our | на́ші | Це на́ші фíльми / кни́ги / се́ла | These are our movies / books / villages |
| your | ва́ші | Це ва́ші фíльми / кни́ги / се́ла | These are your movies / books / villages |
| their | їхні | Це ї́хні фíльми / кни́ги / се́ла | These are their movies / books / villages |
Ukrainian adjectives
You already know that in Ukrainian, knowing the gender of a word is very important. It’s something that we are going to need when using Ukrainian adjectives too. The endings of adjectives are very similar to those of possessive pronouns. Let’s have a look at them:
| Gender | Examples | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Мій га́рний, улю́блений, вели́кий магази́н | My good, favourite, big shop |
| Feminine | Моя́ га́рна, улю́блена, вели́ка кни́га | My good, favourite, big book |
| Neuter | Моє́ га́рне, улю́блене, вели́ке село́ | My good, favourite, big village |
| Pural | Мої́ га́рні, улю́блені, вели́кі магази́ни (кни́ги, се́ла) | My good, favourite, big shops (books, villages) |
Test
Check how much you have learnt in this lesson:
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