In this lesson, we continue to speak about Ukrainian cases. This topic is going to be the centre of our course since the cases are fundamental for any Ukrainian learner. Also, we will learn some new adjectives and enrich our vocabulary.
Useful phrase in Ukrainian
Listen and repeat the following sentence:
Мене́ зва́ти Тетя́на, а як тебе́ зва́ти?
My name is Tetiana, and what’s your name?
Ukrainian cases: In this lesson, you will see that instead of saying “я”, we sometimes say “мене́” or “менí”. That’s because “я” can be used as a direct object (and it turns into “мене́”) or as an indirect object (and then it turns into “менí”).
In English, pronouns also change depending on their function in a sentence. For example, the pronoun “he” transforms into “him” when used as a direct object: “I saw him”. The same happens to Ukrainian pronouns.
Ukrainian vocabulary
Read, listen and repeat the basic vocabulary of this lesson:
час
time
будь ла́ска
please
якщо́
if
га́рний
good-looking (male)
га́рна
good-looking (female)
дíйсно
really
пра́вда
true
є
there is / there are
У ме́не є
I have
У те́бе є
You have
для ме́не
for me
для те́бе
for you
Dialogues in Ukrainian
These dialogues will help you memorise this lesson’s vocabulary:
Dialogue 1
Я ба́чила тебе́ вчо́ра.
I saw you yesterday.
Ти ба́чила мене́ вчо́ра?
You saw me yesterday?
Так…в ме́не завжди́ є для те́бе час, але́ не вчо́ра. Ви́бач.
Yes… I always have time for you, but not yesterday. Sorry.
У те́бе завжди́ є час, але́ не для ме́не.
You always have time, but not for me.
Dialogue 2
Зна́єш? Він менí не подо́бається.
You know? I don’t like him.
Але́ він сказа́в, що ти га́рна.
But he told me, that you are cute.
Він це сказа́в, а я скажу́ тобí, що для ме́не він нега́рний.
He said that, but I’m telling you that I find him ugly (“not cute”).
Dialogue 3
Привíт, мене́ зва́ти Майкл, а як те́бе зва́ти?
Hi, my name is Michael, and what’s your name?
Привíт, мене́ зва́ти Тетя́на.
Hi. My name is Tetiana.
Я ба́чив тебе́ вчо́ра.
I saw you yesterday.
Дíйсно? Ти ба́чив мене́ й ти менí нічо́го не сказа́в?
Really? You saw me and you didn’t say anything to me?
Я тобí нічо́го не сказа́в, тому́ що моя́ украї́нська пога́на.
I didn’t say anything to you because my Ukrainian is bad.
Але́ це непра́вда. Ти ду́же до́бре розмовля́єш.
But that’s not true. You speak very well.
Ukrainian grammar
Read the following grammar explanations for this lesson:
What is “to decline”?
When you decline a word you modify it. After that, the word has a new function in a sentence.
In English we don’t decline nouns:
- Subject: The man is big.
- Object: I saw the man.
However, pronouns are declined:
- Subject: He is big.
- Object: I saw him yesterday.
This modification is called “case”. So, you could say that “him” is a case of the pronoun “he”.
Examples of cases seen in this lesson
In Ukrainian, we decline pronouns, nouns, adjectives, numbers and participles used as adjectives. So all these types of words can have “cases”.
Now you will see examples of cases from this lesson’s dialogues. They are cases of the pronouns you already know (я, ти, він,…). In this lesson you have seen, for example, мене́ / менí (cases of “я”) or тебе́ / тобí (cases of “ти”).
Example taken from dialogue 1 =>
“Me” is the accusative case of “I”. In English we can’t say “You saw I yesterday?”, we have to transform “I” into “me”.
“Мене́” is the accusative case of “я”. In Ukrainian we can’t say “Ти ба́чила Я вчо́ра?”, we have to transform “я” into “мене́”.
| You saw me yesterday? |
| Ти ба́чив мене́ вчо́ра? |
Example taken from dialogue 3 =>
In this example “you” doesn’t change. We can say “You have money” and “Mary saw you”.
Pay attention that this doesn’t happen to “I”, because we say “I have money” and “Mary saw me” (instead of “Mary saw I”).
In Ukrainian “тебе́” is the accusative case of “ти”. We can’t say “Я ба́чила ти”: we have to transform “ти” into “тебе́”.
| I saw you yesterday. |
| Я ба́чила тебе́ вчо́ра. |
The Ukrainian cases
When we decline a word, we classify it in “cases”. The grammatical case expresses the function of a word (subject, direct or indirect object…). In Ukrainian there are 7 cases (so far you only know the nominative). Here are their main meanings:
- Nominative (usually used as a subject)
- Genitive (expresses possession)
- Accusative (usually used as a direct object)
- Dative (indirect object)
- Instrumental (“with someone” / “with something”)
- Prepositional (usually expresses location)
- Vocative (it is usually used to address people)
Some opposites (antonyms) in Ukrainian
In Ukrainian you can find adjectives like these:
- good (хоро́ший/га́рний) – bad (пога́ний)
- good-looking (га́рний/краси́вий) – ugly (потво́рний/гидки́й)
But there is an easier way to create the opposite of an adjective: simply add “не” to the adjective:
- хоро́ший (good) – нехоро́ший (not good = bad)
- га́рний (good-looking) – нега́рний (not good-looking = ugly)
Pay attention to the transformation of the following particles when adding “ні“
- коли́ (when) – ніко́ли (never)
- де (where) – нід́е (nowhere)
- хто (who) – ніхто́ (nobody)
Test
Check how much you have learnt in this lesson:
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