Ukrainian grammar

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The Ukrainian language possesses an extremely rich grammatical structure inherited from Indo-European:

• Nouns have grammatical gender, number, and are declined for 7 cases;
• Adjectives agree with the noun in case, number, and gender;
• Verbs have 2 aspects, 3 tenses, 3 moods, and 2 voices.

Furthermore, many verbs show traces of Indo-European gradation (ablaut). This often explains the difference between the infinitive and its present root form of the verbs.

The spoken language has been influenced by the literary, but continues to preserve characteristic forms. The dialects show various non-standard grammatical features, some of which are archaisms or descendants of old forms since discarded by the literary language.

Note 1: For an introductory overview, please see the discussion in the Ukrainian language article.

Note 2: In the discussion below, various terms are used in the meaning they have in the standard Ukrainian discussions of historical grammar. In particular, aorist, imperfect, etc. are considered verbal tenses rather than aspects, because ancient examples of them are attested for both perfective and imperfective verbs.

Note 3: Cyrillic letters in this article are romanized using scientific transliteration

Contents 1 Phonology 1.1 Classification of vowels 1.2 Classification of consonants 1.3 Historical phonological changes 1.4 Current phonological changes 2 Morphology 2.1 Nominal 2.1.1 Nouns 2.1.1.1 First declension 2.1.1.2 Second declension 2.1.1.3 Third declension 2.1.1.4 Fourth declension 2.1.2 Adjectives 2.1.2.1 Declension 2.1.2.2 Other forms of the adjective 2.1.3 Adverbs 2.1.4 Pronouns 2.1.4.1 Personal pronouns 2.1.4.2 Demonstrative pronouns 2.1.4.3 Possessive pronouns 2.1.4.4 Interrogative pronouns 2.1.5 Numbers 2.2 Verbs 2.2.1 Classification of verbs 2.2.2 Voices 2.2.3 Indicative active mood 2.2.3.1 Present tense 2.2.3.1.1 Examples 2.2.3.1.2 Athematic verbs 2.2.3.2 Past active tense 2.2.3.3 Future active tense 2.2.4 Imperative active mood 2.2.5 Conditional active mood 2.2.5.1 Present tense 2.2.5.2 Past tense 2.2.6 Passive voice 2.2.7 Participles and verbal nouns 2.2.7.1 Present active participle 2.2.7.2 Present passive participle 2.2.7.3 Past active participle I 2.2.7.4 Past active participle II 2.2.7.5 Past passive participle 2.2.7.6 Verbal noun 2.3 Word formation 2.4 Fundamental sentence structure 2.4.1 Coordination 2.4.2 Subordination 3 Syntax 3.1 Negation 3.2 Inflectional usage 3.2.1 Case 3.2.2 Tense and aspect 4 See also 5 Translation of words 6 Footnotes 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Phonology

The following points of Ukrainian phonology need to considered in order to understand the various changes that occur in the declension of nouns.

[edit] Classification of vowels

Two different classification of vowels can be made: a historical perspective and a modern perspective. From a historical perspective, the Ukrainian vowels can be divided into two categories:

1. Hard vowels (in Cyrillic: а, и (from Common Slavic *ы), о, and у or transliterated as a, y (from Common Slavic *y), o, and u; )
2. Soft vowels (in Cyrillic: е, і and и (from Common Slavic *и) or transliterated as e, i and y (from Common Slavic *i)). The iotified vowels are considered to be soft vowels

From a modern perspective, the Ukrainian vowels can be divided into two categories:

1. Hard Vowels (In Cyrillic: а, е, и, і, о, and у or transliterated as a, e, y, i, o, and u). This category as can be seen from the table is different from the historical hard category
2. Iotified Vowel (In Cyrillic: я, є, ї, and ю or transliterated as ja, je, ji, and ju). To this category can also be added the combination of letters йо (transliterated as jo)

[edit] Classification of consonants

In Ukrainian, a four-fold categorisation of consonants can be made:

• Labials (In Cyrillic: б, в, м, п, and ф or transliterated as b, v, m, p, and f): These letters are almost always hard in Ukrainian (there are orthographic exceptions), can never be doubled, nor can they in general be followed by an iotified vowel (exception: in combinations CL where C is a dental and L is a labial, a soft vowel can follow, e.g., svjato/свято).
• Sibilants (In Cyrillic: ж, ч, and ш or transliterated as ž, č, and š. The digraph щ (šč) should also be included). These letters were in Common Slavic all palatal (soft). In Ukrainian, these harden, leading to the creation of the mixed declension of nouns. None of them can be followed by a soft sign (In Cyrillic: ь; transliterated as apostrophe (’)) or any iotified vowel. All but the digraph can be doubled, in which case they can be followed by a soft vowel, e.g., zbižžja/збіжжя.
• Dentals (In Cyrillic: д, з, л, н, с, т and ц or transliterated as d, z, l, n, s, t, and c): In Ukrainian, as in Common Slavic, these letters can be both hard and soft. These letters can never (unless they are the last letter in a prefix) be followed by an apostrophe. Furthermore, these letters can be doubled.
• Velars (In Cyrillic: г (ґ), к, and х or transliterated as h (g), k, and x): In both Ukrainian and Common Slavic, these letters are always hard. Should they ever be followed by an iotified or soft vowel, then they undergo the first and second palatalisations. Hence, these letters can never be doubled or followed by an apostrophe.
• Cyrillic: р (transliterated: r): the letter in general behaves similar to the dental category, with the following exception:
  • Word finally r is always hard.
  • r can never be doubled.

[edit] Historical phonological changes

In the Ukrainian language, the following sound changes have occurred between the Common Slavic period and current Ukrainian:

1. In a newly closed syllable, that is, a syllable that ends in a consonant, Common Slavic o and e mutate into i if the next vowel in Common Slavic was one of the yers (ǐ (ь) or ǔ (ъ)).
2. Pleophony: The Common Slavic combinations, ToRT and TeRT, where T is any consonant and R is either r or l become in Ukrainian
   1. TorT gives ToroT (Common Slavic *borda gives Ukrainian boroda)
   2. TolT gives ToloT (Common Slavic *bolto gives Ukrainian boloto)
   3. TerT gives TereT (Common Slavic *berza gives Ukrainian bereza)
   4. TelT gives ToloT (Common Slavic *melko gives Ukrainian moloko)
3. The Common Slavic nasal vowel ę is reflected as ja except after a single labial where it is reflected as "ja (’я), or after a post-alveolar where it is reflected as a. Examples: Common Slavic *pętĭ gives in Ukrainian p"jat' (п’ять); Common Slavic *telę gives in Ukrainian telja; and Common Slavic kyrčę gives in Ukrainian kyrča. This Common Slavic nasal vowel is derived from an Indo-European *-en, *-em, or one of the sonants n and m.
4. The Common Slavic letter, ě (ѣ), is reflected in Ukrainian generally as i except:
   1. word-initially, where it is reflected as ji: Common Slavic *ěsti gives the Ukrainian jisty
   2. after the sibilants where it is reflected as a: Common Slavic *ležěti gives the Ukrainian ležaty
5. Common Slavic i and y are both reflected in Ukrainian as y
6. The Common Slavic combination -CǐjV, where C is any consonant and V is any vowel, becomes in Ukrainian the following combination -CCjV, except
   1. if C is labial or 'r' where it becomes -C"jV
   2. if V is the Common Slavic e, then the vowel in Ukrainian mutates to a, e.g., Common Slavic *žitĭje gives the Ukrainian žyttja
   3. if V is the Common Slavic ĭ, then the combination becomes ej, e.g., genitive plural in Common Slavic *myšĭjĭ give in Ukrainian myšej
   4. if one or more consonants precede the 'C' then there is no doubling of the consonants in Ukrainian
7. Common Slavic combinations dl and tl are simplified to l, for example, Common Slavic *mydlo gives Ukrainian mylo
8. Common Slavic ǔl (voiced l̥) and ǐl (voiced ĺ̥) became ov, while word final *lǔ became v. For example, Common Slavic *vĺ̥kǔ becomes vovk in Ukrainian

[edit] Current phonological changes

1. The first palatalisation concerns the velars and the following vowels: e, y from Common Slavic i, a/i from Common Slavic ě, that is derived from the Indo-European ē:
   1. h and g before these vowels mutates into ž
   2. k before these vowels mutates into č
   3. x before these vowels mutates into š
2. The second palatalisation concerns the velars and the following vowels: y from Common Slavic i that is derived from an Indo-European diphthong and a/i from Common Slavic ě that is derived from an Indo-European diphthong:
   1. h and g before these vowels mutates into z
   2. k before these vowels mutates into c
   3. x before these vowels mutates into s
3. The iotification concerns all consonants and the semi-vowel j (й). The following changes occur:
   1. The labials insert an l between the labial and the semivowel: Common Slavic *zemja give Ukrainian zemlja.
   2. The velars followed by a semivowel mutate as in the first palatalisation. The semivowel is dropped. This change can be traced back to Common Slavic.
   3. ktj becomes č
   4. tj becomes č
   5. dj becomes ž, except in verbs where it becomes dž
   6. sj becomes š
   7. stj and skj become šč (щ)
   8. zdj and zhj become ždž
   9. zkj becomes žč
   10. lj, nj, pj becomes l, n, p (that is, ль, нь, рь)
4. In Ukrainian, when two or more consonants occur word-finally, then a float vowel is inserted under the following conditions ^[1]. Given a consonantal grouping C₁(ь)C₂(ь), where C is any Ukrainian consonant. The fill vowel is inserted between the two consonants and after the ь. A fill vowel is only inserted if C₂ is one of the following consonants: k, v, l, m, r, and c. In this case:
   1. If C₁ is one of the following h, k, or x, then the fill vowel is always o
   2. If C₂ is k or v, then the fill vowel is o. No fill vowel is inserted if the v is derived from a voiced l, for example, vovk
   3. If C₂ is l, m, r, or ts, then the fill vowel is e
   4. The only known exception is vid’m, which should take a fill vowel, but does not
   5. The combinations, -stv and -s’k are not broken up
   6. If the C₁ is j (й), then the above rules can apply. However, both forms (with and without the fill vowel) often exist

[edit] Morphology

[edit] Nominal

[edit] Nouns

Nominal declension is subject to seven cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative, and vocative), in two numbers (singular and plural), and obeying absolutely grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter). The adjectives, pronouns, and the first two cardinal numbers further vary by gender. Old Ruthenian also had a third number, the dual, but except for its use in the nominative and accusative cases with the numbers two, three and four, eg. (dvi hryvni / дві гривні, recategorized today as a nominative plural), it has been lost. Other traces of the dual can be found when referring to objects of which there are commonly two: eyes, shoulders, ears, e.g. plečyma. Occasionally, dual forms can distinguish between meanings.

In Ukrainian, there are 4 declension types. The first declension is used for most feminine nouns. The second declension is used for most masculine and neuter nouns. The third declension is used for feminine nouns ending in ь or a sibilant. The fourth declension is used for neuter nouns ending in я/а (Common Slavic *ę). Most of the types consist of 3 different subgroups: hard, mixed, and soft. The soft subgroup consists of nouns whose roots end in a soft letter (followed by iotified vowel or soft vowel). The mixed subgroup consists of the nouns whose roots end in a sibilant or occasionally r. The hard group consists of all other nouns.

If the hard group endings are taken as the basis, then the following rules can be used to derived the corresponding mixed and soft endings:

• Mixed subgroup
  1. All o following a sibilant change to e.
  2. All y following a sibilant change to i.
• Soft subgroup: Whenever a soft sign or the semi-vowel encounters the vowel of the ending, the following changes occur (These are mainly orthographic changes):
  1. ьа and йа gives я
  2. ьо gives е
  3. йо gives є
  4. ьи gives і
  5. йи gives ї
  6. ьу and йу gives ю
  7. ьі gives і
  8. йі gives ї

Nouns ending in a consonant are marked in the following tables with -0- (thus no ending).

[edit] First declension

This declension consists of nouns which end in а or я. It consists primarily of feminine nouns, but a few nouns with these ending referring to professions can be either masculine or feminine. In these cases, the genitive plural is often formed by adding -ів. Nouns referring to people can also take this ending.

First Declension: Feminine Nouns

	Singular
	Hard	Mixed	Soft (ь)	Soft (й)
Nominative	-а	-а	-я	-я
Genitive	-и	-і	-і	-ї
Dative (1)	-і	-і	-і	-ї
Accusative	-у	-у	-ю	-ю
Instrumental	-ою	-ею	-ею	-єю
Locative (1)	-і	-і	-і	-ї
Vocative	-о	-е	-е	-є
	Plural
	Hard	Mixed	Soft (ь)	Soft (й)
Nominative	-и	-і	-і	-ї
Genitive (2)	-0-	-0-	-ь	-й
Dative	-ам	-ам	-ям	-ям
Accusative (3)	-и /-0-	-і / -0-	-і /-ь	-ї / -й
Instrumental	-ами	-ами	-ями	-ями
Locative	-ах	-ах	-ях	-ях
Vocative	-и	-і	-і	-ї

• (1) A velar consonant undergoes the appropriate second palatalisation changes
• (2) If two or more consonants are left at the end of the word, then a fill vowel may be inserted.
• (3) The genitive form is used for all animate nouns, while inanimate nouns take the nominative form.

[edit] Second declension

The second declension consists of masculine and neuter nouns.

Masculine Nouns: This group consists primarily of nouns, which end in a consonant, a soft sign, ь, or й. It should be noted that in the masculine declension, nouns, which end in р can belong to any of the three declension subgroups: hard, mixed, and soft. There is no way of knowing from the nominative form, to which group the noun belongs.

Second Declension: Masculine Nouns

	Singular
	Hard	Mixed	Soft (ь)	Soft (й)
Nominative	-0-	-0-	-ь /-0- (1)	-й
Genitive (2)	-а / -у	-а / -у	-я / -ю	-я / -ю
Dative (3)	-ові/-у	-еві/-у	-еві/-ю	-єві/-ю
Accusative (4)	-0- / -а	-0- /-а	-ь / -я	-й / -я
Instrumental	-ом	-ем	-ем	-єм
Locative (5)	-ові /-і/ -у	-еві /-і	-еві /-і	-єві /-ї
Vocative (6)	-у/-е	-е/ -у	-ю	-ю
	Plural
	Hard	Mixed	Soft (ь)	Soft (й)
Nominative	-и	-і	-і	-ї
Genitive	-ів	-ів	-ів / -ей (7)	-їв
Dative	-ам	-ам	-ям	-ям
Accusative (8)	-и/ -ів	-і / -ів	-і / -ів	-ї / -їв
Instrumental	-ами	-ами	-ями	-ями
Locative	-ах	-ах	-ях	-ях
Vocative	-и	-і	-і	-ї

Notes:

• (1) Only with soft nouns ending in р.
• (2) The ending to be used depends on the nature of the noun. The following rules are given in Ukrainian Orthography ^[2]:
  • Use the ending -а with
    1. Names of professions, people's names (first and last)
    2. Names of plants and animals
    3. Names of objects
    4. Names of settlements and geographic places
    5. Names of measuring units
    6. Names of machines
    7. Words of foreign origin, which describe geometric parts, concrete objects.
  • Use the ending -у with
    1. Chemical elements, materials (note a few exceptions)
    2. Collective nouns
    3. Names of buildings and their parts
    4. Names of organisations and their places
    5. Natural phenomena
    6. Feelings
    7. Names of processes, states, phenomena of social life (both concrete and abstract)
    8. Names of foreign origin which denote physical or chemical processes
    9. Names of games and dances

• (3) The ending in -ові is preferred.
• (4) The accusative case for animate nouns is identical to the genitive case; for inanimate nouns, it is identical to the nominative.
• (5) In order to avoid the palatalisation, velar root nouns take the -у ending. The other forms are all acceptable. Form which take the -і ending undergo the first palatalisation.
• (6) If the ending -е is used, then the first palatalisation occurs. However, it can be avoided by using the -о form.
• (7) The second ending occurs is a small group of nouns.
• (8) The genitive form is used with animate objects, while inanimate objects take the nominative forms.

Neuter Nouns In this category belong neuter nouns ending in о, е, and those substantives ending in я, preceded by either a double consonant, apostrophe, or two consonants, which primarily are derived from verbs. This last category once did end in *ĭjе, but due to the sound change given above developed an я ending.

Second Declension: Neuter Nouns

	Singular
	Hard	Mixed	Soft	Soft (*ĭjе)
Nominative	-о	-е	-е	-я
Genitive	-а	-а	-я	-я
Dative	-у	-у	-ю	-ю
Accusative	-о	-е	-е	-я
Instrumental	-ом	-ем	-ем	-ям
Locative (1)	-і	-і	-і	-і
Vocative	-о	-е	-е	-я
	Plural
	Hard	Mixed	Soft	Soft (*ĭjе)
Nominative	-а	-а	-я	-я
Genitive	-0-	-0-	-ь	-ь / -0- (2)
Dative	-ам	-ам	-ям	-ям
Accusative	-а	-а	-я	-я
Instrumental	-ами	-ами	-ями	-ями
Locative	-ах	-ах	-ях	-ях
Vocative	-а	-а	-я	-я

• (1) As necessary, the second palatalisation occurs, except for the *ĭjе nouns.
• (2) The double consonant is made single if the ь is used. However, if a sibilant is the last consonant, then no ь is used, but a single consonant is also written. Finally, for a labial last consonant, the ending is -'їв. Finally, monosyllabic nouns take the ending -ів. If two or more consonants appear word finally, then it is possible that a fill vowel must be inserted.

[edit] Third declension

This declension consists solely of feminine nouns that end in a consonant. This declension has only 2 subgroups: a mixed and soft group.

Third Declension

	Singular
	Soft	Mixed
Nominative	-ь	-0-
Genitive	-і	-і
Dative	-і	-і
Accusative	-ь	-0-
Instrumental (1)	-ю	-ю
Locative	-і	-і
Vocative	-ь	-0-
	Plural
	Soft	Mixed
Nominative	-і	-і
Genitive	-ей	-ей
Dative	-ям	-ям
Accusative	-і	-і
Instrumental	-ями	-ями
Locative	-ях	-ях
Vocative	-і	-і

• (1) Since this ending is derived from the Common Slavic ending *-ĭjǫ, doubling of the consonant occurs as per the rules outlined above. Furthermore, if in the nominative form the noun has an -і for an -о, then so will the Instrumental form, for example, ніччю (instrumental singular) and ніч (nominative singular)

[edit] Fourth declension

This declension consists of solely neuter nouns that are derived from Common Slavic *ę. There are two subgroups: those with an н insert, and those with a т insert.

Fourth Declension

	Singular
	(н)	(т)
Nominative	ім'я	теля
Genitive	імені	теляти
Dative	імені	теляті
Accusative	ім'я	теля
Instrumental (1)	ім'ям	телям
Locative	імені	теляті
Vocative	ім'я	теля
	Plural
	(н)	(т)
Nominative	імена	телята
Genitive	імен	телят
Dative	іменам	телятам
Accusative	імена	телята (телят)
Instrumental	іменами	телятами
Locative	іменах	телятах
Vocative	імена	телята

[edit] Adjectives

Ukrainian adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case.

In Ukrainian, there exist a small number of adjectives, primarily possessives, which exist in the masculine in the so-called short form. This "short" form is a relic of the indefinite declension of adjectives in Common Slavic. Common examples of this anomalous declension are бабин (masculine) compared to бабина (feminine); братів (masculine) compared to братова (feminine); and повинен (masculine) compared to повинна. This short form only exists in the masculine nominative form. All other forms are regular.

[edit] Declension

In Ukrainian, 2 different declension types: hard and soft. The soft type can be further subdivided into two types. It should be noted that unlike for the nouns, the sibilants are counted as hard.

Hard Declension (-ий) of Adjectives

	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	-ий	-е	-а	-і
Genitive	-ого	-ого	-ої	-их
Dative	-ому	-ому	-ій	-им
Accusative (1)	-ий / -ого	-е	-у	-і / -их
Instrumental	-им	-им	-ою	-ими
Locative (2)	-ім / -ому	-ім / -ому	-ій	-их

Soft Declension (-ій) of Adjectives

	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	-ій	-є	-я	-і
Genitive	-ього	-ього	-ьої	-іх
Dative	-ьому	-ьому	-ій	-ім
Accusative (1)	-ій / -ього	-є	-ю	-і / -іх
Instrumental	-ім	-ім	-ьою	-іми
Locative (2)	-ім / -ьому	-ім / -ьому	-ій	-іх

Soft Declension (-їй) of Adjectives

	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	-їй	-є	-я	-ї
Genitive	-його	-його	-йої	-їх
Dative	-йому	-йому	-їй	-їм
Accusative (1)	-їй / -його	-є	-ю	-ї / -їх
Instrumental	-їм	-їм	-йою	-їми
Locative (2)	-їм / -йому	-їм / -йому	-їй	-їх

Note about the declensions:

• (1) In the accusative case (except the feminine singular), a difference is made between animate (=genitive) and inanimate (=nominative) adjectives.
• (2) The ending in -ому is more often encountered. The other form is a relic of the indefinite declension of adjectives in Common Slavic.

[edit] Other forms of the adjective

In Ukrainian adjectives also have a comparative and superlative forms.

The comparative form is created by dropping ий and adding the ending -(і)ший. The resulting form is declined like a regular hard stem adjective. As usual, some adjectives have irregular forms.

The superlative form is created by prefixing най- to the comparative form. Words associated with religion often prefix пре- (very) to the comparative form. As usual, some adjectives have irregular forms.

[edit] Adverbs

In Ukrainian, adverbs are formed by taking the stem of the adjective and adding the ending

• -о, if the stem is hard,
• -е, if the stem is a soft consonant, and
• -є, if the stem is a vowel.

For example, гарний gives гарно.

[edit] Pronouns

[edit] Personal pronouns

	1st sing	2nd sing	3rd sing masc	3rd sing fem	3rd sing neut	1st pl	2nd pl	3rd pl
Nominative	я	ти	він	вона	воно	ми	ви	вони
Genitive	мене	тебе	його / нього	її / неї	його / нього	нас	вас	їх / них
Dative	мені	тобі	йому	її	йому	нам	вам	їм
Accusative	мене	тебе	його	її	його	нас	вас	їх / них
Instrumental	мною	тобою	ним	нею	ним	нами	вами	ними
Locative	мені	тобі	ньому / нім	ній	ньому / нім	наc	вас	них

[edit] Demonstrative pronouns

• той

	masculine	neuter	feminine	plural
Nominative	той	те	та	ті
Genitive	того	того	тієї	тих
Dative	тому	тому	тій	тим
Accusative	N or G	те	ту	N or G
Instrumental	тим	тим	тією	тими
Locative	тому / тім	тому / тім	тій	тих

[edit] Possessive pronouns

• мій and твій

	masculine	neuter	feminine	plural		masculine	neuter	feminine	plural
Nominative	мій	моє	моя	мої		твій	твоє	твоя	твої
Genitive	мого	мого	моєї	моїх		твого	твого	твоєї	твоїх
Dative	моєму	моєму	моїй	моїм		твоєму	твоєму	твоїй	твоїм
Accusative	N or G	моє	мою	N or G		N or G	твоє	твою	N or G
Instrumental	моїм	моїм	моєю	моїми		твоїм	твоїм	твоєю	твоїми
Locative	моєму	моєму	моїй	моїх		твоєму	твоєму	твоїй	о твоїх

• наш and ваш

	masculine	neuter	feminine	plural		masculine	neuter	feminine	plural
Nominative	наш	наше	наша	наші		ваш	ваше	ваша	ваші
Genitive	нашого	нашого	нашої	наших		вашого	вашого	вашої	ваших
Dative	нашому	нашому	нашій	нашим		вашому	вашому	вашій	вашим
Accusative	N or G	наше	нашу	N or G		N or G	ваше	вашу	N or G
Instrumental	нашим	нашим	нашою	нашими		вашим	вашим	вашою	вашими
Locative	нашому	нашому	нашій	наших		вашому	вашому	вашій	ваших

• їхній is declined as a normal soft adjective.

[edit] Interrogative pronouns

• хто and що

Nom.	Gen.	Dat.	Acc.	Inst.	Loc.
хто	кого	кому	кого	ким	кому
що	чого	чому	що	чим	чому

• чий

	masculine	neuter	feminine	plural
Nominative	чий	чиє	чия	чиї
Genitive	чийого	чийого	чиєї	чиїх
Dative	чиєму	чиєму	чиїй	чиїм
Accusative	N or G	чиє	чию	N or G
Instrumental	чиїм	чиїм	чиїй	чиїми
Locative	чийому	чийому	чиїй	чиїх

[edit] Numbers

Symbol	Cardinal	Ordinal	Counting
0	нуль	нульовий	--
1	один одна одне	перший	раз
2	два дві	другий	два рази
3	три	третій	три рази
4	чотири	четвертий	чотири рази
5	п'ять	п'ятий	п'ять разів
6	шість	шостий	шість разів
7	сім	сьомий	сім разів
8	вісім	восьмий	вісім разів
9	дев'ять	дев'ятий	дев'ять разів
10	десять	десятий	десять разів
teens (1)	cardinal+надцять	cardinal+надцятий	cardinal+надцять разів
20	двадцять	двадцятий	двадцять разів
21	двадцять один	двадцять перший	двадцять один раз
30	тридцять	тридцятий	тридцять разів
40	сорок	сороковий	сорок разів
50	п'ятдесят	п'ятдесятий	п'ятдесят разів
60	шістдесят	шістдесятий	шістдесят разів
70	сімдесят	сімдесятий	сімдесят разів
80	вісімдесят	вісімдесятий	вісімдесят разів
90	дев'яносто	дев'яностий	дев'яносто разів
100	сто	сотий	сто разів
200	двісті	двохсотий	двісті разів
300	триста	трьохсотий	триста разів
400	чотириста	чотирьохсотий	чотириста разів
500	п'ятсот	п’ятисотий	п'ятсот разів
600	шістсот	шестисотий	шістсот разів
700	сімсот	семисотий	сімсот разів
800	вісімсот	восьмисотий	вісімсот разів
900	дев'ятсот	дев’ятисотий	дев'ятсот разів
1000	тисяча	тисячний	тисяча разів

Comments:

• (1) Any soft signs are dropped if they occur word finally in the original cardinal number.
• (2) This is a dual construction.
• (3) This is a plural nominative construction.
• (4) This is the genitive plural construction (All hundreds after 500 are so created.).

In general, the following rules are used to determine agreement between the cardinal number and a noun. In the nominative case, the nouns agree with the last number in any compound number. Nouns which must agree with a number ending in 2, 3, or 4 are in the nominative plural, but retain the stress of the dual, that is the genitive singular. Nouns, which must agree with a number ending in 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, and all the teens are in the genitive plural. In any other case, the nouns and numbers are in the same case.

[edit] Verbs

Grammatical conjugation is subject to three persons in two numbers and three simple tenses (present/future, future, and past), with periphrastic forms for the future and Conditional, as well as imperative forms and present/past participles, distinguished by adjectival and adverbial usage. There are two voices, active and middle/passive, which is constructed by the addition of a reflexive suffix -ся/сь to the active form. An interesting feature is that the past tense is actually made to agree in gender with the subject, for it is the participle in an originally periphrastic perfect tense formed with the present of быть /bɨtʲ/,"to be." Verbal inflection today is considerably simpler than in Common Slavic. The ancient aorist, imperfect, and (periphrastic) pluperfect tenses have been lost. The loss of three of the former six tenses has been offset by the reliance, as in other Slavic languages, on verbal aspect. Most verbs come in pairs, one with imperfective or continuous connotation, the other with perfective or completed, usually formed with a (prepositional) prefix, but occasionally using a different root.

The present tense of the verb бути, "to be", today normally has the form, є used for all persons and numbers. Previously and occasionally in liturgical settings, aspects of the full conjugation, can be found. The paradigm shows as well as anything else the Indo-European affinity of Ukrainian:

English	Ukrainian	IPA	Latin	PIE
"I am"	єсм*	/jesm/	sum	*H₁ésmi
"you are" (sing.)	єси	/jesɪ/	es	*H₁ési
"he, she, it is"	єсть	/jestʲ/	est	*H₁ésti
"we are"	єсми*	/jesmɪ/	sumus	*H₁smés
"you are" (plur.)	єсте	/jeste/	estis	*H₁ste
"they are"	суть	/sutʲ/	sunt	H₁sónti

Note: Form followed by * are considered archaic and almost never used.

[edit] Classification of verbs

There exist two different classification of verbs: traditional and historical/linguistic.

The traditional classification of verbs subdivides the verbs into two categories based on the form of the 3rd person singular present indicative form of the verb.

1. The е stems, which have the ending -е or -є in the 3^rd person singular.
2. The и stems, which have the ending -ить in the 3^rd person singular.

The historical/linguistic classification of verbs subdivides the verbs into 5 categories. Classes 1,2 and 3 correspond to the е stems of the traditional classification, while class 4 corresponds to the и stems. Class 5 consists of the athematic verbs. ^[3]

1. Class 1: Stems in -е
   • The same stem in the Present and the Infinitive
     • The same consonantal stem (the last three examples do not quite resemble the first example or the classification name due to various sound changes (palatalisation) in Ukrainian):
       • • нести / несе
         • пекти / пече
         • умерти / умре
         • почати / почьне
     • The same vowel stem
       • • плисти / пливе (with epenthetic в)
   • Infinitive in -ати
     • Consonantal stem
       • брати / бере
     • Vowel stems
       • рвати / рве
2. Class 2: "n" verbs (mostly perfective verbs)
   • двигнути / двигне
3. Class 3: Presents in є (undergo changes associated with iotification)
   • Primary verbs
     • Same stem in the Present and Infinitive
       • Same vowel stem
         • знати / знає
       • Same consonantal stem (these stem often have a pleophonic form for the infinitive)
         • молоти (Common Slavic *melti) / меле (мелю)
         • полоти (Common Slavic *polti) / поле (полю)
     • Infinitive in -ати
       • Same vowel stem (-я)
         • сіяти / сіє
       • Same consonantal stem
         • орати / оре (орю)
       • Stems that undergo the changes associated with the doubling of the consonants (the result is slightlt regularised in that -ĭje does not mutate into -я as would be expected)
         • бити: б'ю, б'єш ... (Common Slavic: *biti: bĭjǫ, bĭješĭ ...)
         • пити
         • лити: ллю, ллєш ...
   • Derived Verbs (all vowel stems)
     • a-stems
       • думати / думає
     • i-stems
       • жовтіти / жовтіє
     • uva-stems
       • купувати / купує
4. Class 4: i-stems in the Present (undergo changes associated with iotification)
   • i-stems in both the Present and Infinitive
     • хвалити / хвалить
   • ě-stems
     • i-stems
       • вертіти / вертить
     • a-stems
       • лежати / лежить
5. Class 5: Athematic Verbs (-m presents)
   • їсти
   • дати
   • -вісти
   • бути

[edit] Voices

Ukrainian had 2 voices: (1) active voice and (2) passive voice. The active voice is the only voice with a complete set of conjugations. The active voice, in general, shows a direct effect of the verb on its subject.

[edit] Indicative active mood

The indicative mood is used to describe events, which have, are, or will occur. In Ukrainian, the indicative mood contains a present, future, and past tenses.

[edit] Present tense

Historically, this is derived from the Indo-European present tense. In Common Slavic and later Ukrainian, it retained its present meaning only for imperfective verbs and developed a future meaning for perfective verbs.

For the е stems (Classes 1, 2, and 3), the endings are:

е stem endings

	singular	plural
First Person	-у / -ю	-емо / -ємо
Second Person	-еш / -єш	-ете / -єте
Third Person	-е / -є	-уть / -ють

All verbs whose roots end in a velar undergo the first palatalisation in all forms of the present (even though historically speaking the first person singular should not). The endings in є are used for roots whose stem ends in a vowel. All verbs in Class 3 and those which end in a vowel use -ю and -ють. Furthermore, Class 3 verbs undergo iotification in those forms which use -ю-. For reflexive verbs, in the third person singular, the ending has its historical -ть restored before the participle -ся / -сь is affixed. Thus, the ending becomes -еться.

For the и stems (Class 4), the endings are:

и stem endings

	singular	plural
First Person	-ю / (-у)	-имо / -їмо
Second Person	-иш / -їш	-ите / -їте
Third Person	-ить / -їть	-ать / -ять

All Class 4 verbs undergo iotofication in the first person singular. Thus, there is really only one ending, which due to orthographic reasons is given 2 different forms. Verbs ending in a vowel take the endings in the second column. In the thirsd person plural, verbs ending in a labial insert an л before the ending, -ять. The ending -ать is used after the sibilants ж, ш, щ, or ч.

[edit] Examples

нести (stem: нес-) (Class 1 verb)

	singular		plural
	Ukrainian	English	Ukrainian	English
First Person	несу	I am carrying	несемо	We are carrying
Second Person	несеш	You (sing.) are carrying	несете	You (pl.) are carrying
Third Person	несе	He/She/It is carrying	несуть	They are carrying

вернути (stem: верн-) (Class 2 verb)

	singular		plural
	Ukrainian	English	Ukrainian	English
First Person	верну	I will return	вернемо	We will return
Second Person	вернеш	You (sing.) will return	вернете	You (pl.) will return
Third Person	верне	He/She/It will return	вернуть	They will return

читати (stem: чита-) (Class 3 verb)

	singular		plural
	Ukrainian	English	Ukrainian	English
First Person	читаю	I read	читаємо	We read
Second Person	читаєш	You (sing.) read	читаєте	You (pl.) read
Third Person	читає	He/She/It reads	читають	They read

говорити - (stem: говор-) (Class 4 verb)

	singular		plural
	Ukrainian	English	Ukrainian	English
First Person	говорю	I talk	говоримо	We talk
Second Person	говориш	You (sing.) talk	говорите	You (pl.) talk
Third Person	говорить	He/She/It talks	говорять	They talk

[edit] Athematic verbs

Ukrainian inherited from Indo-European through Common Slavic, the following 3 athematic verbs. These verbs have their own conjugation in the present. Everywhere else they are regular.

дати - to give (perfective)

	singular	plural
First Person	дам	дамо
Second Person	даси	дасте
Third Person	дасть	дадуть

їсти - to eat (imperfective)

	singular	plural
First Person	їм	їмо
Second Person	їси	їсте
Third Person	їсть	їдять

Compounds ending in -вісти

	singular	plural
First Person	-вім	-вімо
Second Person	-віси	-вісте
Third Person	-вість	-відять

[edit] Past active tense

The past tense in Ukrainian has the pecularity of being originally an adjective, since it derives from the original compound perfect tense. Thus, the past tense agrees in number and gender with the subject of the verb. The following endings are added to the infinitive with the ending -ти removed (Most root final д and т are dropped):

• masculine singular: -в
  • Note: It is lost after с, з, к, г, б, р.
• feminine singular: -ла
• neuter singular: -ло
• plural: -ли

These forms are often called the active past participle I.

[edit] Future active tense

In Ukrainian, there are 2 different future tenses for imperfective verbs. The first form formed by adding to the infinitive of the verb the following endings, which are derived from the Common Slavic verb *jĭmati (Ukrainian мати):

Futre Tense: First Form

	singular		plural
	Ending	Example	Ending	Example
First Person	-му	їстиму	-мо	їстимо
Second Person	-меш	їстимеш	-мете	їстимете
Third Person	-ме	їстиме	-муть	їстимуть

The second form, commonly used in speech, is to take the present tense conjugation of the verb бути and use it with the infinitive of the verb. Thus,

Future Tense: Second Form

	singular	plural
First Person	буду їсти	будемо їсти
Second Person	будеш їсти	будете їсти
Third Person	буде їсти	будуть їсти

This will translate as will eat with the appropriate personal pronoun.

[edit] Imperative active mood

The imperative mood is used to give commands. It exists in only the present tense in Ukrainian. There are no forms for the 1^st person singular. In Ukrainian, the imperative mood is formed from the stem of the verb plus the following endings (The example is based on Ukrainian пити):

Imperative Mood in Ukrainian

	singular	plural
First Person	none	-ьмо / -ймо / -мо / -імо (пиймо)
Second Person	-ь / -й / -0- / -и (пий)	-ьте / -йте / -те / -іть (пийте)
Third Person	нехай + 3rd person present singular (нехай п'є)	нехай + 3rd person present plural (нехай п'ють)

The first set of endings is to be used for stems that end in a dentals (з, д, т, с, н, and л). The second set of ending is used for stems that end in a vowel. The third set of endings is used for stems that end in labials or sibilants (б, в, м, п, ф, ш, щ, ч, ж, and р). The fourth set of endings is used with verbs whose unaffixed form (no prefixes or suffixes) has the stress on the ending in the first person singular of the present tense. Thus for example, бери and вибери.

Finally note that all verbs with stems that end in к and г undergo the first palatalisation. Class 3 verbs with stems in к, г, and с undergo iotification (as do their present conjugation).

[edit] Conditional active mood

The conditional mood is used to state hypothetical states, wishes, and desires. It has 2 tenses in Ukrainian: a present and a past.

[edit] Present tense

The present conditional is formed in Ukrainian from the participle би, which is derived from the archaic aorist conjugation of the verb, бути, and the active past participle I, which is the same as the past indicative participle. Thus, there is agreement between the subject and the participle. An example of this construction would be я би хотів... (I would like...).

[edit] Past tense

The past conditional is formed in Ukrainian from the participle би followed by the active past participle I form of the verb бути (був, була, було, були) and then the active past participle I of the verb. Both participles must agree with the subject. An example of this construction would be як я би був знав... (had I (had) known...).

[edit] Passive voice

The passive voice has 2 different functions. It can either show that the subject had something done to itself or that something indeteminate occurred to the subject. In Ukrainian, the passive voice is formed as follows:

1. Use of a reflexive verb: митися (to wash oneself or in French se laver)
2. Use of the verb to be and the past passive participle: Він був забитий (He was killed).
3. An impersonal use of the third person plural past active participle I: Його забили (He was killed).
4. The following construction: Було + neuter singular of past passive participle: Місто було добуте (The town was captured.)

[edit] Participles and verbal nouns

In Ukrainian, there exist traces of all five Common Slavic participles.

[edit] Present active participle

This participle is formed by taking the third person plural form, dropping the ть, and adding чи(й). Most commonly this participle is used as gerund with the form чи with a meaning approaching the equivalent English construction with -ing. Occasionally, it is used as an adjective. It this case its form is чий. Examples of this particple are несучи, знаючи, and хвалячи.

[edit] Present passive participle

This participle does not exist in Ukrainian as a separate form. However, it is commonly encountered as an adjective in -мий. Common examples of this participle are відомий and знайомий.

[edit] Past active participle I

This participle is encountered in forming the past tense in Ukrainian. Occasionally, it is found as an adjective for intransitive verbs. It is formed by taking the infinitive stem and adding the ending -в, -ла, -ло, and -ли to form the past tense participle (in reality the indefinite form of the adjective) and the ending -лий to form the regular adjective. An example of the adjectival form is почорнілий.

[edit] Past active participle II

This participle is most commonly encondered as a gerund, while it is only used occasionally as an adjective. It is formed by taking the masculine past participle I and adding the ending -ши(й). An example of the gerund is знавши, while an extremely common adjective would the word бувший.

[edit] Past passive participle

This participle is the only participle that is is commonly used as an adjective. It has 2 different methods of formation. Take the infinitive stem, add а/е, and then either add -тий or -ний. Class 4 verbs undergo iotification. There does not seem to be any difference between the 2 methods of forming the participles. This participle can roughly be translated using the English past participle. Examples of this participle are жатий, посланий, печений, and лишений.

[edit] Verbal noun

The verbal noun is created by taking the past passive participle, dropping ий, doubling the consonant if permitted by the rules under -ĭjV, and adding a я. This will be a neuter noun declined like all neuter nouns in *ĭjе. It should be noted that if the -е- of the past passive participle is stressed then the е will mutate into an і. Examples include питання from питати and носіння from носити.

The verbal noun in Ukrainian is derived from the Common Slavic verbal noun, where it was formed by adding *-ĭjе to the past passive participle without the *ŭ ending. Thus, in Ukrainian, the consonant is doubled if possible.

[edit] Word formation

Ukrainian has on hand a set of prefixes, prepositional and adverbial in nature, as well as diminutive, augmentative, and frequentative suffixes and infixes. All of these can be stacked one upon the other, to produce multiple derivatives of a given word. Participles and other inflexional forms may also have a special connotation.

[edit] Fundamental sentence structure

[edit] Coordination

The common Ukrainain coordinations are:

• і (and)
• та (and)
• але (but)

[edit] Subordination

Common Ukrainian subordinations are:

• як (how, if)
• коли (when)
• якщо (if)

[edit] Syntax

The basic word order, both in conversation and the written language, is subject-verb-object. However, because the relations are marked by inflexion, considerable latitude in word order is allowed, and all the permutations can be used. The word order expresses the logical stress, and the degree of definiteness.

[edit] Negation

Unlike English, Latin, and various other languages, Ukrainian allows multiple negatives, as in “nixto nikoly nikomu ničoho ne proščaje” (‘no-one ever forgives anything of anyone’, literally ‘no-one never to no-one nothing doesn't forgive’).

[edit] Inflectional usage

[edit] Case

The use of cases in Ukrainian can be very complicated. In general, the nominative, genitive, accusative, and vocative cases can be used without a preposition. On the other hand, the locative and instrumental cases are used primarily with a preposition. Furthermore, and much like in Latin, different prepositions can be followed by nouns in different cases, resulting in different meanings.

[edit] Tense and aspect

Ukrainian has two aspects of its verb form, depending on how the action is performed. These are called the imperfective and perfective forms. The imperfective form denotes action is taking place in the present, is ongoing, is repetitive, or is habitual. The perfective form indicates completion, the result of an action, beginning of an action, or actions that are shorter or longer than usual. For example, spaty (спати) is imperfective, while pospaty (поспати) is perfective.

[edit] See also

• Ukrainian language

[edit] Translation of words

Note: All Common Slavic words quoted are translated faithfully by their Ukrainian forms. Abbreviations used:

• m: masculine noun
• f: feminine noun
• nt: neuter noun
• n: noun declined like an adjective, with different forms for each gender
• v: verb
• adj: adjective
• adv: adverb
• ger: gerund
• pr: pronoun
• co: conjunction

бабин (babyn): (adj) belonging to a grandmother (masculine nominative form) бабина (babyna): (adj) belonging to a grandmother (feminine nominative form) береза (bereza): (f) birch бити (byty): (v) to hit болото (boloto): (nt) mud, swamp борода (boroda): (f) beard брати (braty): (nt) to take братів (brativ): (adj) belonging to a brother (masculine nominative form) братова (bratova): (adj) belong to a brother (feminien nominative form) бувший (buvšyj): (adj) former, ex- (that which once was) бути (buty): (v) to be ваш (vaš): (adj) yours (pl) вернути (vernuty): (v) to return something вертіти (vertity): (v) to turn about repeatedly вибрати (vybraty): (v) to choose, elect відомий (vidomyj): (adj) well-known відьм (vid'm): (f) witches (genitive plural) вовк (vovk): (m) wolf гарний (harnyj): (adj) nice гарно (harno): (adv) nicely говорити (hovoryty): (v) to speak гривня (hryvnia): (f) Ukrainian currency двигнути (dvyhnyty): (v) to exert думати (dumaty): (v) to think жатий (žatyj): (adj) harvested жовтіти (žovtity): (v) to turn yellow збіжжя (zbižžja): (nt) bread, grain земля (zemlja): (f) earth знати (znaty): (v) to know знайомий (znajomyj): (adj) friendly (known); (n) friend знавши (znavšy): (ger) having known знаючи (znajučy): (ger) knowing ім'я (im"ja): (nt) name їсти (jisty): (v) to eat їхній (jixnij): (adj) theirs купувати (kupuvaty): (v) to buy курча (kurča): (nt) baby chicken лежати (ležaty): (v) to lie in some given place лити (lyty): (v) to pour лишений (lyšenyj): (adj) left мати (maty): (v) to have мило (mylo): (nt) soap

мій (mij): (adj) mine молоко (moloko): (nt) milk молоти (moloty): (v) to grind наш (naš): (adj) ours ніч (nič): (f) night насіння (nasinnja) (nt) grain нести (necty): (v) to carry несучи(й) (nesučy(j)): (ger) carrying; (adj) that which is being carried носити (nosyty): (v) to carry носіння (nosinnja): (nt) act of carrying орати (oraty): (v) to plow пекти (nekty): (v) to bake печений (pečehyj): (adj) baked питати (pytaty): (v) to ask питання (pytannja): (nt) question пити (pyty): (v) to drink плечима (plečyma): (nt) shoulders (instrumental plural form) плисти (plysty): (v) to float повинен (povynen): (adj) required to be done (often translated using the verb, should) (masculine nominative form) повинна (povynna): (adj) required to be done (feminine nominative form) полоти (poloty): (v) to weed посланий (poclanyj): (adj) sent попросити (poprosyty): (v) to ask for something поспати (pospaty): (v) to nap почати (počaty): (v) to start почорнілий (počorhilyj): (adj) having been blackened рвати (rvaty): (v) to rip свято (svjato): (nt) holiday сіяти (sijaty): (v) to plant / seed спати (spaty): (v) to sleep твій (tvij): (adj) yours (sing.) теля (telja): (nt) baby lamb умерти (umerty): (v) to die (animate) хвалити (xvalyty): (v) to praise хвалячи (xvaljačy): (ger) praising хотіти (xotity): (v) to want, desire хто (xto): (pr) who чий (čyj): (adj) whose читати (čytaty): (v) to read що (ščo): (pr) what як (jak): (co) when якщо (jakščo): (co) if

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Український Правопис 4th edition Kiev, 1993.
• De Bray, R. G. A. Introduction to Slavonic Languages. London, 1951.

[edit] External links

• Guide to Ukrainian grammar (not always on line) http://ulif.org.ua/ulp/dict_all/index.php?key_reestr=53915&dict=paradigm