Overview of the seven Ukrainian cases and their case questions
I can name the seven Ukrainian cases, ask the correct case question, and recognise that Ukrainian keeps a living vocative.
Schau dir diese Beispiele an. Kannst du das grammatische Muster erkennen?
Це «Кобзар». (називний)
This is Kobzar. (nominative)
Я читаю «Кобзаря». (знахідний)
I am reading Kobzar. (accusative)
Доброго дня, Іване Петровичу!
Good afternoon, Ivan Petrovych!
Achte auf die hervorgehobenen Teile. Was haben sie gemeinsam?
In English, word order tells you who does what: "The cat sees the dog" and "The dog sees the cat" mean different things. Ukrainian marks the role of a noun with its ending, called a case. There are seven, and they are the core of Ukrainian grammar.
English still has a trace of this in its pronouns: "he" sees "him", "she" gives "her" a book, "whose" bag. Ukrainian does that with every noun, adjective and pronoun.
| Case | Case question | Main job | книга "book" |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (називний) | хто? що? who? what? | the subject; the dictionary form | книга |
| Genitive (родовий) | кого? чого? of whom? of what? | "of", possession, absence, quantity | книги |
| Dative (давальний) | кому? чому? to whom? | the receiver, "to/for someone" | книзі |
| Accusative (знахідний) | кого? що? whom? what? | the direct object | книгу |
| Instrumental (орудний) | ким? чим? with whom? with what? | "with", "by means of" | книгою |
| Locative (місцевий) | на/у кому? на/у чому? in/on what? | place, after в/у, на, по, при | (у) книзі |
| Vocative (кличний) | (calling someone) | addressing a person | книго! |
Because the endings carry the roles, Ukrainian can move words around for emphasis without changing who did what:
Both sentences have the same roles; just the focus has moved. The English speaker's risk is the opposite one: relying on word order and leaving the ending in the dictionary form.
Ukrainian schoolchildren learn each case with its question words, and so can you. To find the case after a verb, ask the question: Я бачу (кого? що?) брата. - accusative. Я дякую (кому?) мамі. - dative. Note that the verb, not the English translation, decides: "thank" takes a direct object in English but дякувати takes the dative.
Russian has lost its vocative as a living case; Ukrainian uses it every day. When you call or address someone, the name changes: Іване! (Іван), Маріє! (Марія), Олено! (Олена), друже! "friend!", пане Андрію! "Mr Andrii!". Addressing someone in the nominative sounds abrupt or careless. Each case has its own topic in this course; this table is the map to keep beside you.
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses A1 an
ÜbungsaufgabenЦе «Кобзар». (називний)
This is Kobzar. (nominative)
The dictionary form, answering «хто? що?» - your nominative. Kobzar is Shevchenko’s book, known to every Ukrainian.
Я читаю «Кобзаря». (знахідний)
I am reading Kobzar. (accusative)
The direct object takes the accusative. Here Кобзар behaves as animate - Кобзаря, after the kobzar himself.
Доброго дня, Іване Петровичу!
Good afternoon, Ivan Petrovych!
The vocative, and it takes both words: Іване Петровичу.
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Im Kurs üben
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses A1 an