Grammar Reference

Cyrillic alphabet: 33 letters, the unique letters ґ, є, і, ї, and the apostrophe

I can recognise and read the 33 letters of the Ukrainian alphabet, including the unique letters ґ, є, і, ї and the apostrophe.

Key Ukrainian sounds and free, mobile word stress

I can apply the core rules of Ukrainian pronunciation (clear unstressed o, the и vowel, voiced final consonants) and understand that stress is free and can distinguish words.

The personal pronouns я, ти, він/вона/воно, ми, ви, вони

I can use the Ukrainian personal pronouns correctly, including the polite ви, and match third-person pronouns to noun gender.

Possessive pronouns мій, твій, наш, ваш and the invariant його/її/їхній

I can use Ukrainian possessive pronouns with correct gender/number agreement and the invariant його/її.

Demonstratives цей (this), той (that), такий (such) — agreement by gender/number

I can use Ukrainian demonstratives цей/той/такий with correct agreement and the presentational це.

Indefinite pronouns (хтось «someone», будь-хто «anyone», хто-небудь) and negative ні-words (pronouns ніхто, ніщо and adverbs ніколи, ніде) with the two rules English speakers miss: obligatory double negation (Ніхто НЕ знає) and preposition splitting (ні з ким, not «з ніким»).

I can use indefinite and negative pronouns with double negation to say that someone, anyone or no one does something.

The verb бути: the present-tense copula is usually omitted; the form є

I can form Ukrainian sentences without a present-tense copula, use є for possession/emphasis, and conjugate бути in the past and future.

Two ways to express possession: the verb мати and the у + genitive є construction

I can express having and not having in Ukrainian with both у мене є and мати, and use the genitive after немає.

Present tense of the two conjugations (I: -е-, II: -и-/-ї-)

I can conjugate regular Ukrainian verbs of both conjugations in the present tense.

Past tense formed with -в/-ла/-ло/-ли, agreeing in gender and number

I can form the Ukrainian past tense with -в/-ла/-ло/-ли and make it agree with the subject's gender and number.

The imperative: commands, requests and the polite -те form

I can form Ukrainian imperatives, use the polite -те form with будь ласка, and make negative commands.

Expressing ability, necessity and desire: могти, хотіти, треба, мусити + infinitive

I can express ability, desire and necessity in Ukrainian with могти/хотіти/мусити + infinitive and the impersonal треба/можна + dative.

Verbs ending in -ся/-сь: reflexive, reciprocal and other meanings

I can use Ukrainian reflexive -ся verbs in reflexive, reciprocal and feeling meanings, keeping -ся attached.

Ukrainian verbs come in aspect pairs: imperfective (недоконаний - process, habit, repetition) and perfective (доконаний - one completed result). The perfective has no present tense.

I can choose between imperfective and perfective verbs to say whether an action was a process/habit or a finished result.

Ukrainian has two futures by aspect: the perfective future (single form: прочитаю) and the imperfective future, which has two equal forms - compound (буду читати) and synthetic (читатиму).

I can talk about future plans, using the perfective future for completed actions and either the compound (буду + infinitive) or the synthetic (-му) form for ongoing ones.

Ukrainian has paired verbs of motion: unidirectional (one trip, one direction, in progress) and multidirectional (habit, round trip, general ability), split further into on-foot (іти/ходити) and by-vehicle (їхати/їздити).

I can choose the right verb of motion to say whether I go on foot or by vehicle and whether the trip is one-directional now or a habit.

The Ukrainian conditional is built from the past-tense verb plus the invariable particle би (after a consonant) or б (after a vowel): я хотів би, вона поїхала б. Used for polite wishes, hypotheses, and advice.

I can form the conditional with the past-tense verb plus би/б to make polite requests, state hypotheses, and give advice.

Three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) identified by the word ending

I can determine the gender of a Ukrainian noun from its ending and use it for agreement.

Forming the nominative plural by gender

I can form the nominative plural of common Ukrainian nouns according to gender and stem type.

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.

The genitive case (кого? чого?): possession, absence, quantity, dates

I can use the Ukrainian genitive for possession, absence (немає/без), quantity after 5+, and dates.

The dative case (кому? чому?): recipient, мені подобається, age, треба

I can use the Ukrainian dative for recipients, with подобається, for age, and with треба.

The accusative (direct object) and the animacy rule for masculine nouns

I can put direct objects in the Ukrainian accusative and apply the animacy rule for masculine nouns.

The instrumental case (ким? чим?): instrument, accompaniment (з), profession

I can use the Ukrainian instrumental for instruments, accompaniment with з, and professions after бути/працювати.

The locative case, always with a preposition (в/у, на, при, по): location

I can use the Ukrainian locative with в/у, на, при, по to say where something is, including the consonant alternations.

The vocative case — the living Ukrainian form of address

I can form and use the Ukrainian vocative to address people, including names and patronymics.

The genitive plural: masculine -ів/-їв (столів, братів), a small fixed set on -ей (ночей, гостей), feminine and neuter zero ending with vowel insertion (книжок, вікон, гривень). Triggered by 5+ and quantity words (багато, кілька, немає). The single most useful A2 case form for shopping, prices and quantities.

I can form and use the genitive plural (столів, книжок, ночей, гривень) after numbers from five, quantity words and negation, to talk about shopping, prices and amounts.

Adjectives agree with their noun in gender, number and case

I can make Ukrainian adjectives agree with their noun in gender and number in the nominative, including hard and soft types.

Comparative and superlative of adjectives and adverbs (-ший, най-)

I can form and use Ukrainian comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives and adverbs, including the common irregulars and ніж/за.

Full declension of Ukrainian adjectives: the hard group (новий) and the soft group (синій) across all cases, genders and numbers, including the animate accusative (acc = gen) and the feminine syncretism where dative and locative are both новій.

I can put adjectives into the right gender, number and case after prepositions and verbs, using both the hard and the soft group, including the animate accusative and predicative agreement.

Cardinal numbers 1-100 and the noun forms after 1, 2-4, 5+

I can count to 100 in Ukrainian and use the correct noun form after 1, 2-4 and 5+.

Ordinals (перший, другий…) — declined like adjectives; dates and order

I can form and decline Ukrainian ordinal numbers and use them in dates.

How nouns change after numerals: один + nominative singular, два/три/чотири + nominative plural (два роки, дві гривні), п'ять and above + genitive plural (п'ять років). In compounds the last word decides. Essential for prices, shopping and age.

I can combine numerals with nouns correctly (один рік, два роки, п'ять років) to talk about prices, quantities and age.

Question words, yes/no questions with чи, and negation with не/ні

I can ask questions with question words and чи, answer with ні, and negate verbs with не using obligatory double negation.

Complex sentences with subordinate clauses: що (that — facts), щоб (so that / in order to — purpose and wishes, + past l-form or infinitive), бо / тому що (because), коли (when), якщо (if — real conditions). The subordinate clause keeps normal word order and a comma is always used before the conjunction.

I can join clauses with що, щоб, бо/тому що, коли and якщо to explain facts, reasons, purposes, time and real conditions, keeping normal word order and the comma.

Turning direct speech into reported speech with що, чи and щоб. Ukrainian has no backshift and no reporting subjunctive: the original tense stays, only the person and the time and place words change. Yes/no questions take чи at the head of the clause; orders become щоб + the past-tense form whenever the doer is the subject of the subordinate clause, while a doer left as an object allows a plain infinitive (Він попросив мене зачинити вікно, Він наказав нам зачекати).

I can report what someone said, asked or requested using що, чи, question words and щоб, keeping the original tense and adjusting the person and the time and place words.

Place vs direction: в/на + locative (де?) vs в/на + accusative (куди?), до/з/від + genitive

I can choose the right preposition and case in Ukrainian to express location (де?), direction (куди?), and origin (звідки?).

Asking and telling the time: Котра година? О котрій? full, half and quarter hours

I can ask and tell the time in Ukrainian, including full, half and quarter hours, and say at what time something happens.

Days of the week, months, seasons, and the time expressions that go with them

I can name the Ukrainian days, months and seasons and use the correct time expressions (у понеділок, у січні, навесні).

Coordinating (і/та, а, але, або) and subordinating (бо, що, щоб, коли, якщо) conjunctions

I can join words and clauses in Ukrainian with the main coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.

Adverbs of manner, place and time, and forming -о/-е adverbs from adjectives

I can use common Ukrainian adverbs of manner, place and time and form -о adverbs from adjectives.