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Ukrainian grammar A1: beginner

The complete guide from A1 to B1: the rules, examples to listen to, the usual mistakes.

Level A1 covers the grammar of first exchanges in Ukrainian: saying who someone is, naming and describing people and things, talking about everyday actions, saying what one sees, where one is and where one goes, counting and paying, telling what happened and what will happen, and asking someone to do something.

What A1 holds

  • nouns with their gender, adjectives, possessives and цей, той agreeing with them, in the singular and the plural;
  • four cases of the singular: the nominative, the accusative, the locative and the vocative;
  • the present in both conjugations, the past, the future with бу́ду and the imperative;
  • the numbers, the hour and the age as set phrases, and the small words that join sentences.

What is new for an English speaker

  • no article: кни́га is “a book” and “the book”;
  • the gender of a noun, shown by its ending: стіл is masculine, ка́ва feminine, вікно́ neuter;
  • no word for “is” in the present: Я студе́нт (“I am a student”);
  • a case ending where English has word order or a preposition: Я чита́ю кни́гу, Я в Ки́єві;
  • a past that changes with the gender of the subject, not with the person: я чита́в (a man), я чита́ла (a woman);
  • a freer word order, since the endings show who does what: Я тебе́ люблю́;
  • a stress that may fall on any syllable and moves inside a word (брат, брати́); it is shown by an accent in grammars and dictionaries, never in ordinary texts.

  1. Introducing yourself

    The first sentences of Ukrainian need no verb: Я студе́нт (“I am a student”), Це Оле́на (“This is Olena”).

  2. Nouns and adjectives

    Every Ukrainian noun is masculine, feminine or neuter, and its gender is usually shown by its ending.

  3. The present

    Ukrainian has one present tense where English has two: Я чита́ю means “I read” and “I am reading”.

  4. The cases

    A Ukrainian noun changes its ending according to its role in the sentence; each set of forms is a case.

  5. Numbers and time

    A Ukrainian number is not always a word apart from its noun.

  6. The past

    Ukrainian has one past tense.

  7. The future

    The Ukrainian future of an ordinary verb is made with the future of бу́ти, бу́ду, followed by the infinitive.

  8. The imperative

    The imperative gives an order, makes a request or offers advice.

  9. Linking sentences and small words

    Short words join sentences and say how, when or how much.

Contents · Ukrainian grammar