Number

In Ukrainian, all the words in a specific context must agree in number (just like case and gender), i.e. when the noun is written in the plural number, the adjective must also be written in the plural number. Examples:

A third number, the dual, also existed in Old East Slavic, but except for its use in the nominative and accusative cases with the numbers two, three and four, e.g. дві гривні vs. двоє гривень (recategorized today as a nominative plural), it has been lost. Other traces of the dual can be found when referring to objects of which are commonly in pairs: eyes, shoulders, ears, e.g. плечима (from плечі). Occasionally, dual forms can distinguish between meanings.

Cases

The Ukrainian language has seven different grammatical cases, of which every case has its own function.

Genders

Like Latin and other Slavic languages, Ukrainian does not have articles, so the gender is mainly determined with the ending. Although there are always exceptions, you can mostly determine the gender by knowing some of the typical endings.

Notes:

• (1) Words ending on a consonant (вітер) or soft sign (камінь).
• (2) The plural ending -і is used for words that end on a soft letter, in this case the soft sign (sg. хлопець, pl. хлопці).
• (3) The plural ending -і is used for words that end on a soft letter, in this case -я (sg. земля, pl. землі). Additionally, the ending -ї is used when the letter before the soft letter is a vowel (sg. поліція, pl. поліції).

Declensions

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 post-alveolar sibilant. The fourth declension is used for neuter nouns ending in -а/-я (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 iotated vowel or soft vowel). The mixed subgroup consists of the nouns whose roots end in a post-alveolar 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 derive the corresponding mixed and soft endings:

• Mixed subgroup: Following a post-alveolar sibilant,
  1. All о change to е
  2. All и change to і
• 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, but same can be traced to similar changes in Common Slavic):
  1. ьа or йа gives я
  2. ьо gives е
  3. йе gives є
  4. ьи gives і
  5. йи gives ї
  6. ьу or йу gives ю
  7. ьі gives і
  8. йі gives ї

Nouns ending in a consonant are marked in the following tables with ∅ (no ending).

First declension

This declension consists of nouns that 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.

• (1) A velar consonant undergoes the appropriate second palatalization 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.

Second declension

The second declension consists of masculine and neuter nouns.

Masculine nouns: This group consists primarily of nouns ending in a consonant, a soft sign -ь, or -й. In this declension, nouns ending 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 alone to which group the noun belongs.

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 the 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 organizations 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 that 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) Velar-root nouns generally take the -у ending, thus avoiding the second palatalization. For non-velar roots, both -і and -ові types are acceptable. As usual, the -і ending triggers the second palatalization.
• (6) If the ending -е is used, then the first palatalization occurs. However, it can be avoided by using the -у form.
• (7) The second ending occurs in a small group of nouns.
• (8) The genitive form is used with animate objects, while inanimate objects take the nominative forms.

Neuter nouns: This category consists of neuter nouns ending in -о, -е, and 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.

• (1) As necessary, the second palatalization occurs, except for the *ĭjе nouns.
• (2) The double consonant is made single if the ь is used. However, if a post-alveolar sibilant is the last consonant, then no ь is used, but a single consonant is also written. For a labial final 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.

Third declension

This declension consists solely of feminine nouns that end in a consonant, as well as the noun ма́ти ("mother"). This declension has only 2 subgroups: a mixed and a soft group.

• (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).

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.

Indeclinable nouns

Several nouns, mostly borrowings from other languages (especially from different language groups) and abbreviations, are not modified when they change number and case. This occurs especially when the ending appears not to match any declension pattern in the appropriate gender. Some of the most common indeclinable nouns are:

However, there are some exceptions. Some nouns may sound like they are a part of the indeclinable declension, but in reality they should be declined normally. Examples are the words пальто ("coat") and вино ("wine"), which belong to the neuter gender.^[3]

Declension

In Ukrainian, for adjectives there are 2 different declension types: hard and soft. The soft type can be further subdivided into two types. Unlike for the nouns, the post-alveolar sibilants are counted as hard. There also exists a special mixed declension for adjectives ending in -лиций. These adjectives are derived from the noun лице, describing types of faces, for example, білолиций.

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.

Other forms of the adjective (comparative and superlative)

In Ukrainian adjectives also have comparative and superlative forms.

The comparative form is created by dropping ий and adding the ending -(і)ший (less frequently -жчий and -щий). The resulting form is declined like a regular hard stem adjective.

The superlative form is created by prefixing най- to the comparative form. Words associated with religion often add the prefix пре- (very) to the comparative form.

Personal pronouns

The personal pronouns are declined as follows.

Demonstrative pronouns

The demonstrative pronouns той (that) and цей (this) are declined as follows (N or G refers to respectively nominative or genitive. Usually, animate subjects take the genitive form, while inanimate subjects take the nominative form).

Possessive pronouns

The first (мій) and second person (твій) singular possessive pronouns are declined similarly as can be seen from the table below.

The first (наш) and second (ваш) person plural possessive pronouns are declined as below. The masculine nominative forms are the short forms.

The third person plural possessive pronoun, їхній, is declined as a normal soft adjective.

Interrogative pronouns

The interrogative pronouns, хто and що, are declined as follows.

The interrogative pronoun, чий, is declined as given in the table below.

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:

All verbs whose roots end in a velar undergo the first palatalization 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 that end in a vowel use -ю and -ють. Furthermore, Class 3 verbs undergo iotation in those forms that 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:

All Class 4 verbs undergo iotation 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 third 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.

Past active tense

The past tense in Ukrainian has the peculiarity of being originally an adjective, since it derives from the original compound perfect (corresponding to, for example, the Latin first conjugation participle ending -atus). Thus, the past tense agrees in number and gender (but not person) 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.
  • Note 2: Stems ending in е or о plus a consonant convert them to і, for example, ніс but несла and міг but могла. Stems in я plus a consonant can also undergo this change.
• feminine singular: -ла
• neuter singular: -ло
• plural: -ли

Class 2 verbs can have forms without the -ну, for example, заслабнути has the forms заслаб, заслабла, заслабло, and заслабли. Not all Class 2 verbs undergo this change.

These forms are often called the active past participle I. The masculine singular evolved from an earlier *-лъ that vocalized.

Future active tense

In Ukrainian, there are 2 different future tenses for imperfective verbs. The first form, called simple (проста форма), formed by adding to the infinitive of the verb the following endings, which are derived from the Common Slavic verb *jęti (Present stem: jĭm-) which in turn derives from the iotacization of *ęti, 'to take':

The second form, called compound (складена форма), is to take the present tense conjugation of the verb бути and use it with the infinitive of the verb.

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

The two forms do not differ in function or semantics. However, the compound form tends to be used more often.^[5]

Present tense

The present conditional is formed in Ukrainian from the participle би or the short form б, 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 ...).

Past tense

The past conditional is formed in Ukrainian from the participle би or the short form б 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 known...). Alternatively, the past conditional can be formed by using the form якби and the active past participle I form of the verb, for example, якби я знав.

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. In this case its form is -чий. Examples of this participle are несучи (third person plural: несуть), знаючи (third person plural: знають) and хвалячи (third person plural: хвалять).

Present passive participle

This participle does not exist in modern Ukrainian as a separate form. However, it is commonly encountered as an adjective in -мий (m.), -ма (f.), -ме (n.). Common examples of this participle are:

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 (m.), -ла (f.), -ле (n.). to form the regular adjective. The most common adjectives with this ending include:

Past active participle II

This participle is most commonly encountered as a gerund, while it is also used occasionally as an adjective. It is formed by taking the third person singular masculine form and adding the ending -ши (-ший (m.), -ша (f.), -ше (n.) if it's used as an adjective). An example of the gerund is знавши, while a common (dialectical) adjective would be the word бувший (third person singular masculine: був).

Past passive participle

The past passive participle is the only participle used commonly as an adjective. There are two parallel forms with no difference in meaning: in -тий or in -ний. This participle is formed from the infinitive stem for most verbs. Class 2 verbs can as for other participles drop the suffix -ну or only the -у, for example, движений from двигнути. Verbs in -ува́ти or -юва́ти (those whose ending is stressed) will replace the у by о and ю by ь/йо (ь if a consonant precedes or й if a vowel), for example, мальо́ваний from малюва́ти. Finally, Class 3 stems with full voicing have two possible stems: the first is simply obtained by dropping the -ти from the infinitive, while the second is obtained by dropping the last three letters (which in effect means using the present form). The first form will take the -тий ending, while the second form will take the -ний ending, for example полоти has полотий and полений. Note that the verb молоти has the second form мелений, since it derives from *melti in Common Slavonic. The ending is determined as follows:

• If the stem ends in a vowel or ер or ор (derived from a sonant r in Common Slavonic), then
  • If the vowel is и, у, я a sibilant plus а, ер, or ор then add -тий, for example, розп'ятий, тертий, or жатий.
  • For class 3 verbs with full voicing ending in о, then add -тий, for example, поротий.
  • For all Class 4 verbs, the ending is -єний, for example, гоєний.
  • Otherwise, the ending is -ний.
• If the stem ends in a consonant, then add -ений. Class 1 verbs undergo the first palatalization, while Class 2, 4, and 5 verbs undergo iotation, for example, печений, тиснений, ораний, лишений, люблений, and їджений.

Most 2nd conjugation verbs (especially irregular verbs) are formed from the first person singular:

Some verbs also have two variants, e.g. одягнутий and одягнений (infinitive: одягнути), замкнутий and замкнений (infinitive: замкнути).

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. 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. Note that any Class 3 verbs in -увати or -ювати will restore the у or ю малювання from мальований (from малювати).

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.

Separative coordinations

The separative coordinations are formed with the assistance of separative conjunctions.

Conjoining coordinations

The conjoining coordinations are formed with the assistance of the conjunctions і (й, та) ("and"; usage of the three words depends on the sentence), (a)ні ... (a)ні ("not ... not"), теж ("too"), також ("also"), etc.

Oppositional coordinations

The oppositional coordinations are formed with the assistance of oppositional conjunctions.