Once you accept that a Ukrainian adjective agrees with its noun in gender, number, and case, the next job is to learn the actual endings. The good news for an A2 learner is that the hard-stem type — the нови́й "new" pattern that covers the great majority of Ukrainian adjectives — is remarkably regular, and its endings (-ого, -ому, -им, -ою, -их, -ими) recur on demonstratives and pronouns, so this one paradigm teaches several word classes at once. This page lays out the complete table, then explains the three things worth knowing beyond the raw forms: the velar-stem spelling, the animacy split in the accusative, and why these endings are worth memorising as a set.
The full paradigm: нови́й "new"
Here is hard-stem нови́й across all seven cases, three genders in the singular, and the gender-neutral plural. Stress on нови́й is on the ending throughout the singular and plural; learn the whole shape as one unit.
| Case | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Plural (all genders) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | нови́й | нове́ | нова́ | нові́ |
| Genitive | ново́го | ново́го | ново́ї | нови́х |
| Dative | ново́му | ново́му | нові́й | нови́м |
| Accusative | нови́й / ново́го* | нове́ | нову́ | нові́ / нови́х* |
| Instrumental | нови́м | нови́м | ново́ю | нови́ми |
| Locative | (на) ново́му / нові́м | (на) ново́му / нові́м | (на) нові́й | (на) нови́х |
| Vocative | нови́й (= nom.) | нове́ (= nom.) | нова́ (= nom.) | нові́ (= nom.) |
The accusative depends on *animacy — see below. The masculine/neuter genitive and dative are identical (ново́го, ново́му), which cuts the learning load. The vocative of an adjective always copies the nominative — only the noun it sits with takes a special vocative ending.
Я шука́ю пода́рунок для ново́го коле́ги — він люби́ть кни́ги.
I'm looking for a gift for the new colleague — he likes books. — masculine genitive ново́го after для.
Завдяки́ ново́му дире́ктору в компа́нії бага́то що зміни́лося на кра́ще.
Thanks to the new director, a lot has changed for the better in the company. — masculine dative ново́му after завдяки́.
The feminine: a clean four-way set
The feminine singular is the tidiest corner of the system — just four distinct forms doing the work of seven cases, because dative and locative share нові́й, and the genitive ново́ї is unmistakable.
| Case | Feminine form | Example phrase |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | нова́ | нова́ маши́на (a new car) |
| Genitive | ново́ї | біля ново́ї маши́ни (next to the new car) |
| Dative / Locative | нові́й | у нові́й маши́ні (in the new car) |
| Accusative | нову́ | купи́ти нову́ маши́ну (to buy a new car) |
| Instrumental | ново́ю | ново́ю маши́ною (by/with the new car) |
Note the two endings worth flagging explicitly: the feminine instrumental -ою (ново́ю) and the masculine/neuter instrumental -им (нови́м). They look unrelated but both mean "instrumental," and learners mix them up — keep ново́ю (fem.) apart from нови́м (masc./neut.).
Ми приї́хали ново́ю маши́ною, тож паркува́тися довело́ся обере́жно.
We came in the new car, so we had to park carefully. — feminine instrumental ново́ю.
У нові́й кварти́рі бі́льше сві́тла, ніж у попере́дній.
There's more light in the new flat than in the previous one. — feminine locative нові́й after у.
Animacy: the accusative split
In two slots — the masculine singular and the plural — the accusative form depends on whether the noun is animate (a person or animal) or inanimate (a thing). For animates, the accusative borrows the genitive ending; for inanimates, it copies the nominative. This mirrors the noun system exactly, and the adjective follows its noun.
| Slot | Inanimate (acc. = nom.) | Animate (acc. = gen.) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine sg. | нови́й стіл → ба́чу нови́й стіл | нови́й коле́га → ба́чу ново́го коле́гу |
| plural | нові́ столи́ → ба́чу нові́ столи́ | нові́ коле́ги → ба́чу нови́х коле́г |
The feminine and neuter singular have no animacy split — feminine accusative is always нову́, neuter always нове́. So animacy only ever bites in the masculine singular and the plural. For the full logic, see animacy in the accusative.
На вечі́рці я зустрі́в ново́го коле́гу й одра́зу його́ впізна́в.
At the party I met the new colleague and recognised him at once. — animate masculine accusative ново́го (= genitive form), because коле́гу is a person.
Я купи́в нови́й ноутбу́к — ста́рий уже́ ле́две вмика́вся.
I bought a new laptop — the old one barely turned on anymore. — inanimate masculine accusative нови́й (= nominative form), because a laptop is a thing.
The velar-stem spelling: вели́кий, висо́кий, дороги́й
Adjectives whose stem ends in a velar consonant — г, к, х — decline exactly like нови́й in their endings, but Ukrainian spelling forbids the sequence "velar + и," so where нови́й has -і the velar stems keep their natural form and where you might expect a clash the spelling adjusts. In practice the only thing to watch is the plural and certain cases: вели́кий "big" makes the plural вели́кі (with и after the к, which is allowed here because the ending vowel is і-class), while the oblique cases run ново́го-style: вели́кого, вели́кому, вели́ким.
| Case | Masculine sg. | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | вели́кий | вели́кі |
| Genitive | вели́кого | вели́ких |
| Dative | вели́кому | вели́ким |
| Instrumental | вели́ким | вели́кими |
| Locative | (на) вели́кому | (на) вели́ких |
So the velar stems are not a separate declension — they take the identical endings as нови́й. Treat вели́кий, висо́кий "tall," дороги́й "dear/expensive," ти́хий "quiet" as ordinary hard-stem adjectives.
Вони́ живу́ть у вели́кому буди́нку на краю́ мі́ста.
They live in a big house on the edge of town. — велик- stem, masculine locative вели́кому, identical ending to ново́му.
Дороги́м гостя́м — найкра́ще мі́сце за столо́м.
The best place at the table goes to dear guests. — велар-free дорог- stem, plural dative дороги́м.
The big payoff: these endings echo the pronouns
Here is the reason to memorise this paradigm as a block rather than form by form. The hard adjective endings — -ого, -ому, -им, -ою, -их, -ими — are essentially the same endings that the demonstratives and several pronouns take. Learn нови́й and you have, for free, the oblique forms of той "that" (того́, тому́, тим, ти́ми), котри́й "which," інши́й "other," сам "self," and the bulk of the adjective lexicon. One paradigm, many words. This is why effort spent here compounds: see demonstratives for the parallel set.
Я не зна́ю того́ висо́кого чолові́ка, з яки́м ти розмовля́в.
I don't know that tall man you were talking to. — той and висо́кий take the same animate masculine accusative/genitive ending -ого: того́ висо́кого.
З яки́ми нови́ми колеґами ти вже познайо́мився?
Which new colleagues have you already met? — plural instrumental: яки́ми echoes нови́ми, the same -ими ending.
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, the shock is the sheer count — one adjective has roughly a dozen distinct endings — but the relief is that you do not learn them adjective by adjective: the нови́й set is a master key. Drill this one paradigm to automaticity and you have transferred it to thousands of adjectives plus the demonstratives.
For a Russian speaker, the endings rhyme with Russian but are not identical — Ukrainian writes -ого (ново́го), and the masculine/neuter instrumental is -им (нови́м), while the velar stems and the locative -ім/-ому variation follow Ukrainian, not Russian, orthography. Verify the surface form rather than transliterating the Russian one.
Common Mistakes
❌ для нови́й коле́ги
Case error — after the preposition для the noun goes genitive, and the adjective must follow: для ново́го коле́ги.
✅ для ново́го коле́ги
for the new colleague — masculine genitive ново́го.
❌ ба́чу нови́й коле́гу
Animacy error — коле́гу is animate, so the masculine accusative borrows the genitive: ба́чу ново́го коле́гу.
✅ ба́чу ново́го коле́гу
I see the new colleague — animate accusative = genitive ново́го.
❌ ново́ю буди́нком (mixing the feminine ending onto a masculine noun)
The feminine instrumental -ою can't go on a masculine noun; буди́нок takes the masculine instrumental -им: нови́м буди́нком.
✅ нови́м буди́нком
with the new building — masculine instrumental нови́м.
❌ вели́ки буди́нки
Plural-ending error — the hard plural is -і: вели́кі буди́нки. (The velar к takes і, spelled и here only after the velar, giving вели́кі.)
✅ вели́кі буди́нки
big buildings — plural вели́кі.
❌ у нова́ кварти́рі (adjective left in the nominative)
Case error — the noun is in the locative (кварти́рі), so the adjective must be too: у нові́й кварти́рі.
✅ у нові́й кварти́рі
in the new flat — feminine locative нові́й.
Key Takeaways
- The hard-stem (нови́й) paradigm covers most Ukrainian adjectives; its endings are -ого, -ому, -им, -ою, -их, -ими.
- The masculine and neuter share genitive ново́го and dative ново́му; the feminine has a clean four-way set (нова́ / ново́ї / нові́й / нову́ / ново́ю), with dative = locative = нові́й.
- Animacy splits the accusative only in the masculine singular and the plural: animate = genitive form (ново́го, нови́х), inanimate = nominative form (нови́й, нові́).
- Velar stems (вели́кий, висо́кий, дороги́й) are not a separate class — they take the same endings, with the plural in -і (вели́кі).
- These endings are shared with demonstratives and pronouns (той → того́, тому́, тим), so the one paradigm unlocks many words.
Now practice Ukrainian
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Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- Adjectives: Agreement and the Two Stem TypesA1 — Ukrainian adjectives AGREE with their noun in gender, number, and case — the same word changes ending depending on what it describes. The dictionary form is masculine nominative singular (нови́й, си́ній); each adjective then has feminine, neuter, and plural forms and runs through all seven cases. Every adjective belongs to one of two stem types — HARD (нови́й / нова́ / нове́ / нові́) or SOFT (си́ній / си́ня / си́нє / си́ні) — and the stem type drives every ending.
- Soft-Stem Adjective DeclensionB1 — The small but high-frequency soft-stem class — си́ній, да́вній, дома́шній, сусі́дній and the rest of the -ній family — runs a paradigm parallel to the hard stem but carries the SOFT series of endings throughout: -ього not -ого, -ьому not -ому, -ім not -им, -іх not -их. Once you know which adjectives are soft, you apply one extra rule and the whole declension follows.
- Demonstrative Pronouns (Цей, Той)A1 — Ukrainian points with two demonstratives — цей/ця/це/ці 'this' (near) and той/та/те/ті 'that' (far) — and both AGREE with their noun and DECLINE like adjectives (цей → цьо́го, цьо́му, цим; той → того́, тому́, тим). The neuter це does double duty: 'this' as a pointer (це мі́сто 'this city') and the copula-less 'this is / it is' (Це мій друг 'this is my friend'), so Ukrainian has no separate word for 'it is' — just це plus a noun.
- The Seven Cases: OverviewA1 — Ukrainian has SEVEN cases — nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative, and a living vocative — each marked by an ending on the noun rather than by word order, so the same job English does with prepositions and position, Ukrainian does with the word's tail.
- Animacy in the Accusative: Edge CasesB2 — Grammatical animacy is not biology: the dead (ба́чу мерця́), playing cards and chess pieces (відкри́ти туза́, взя́ти короля́), and dolls behave as ANIMATE — their accusative copies the genitive — while collectives like наро́д and на́товп stay inanimate, so the accusative occasionally surprises (купи́ти коня́ vs ба́чу буди́нок).