Accusative: Forms | Ukrainian Grammar

The accusative (знахі́дний відмі́нок) is the case of the direct object — the thing or person a verb acts on. When you read a book, see a friend, or buy bread, the book, friend, and bread all stand in the accusative. It answers кого́? ("whom?") for living beings and що? ("what?") for things. This page is purely about the forms: how each kind of noun looks in the accusative. The headline fact, and the thing that surprises every English speaker, is that the accusative mostly has no ending of its own — it borrows. Learn the one clean exception first, then learn the borrowing rule.

The easy win: feminine -а/-я → -у/-ю

Start where Ukrainian is generous. Feminine nouns ending in -а / -я have a dedicated accusative ending, -у / -ю, that is always distinct from the nominative and the genitive. There is no animacy to worry about, no choice to make — a sister and a book take the same kind of ending.

Nominative	Accusative	Meaning
кни́га	кни́гу	book (hard stem → -у)
шко́ла	шко́лу	school (hard → -у)
земля́	зе́млю	land/earth (soft → -ю)
пі́сня	пі́сню	song (soft → -ю)
сестра́	сестру́	sister (animate, still -у)

Я чита́ю кни́гу про істо́рію Льво́ва — мо́жу пози́чити, як хо́чеш.

I'm reading a book about the history of Lviv — I can lend it to you if you want.

Кожного ра́нку я веду́ до́ньку до шко́ли пі́шки.

Every morning I walk my daughter to school.

Заспіва́й мені́ ту пі́сню, що співа́ла ба́буся.

Sing me that song that grandma used to sing.

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Feminine -а/-я is the only group with a truly unique accusative ending. If you learn nothing else today, learn that кни́га → кни́гу, земля́ → зе́млю: hard stems take -у, soft stems take -ю, animacy irrelevant.

Everything else borrows — and animacy is the switch

For every other kind of noun, the accusative is syncretic: it has no shape of its own and copies one of two cases you already know.

A non-living noun (a thing, an object, an abstraction) → accusative = nominative.
A living noun (a human or animal) → accusative = genitive.

This is the single most important rule on the page. The verb is doing exactly the same job in I see the table and I see the brother, yet the noun looks different — purely because a brother is alive and a table is not. The grammatical category that drives this is animacy (категорія істо́т), covered in full on the animacy overview.

Masculine nouns: the visible split

In the singular, the borrowing is visible mainly on masculine nouns, because their nominative and genitive are different enough to choose between.

	Inanimate → = nominative	Animate → = genitive
nominative	стіл (table)	брат (brother)
genitive	стола́	бра́та
accusative	ба́чу стіл	ба́чу бра́та

Поста́в журна́л на стіл, я почита́ю його́ пі́зніше.

Put the magazine on the table, I'll read it later.

Я давно́ не ба́чив бра́та — він живе́ за кордо́ном.

I haven't seen my brother in a long time — he lives abroad.

Ми взяли́ собі́ цуценя́ і назва́ли його́ Ре́ксом — я обожнюю цього́ пса.

We got ourselves a puppy and named him Rex — I adore this dog.

In that last sentence, пес → пса (animate, so accusative = genitive). Compare an inanimate masculine: купи́в оліве́ць "bought a pencil" stays nominative-shaped because a pencil is a thing.

Neuter and soft-sign feminine: accusative = nominative

Two more groups never change in the accusative singular, because they have no distinct form to borrow and almost no animate members.

Neuter nouns (вікно́, мо́ре, по́ле) → accusative = nominative. Neuter nouns are practically all inanimate.
Feminine Declension III (the soft-sign type: ніч, сіль, тінь, ра́дість) → accusative = nominative.

Type	Nominative	Accusative
neuter	вікно́	ми́ю вікно́
neuter	мо́ре	люблю́ мо́ре
fem. -ь	ніч	чека́ю всю ніч
fem. -ь	сіль	передай мені́ сіль

Я люблю́ мо́ре восени́, коли́ нема́ ні́кого на пля́жі.

I love the sea in autumn, when there's no one on the beach.

Я чека́ла всю ніч, а він так і не подзвони́в.

I waited the whole night, and he never called.

The plural: animacy controls all three genders

Here is the big payoff, and it is beautifully consistent. In the plural, the animacy split governs every gender — masculine, feminine, and neuter alike:

Inanimate plural → accusative = nominative plural.
Animate plural → accusative = genitive plural.

	Inanimate → = nom. pl.	Animate → = gen. pl.
tables / brothers	ба́чу столи́	ба́чу браті́в
books / sisters	чита́ю кни́ги	ба́чу сесте́р
windows / children	ми́ю ві́кна	ба́чу діте́й
(horses)	—	ба́чу ко́ней

На вокза́лі я відра́зу впізна́ла браті́в — вони́ стоя́ли по́руч із валі́зами.

At the station I recognised my brothers right away — they were standing side by side with their suitcases.

Не лиша́й діте́й сами́х надо́вго, вони́ ще малі́.

Don't leave the children alone for long, they're still little.

Я люблю́ ці старі́ столи́ — вони́ мі́цні, як скеля́.

I love these old tables — they're solid as a rock.

Notice that столи́ (inanimate) keeps the nominative-plural shape while браті́в (animate) takes the genitive-plural -ів. Same accusative job, opposite borrowing — the only difference is whether the noun is alive.

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A quick self-test for any plural object: ask "could this thing wave back?" If yes (people, animals), the accusative copies the genitive plural (браті́в, ко́ней, діте́й); if no (objects, abstractions), it copies the nominative plural (столи́, кни́ги). The plural is where this rule earns its keep, because it hits all three genders at once.

Full picture in one table

Noun type	Singular accusative	Plural accusative
fem. -а/-я	-у/-ю (own ending): кни́гу, зе́млю	= nom. (inanim) / = gen. (anim): кни́ги / сесте́р
masc. inanimate	= nominative: стіл, журна́л	= nom. pl.: столи́
masc. animate	= genitive: бра́та, пса́	= gen. pl.: браті́в, псів
neuter	= nominative: вікно́, мо́ре	= nom. pl.: ві́кна
fem. -ь (decl. III)	= nominative: ніч, сіль	= nom. pl. / = gen. pl. by animacy

Source-language comparison

For an English speaker, the shock is that there is usually no separate accusative form to memorise. English marks the object only on a few pronouns (I → me, he → him), and leaves nouns untouched: "the table" and "the brother" look the same whether subject or object. Ukrainian leaves things visibly untouched too (бачу стіл reuses the nominative), but it reshapes living masculine and all plural animates by pulling in the genitive (бра́та, браті́в, діте́й). So the real task is not "learn the accusative endings" — it is tag every noun as animate or inanimate, the way you already tag its gender, because that tag is the switch.

For a Russian speaker, the principle is shared Slavic inheritance — animate accusative = genitive, inanimate = nominative — so you will not be surprised by the system. The trap is purely in the forms: Ukrainian's genitive-plural and nominative-plural shapes differ word by word (браті́в, діте́й, сесте́р, ко́ней). Don't let a Russian ending slip in; re-anchor each plural to its Ukrainian form.

Common Mistakes

❌ Я ба́чу брат.

Incorrect — брат is animate, so the accusative copies the genitive: я ба́чу бра́та.

✅ Я ба́чу бра́та.

I see my brother — animate masculine, accusative = genitive.

❌ Я ба́чу стола́.

Incorrect — стіл is inanimate, so the accusative copies the nominative, not the genitive: я ба́чу стіл.

✅ Я ба́чу стіл.

I see the table — inanimate, accusative = nominative.

❌ Я чита́ю кни́га.

Incorrect — feminine -а nouns have their own -у accusative: я чита́ю кни́гу.

✅ Я чита́ю кни́гу.

I'm reading a book — feminine accusative -у.

❌ Я зустрі́в дру́зі вчо́ра.

Incorrect — animate plural takes the genitive plural: я зустрі́в дру́зів.

✅ Я зустрі́в дру́зів учо́ра.

I met my friends yesterday — animate plural, accusative = genitive plural.

❌ Я люблю́ цих столі́в.

Incorrect — tables are inanimate, so the accusative plural copies the nominative: я люблю́ ці столи́.

✅ Я люблю́ ці столи́.

I love these tables — inanimate plural, accusative = nominative plural.

Key Takeaways

The accusative answers кого́? (whom?) and що? (what?) and marks the direct object.
Only feminine -а/-я nouns have a dedicated ending: -у/-ю (кни́гу, зе́млю), regardless of animacy.
Everything else borrows: inanimate → = nominative (стіл, вікно́, ніч); animate → = genitive (бра́та, пса́).
In the singular the split is visible mainly on masculine nouns; in the plural animacy governs all three genders (столи́ vs браті́в, кни́ги vs сесте́р, ві́кна vs діте́й).
There is no single accusative marker — animacy is the switch, so tag every noun animate/inanimate alongside its gender.

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