Cases Without Prepositions: A Summary | Ukrainian Grammar

English leans hard on prepositions: of, to, for, with, by, through, on. Ukrainian does an enormous amount of that work with the bare case alone — no preposition at all. "The centre of the city" is центр мі́ста (no "of"); "give it to mum" is дай ма́мі (no "to"); "I slept for an hour" is спав годи́ну (no "for"); "we went by bus" is їхали авто́бусом (no "by"); "walked through the park" is йшли па́рком (no "through"). The single most common beginner habit — inserting an English preposition where Ukrainian wants only a case ending — is exactly what this page exists to break. We go case by case, listing the meanings each one carries prepositionlessly, with the one clean exception: the locative never appears without a preposition. Use this as a reference and a checklist.

Nominative: the subject (and the naming case)

The nominative is the dictionary form and the subject of the sentence — it needs no preposition because it is not governed by anything; it governs the verb. It also names things after the copula in the present (Це — кни́га "This is a book") and in labels.

Мій ста́рший брат працю́є лі́карем у місце́вій ліка́рні.

My older brother works as a doctor at the local hospital.

Genitive without a preposition

The genitive is the busiest bare case. With no preposition it covers:

Possession / "of" — кни́га бра́та "the brother's book," центр мі́ста "the centre of the city."
The "of" of relation and material — ча́шка ча́ю "a cup of tea," ди́ректор шко́ли "the head of the school."
Dates (the 'on' date) — пе́ршого тра́вня "on the first of May," два́дцять тре́тього че́рвня "on the 23rd of June."
After quantities and numbers 5+ — п’ять книжо́к, бага́то лю́дей, скі́льки ча́су.
The object after negation / of absence — нема́є хлі́ба, не ма́ю ча́су (see the genitive vs accusative objects page).

Це маши́на мого́ ба́тька — він мені́ позичи́в її́ на ви́хідні.

This is my father's car — he lent it to me for the weekend.

Ми зустрі́немося два́дцять тре́тього че́рвня, як і домовля́лися.

We'll meet on the 23rd of June, just as we agreed.

У це́нтрі мі́ста зно́ву ремонту́ють доро́гу — об’їжджа́й на́бережною.

They're repairing the road in the city centre again — go round by the embankment.

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Ukrainian builds possession by simply stacking the genitive after the head noun — кни́га (head) + бра́та (genitive) = "the brother's book." There is no "of," no apostrophe-s, no preposition. Whenever you would say "X of Y" or "Y's X" in English, in Ukrainian say X + Y-in-genitive.

Dative without a preposition

The dative is the case of the person something happens to or for. Bare, it carries:

The recipient / indirect object ("to / for") — да́ти дру́гові кни́гу "give the friend a book," написа́ти ма́мі "write to mum."
The experiencer in impersonal sentences — мені́ хо́лодно "I'm cold," їй су́мно "she's sad," нам ці́каво "we find it interesting."
Age — си́нові де́сять ро́ків "the son is ten," скі́льки тобі́ ро́ків? "how old are you?"
The logical subject of necessity / possibility — мені́ тре́ба йти "I have to go," тобі́ мо́жна "you may."

Да́й дру́гові ключі́ — він зачи́нить, коли́ йтиме.

Give your friend the keys — he'll lock up when he leaves.

Мені́ так хо́лодно, що па́льці не відчува́ю.

I'm so cold I can't feel my fingers.

Скі́льки тобі́ ро́ків? — Уже́ два́дцять п’ять, ча́с лети́ть.

How old are you? — Twenty-five already, time flies.

The dative experiencer construction is worth dwelling on: where English makes the person the subject ("I am cold"), Ukrainian makes the person the dative and the state impersonal ("to-me (it is) cold"). This is a core habit, covered fully on the dative uses page.

Accusative without a preposition

The accusative's bare jobs:

The direct object — чита́ю кни́гу "I'm reading a book," люблю́ му́зику "I love music." (For when this flips to the genitive, see genitive vs accusative objects.)
Duration ("for" a stretch of time) — чека́в годи́ну "waited for an hour," жив там рік "lived there for a year," про́спав уве́сь день "slept the whole day."

Я чека́в тебе́ ці́лу годи́ну бі́ля кінотеа́тру — ти де був?

I waited for you a whole hour outside the cinema — where were you?

Ми прожи́ли в тому́ мі́сті три ро́ки, по́тім переї́хали до Льво́ва.

We lived in that city for three years, then moved to Lviv.

Note the contrast with English: "waited for an hour" has a preposition, but Ukrainian's годи́ну is the bare accusative — duration is just the accusative of a time span, no для, no на.

Instrumental without a preposition

The instrumental is the richest bare case after the genitive. With no preposition it expresses:

Means / instrument ("with / by") — писа́ти ру́чкою "write with a pen," рі́зати ноже́м "cut with a knife," їхати авто́бусом "go by bus."
Route / path ("through / along / by") — йти лі́сом "walk through the forest," ї́хати доро́гою "go along the road," спуска́тися схо́дами "go down the stairs" — the bare instrumental of the space you move along.
Time of natural cycles — ра́нком "in the morning," вечоро́м "in the evening," весно́ю "in spring," зимо́ю "in winter," ноча́ми "of a night / night after night."
The predicate after ставати, бути, працювати — ста́ти лі́карем "become a doctor," працюва́ти вчи́телем "work as a teacher," бу́ти зразко́м "be an example."
Manner — the way an action is done — говори́ти шепото́м "speak in a whisper," пи́сати дру́кованими лі́терами "write in block letters," іти́ швидки́м кро́ком "walk at a brisk pace."

Ми ї́хали авто́бусом, бо по́їзди того́ ра́нку не ходи́ли.

We went by bus, because the trains weren't running that morning.

Найкоро́тший шлях додо́му — піти́ па́рком, а не в обхі́д.

The shortest way home is to go through the park, not the long way round.

Він мрі́яв ста́ти пілото́м, а зре́штою став інжене́ром.

He dreamed of becoming a pilot, and in the end became an engineer.

Весно́ю в нас цвіту́ть абрико́си — усе́ подві́р’я в ро́жевому.

In spring the apricot trees bloom at our place — the whole yard turns pink.

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The bare instrumental is where English speakers insert the most needless prepositions. Means (ру́чкою, not with a pen), route (лі́сом, not through the forest), seasonal time (весно́ю, not in spring), and the predicate noun (ста́ти лі́карем, not become a doctor) are all one bare case ending. The full inventory is on the instrumental uses page.

Locative: the one case that is NEVER bare

The exception that proves the rule. The locative does not exist without a preposition. You will never see a bare locative noun — it always sits behind на, у/в, при, по, or о (на столі́, у мі́сті, при ба́тькові, по обі́ді, о шо́стій). This is why it is sometimes called the "prepositional" case. If you have a locative form, there is a preposition in front of it, full stop.

Зустрі́немося о шо́стій бі́ля головно́го вхо́ду, добре?

Let's meet at six by the main entrance, all right?

Putting it together: the bare-case reference

Case	Prepositionless meaning	Example (English keeps a preposition)
Nominative	subject; naming	брат працю́є — 'the brother works'
Genitive	possession, 'of', dates, after quantity/negation	кни́га бра́та — 'the book OF the brother'
Dative	recipient, experiencer, age, necessity	да́ти дру́гові — 'give TO the friend'
Accusative	direct object, duration	спав годи́ну — 'slept FOR an hour'
Instrumental	means, route, seasonal time, predicate	їхав авто́бусом — 'went BY bus'; лі́сом — 'THROUGH the forest'
Locative	— (never bare)	always needs на / у / при / по / о
Vocative	direct address	Ма́мо! — 'Mum!' (no 'O', no 'hey')

Source-language comparison

For an English speaker, the mental shift is to stop reaching for a preposition and trust the ending. Six recurring spots cause most errors: possession (no "of": центр мі́ста), recipient (no "to": дав ма́мі), duration (no "for": спав годи́ну), means (no "with/by": їхав авто́бусом), route (no "through": йшов па́рком), and dates (no "on": тре́тього числа́). In each, English forces a function word that Ukrainian folds into the case. Train yourself to ask "does the ending already say this?" before you add a preposition.

For a learner from Russian, the bare-case inventory is essentially the same, so the map transfers — but two habits need correcting. First, dates: Ukrainian uses the bare genitive (пе́ршого тра́вня) just as Russian does, but the month forms and stress are Ukrainian (тра́вня, не мая). Second, "in spring / in the morning" is the bare *instrumental (весно́ю, ра́нком) — identical strategy, Ukrainian forms. The risk is not the syntax but smuggling in Russian lexis where the bare slot invites it.

Common Mistakes

❌ кни́га від бра́та (inserting 'від' for possessive 'of')

Incorrect — possession is the bare genitive: кни́га бра́та.

✅ кни́га бра́та

the brother's book — bare genitive, no preposition.

❌ да́ти до дру́га (inserting 'до' for the recipient 'to')

Incorrect — the recipient is the bare dative: да́ти дру́гові.

✅ да́ти дру́гові

give to the friend — bare dative.

❌ чека́в для годи́ни (inserting 'для' for duration 'for')

Incorrect — duration is the bare accusative: чека́в годи́ну.

✅ чека́в годи́ну

waited for an hour — bare accusative.

❌ ї́хати на авто́бусі коли́ маєш на ува́зі 'by bus' як спо́сіб руху без локати́ва

Off — for the means 'by bus' use the bare instrumental: ї́хати авто́бусом.

✅ ї́хати авто́бусом

to go by bus — bare instrumental of means.

❌ столі́ (using the locative with no preposition)

Incorrect — the locative is never bare; it needs на/у: на столі́.

✅ на столі́

on the table — locative always behind a preposition.

Key Takeaways

Five Ukrainian cases do real work with no preposition where English needs one.
Genitive (bare): possession & 'of' (кни́га бра́та, центр мі́ста), dates (пе́ршого тра́вня), after quantity/negation.
Dative (bare): recipient (да́ти дру́гові), experiencer (мені́ хо́лодно), age (тобі́ два́дцять ро́ків).
Accusative (bare): direct object (чита́ю кни́гу) and duration (спав годи́ну).
Instrumental (bare): means (авто́бусом), route (лі́сом), seasonal time (весно́ю), predicate (став лі́карем).
Locative is NEVER bare — it always takes на / у / в / при / по / о. The vocative addresses directly with no "O" or "hey".

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