The instrumental (ору́дний відмі́нок) is the case of the tool, the means, and the companion — it answers ким? ("by/with whom?") and чим? ("by/with what?"). It is also one of the most satisfying cases to learn, because its endings are remarkably regular: once you know your hard, soft, and mixed stem groups, the masculine, neuter, and most feminine endings fall out automatically. This page builds the forms declension by declension. The one corner that surprises everyone — the Declension III feminine, where the soft sign turns into a doubled consonant (ні́ч → ні́ччю) — gets its own spotlight, because it is both dramatic and exam-favourite.
What the instrumental answers
The instrumental answers ким? and чим?. If an English slot would take with, by, or by means of — "I wrote it with a pen," "we went by bus" — that slot points at the instrumental. Ukrainian, crucially, marks this with the ending alone, no preposition needed (that's the uses page). Here we just build the forms.
Чим ти пи́шеш — ру́чкою чи олівце́м?
What are you writing with — a pen or a pencil?
Declension I (feminine -а/-я): -ою / -ею
Feminine nouns in -а / -я take -ою after a hard stem and -ею after a soft or hushing stem. This is the exact same hard-vs-soft logic as everywhere else: hard stems pull the back-vowel set (-о-), soft and hushing stems pull the front-vowel set (-е-).
| Stem | Nominative | Instrumental | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| hard | кни́га | кни́гою | book |
| hard | шко́ла | шко́лою | school |
| hard | вода́ | водо́ю | water |
| soft | земля́ | земле́ю | land |
| soft | пі́сня | пі́снею | song |
| hushing (mixed) | душа́ | душе́ю | soul |
Вона́ ї́здить на робо́ту маши́ною, а я — електри́чкою.
She drives to work by car, and I take the commuter train.
Над землею вже сте́леться тума́н, час верта́тися.
Mist is already creeping over the land; it's time to head back.
Notice that the feminine ending is a full two-vowel ending, -ою / -ею, not a single short vowel. This is one of the clearest fingerprints of Ukrainian: where Russian writes a single-vowel -ой / -ей (книгой, землёй), standard Ukrainian writes the longer -ою / -ею (кни́гою, земле́ю). Hearing and writing that extra -ю is a marker of correct Ukrainian.
Declension II masculine: -ом / -ем
Masculine nouns take -ом after a hard stem and -ем after a soft or hushing stem. This is the headline three-way contrast of the whole case system: столо́м (hard), коне́м (soft), ноже́м (hushing) differ only by their stem group.
| Stem | Nominative | Instrumental | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| hard | стіл | столо́м | table (і→о opens) |
| hard | брат | бра́том | brother |
| soft | кінь | коне́м | horse (і→о opens) |
| soft (-й) | край | кра́єм | edge, region |
| soft (-ль) | учи́тель | учи́телем | teacher |
| hushing (mixed) | ніж | ноже́м | knife (і→о opens) |
Хліб рі́жуть ноже́м, а не ви́делкою — це ж елемента́рно.
You cut bread with a knife, not a fork — it's basic stuff.
За кра́єм по́ля почина́вся ліс.
Beyond the edge of the field the forest began.
Watch the о/і alternation in this table: стіл → столо́м, кінь → коне́м, ніж → ноже́м. The closed-syllable і of the nominative opens back to о/е once the ending is added — the same mechanism explained on the closed-syllable alternation page, familiar from the genitive.
Declension II neuter: -ом / -ем
Neuter nouns in -о / -е take exactly the same endings as masculines: -ом (hard) and -ем (soft/hushing).
| Stem | Nominative | Instrumental | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| hard | вікно́ | вікно́м | window |
| hard | село́ | село́м | village |
| soft | мо́ре | мо́рем | sea |
| soft | по́ле | по́лем | field |
Перед ві́кном росте́ ста́ра ви́шня.
An old cherry tree grows in front of the window.
Ми йшли по́лем, і ві́тер ніс за́пах по́лину.
We walked through the field, and the wind carried the smell of wormwood.
Declension III feminine (-ь): -ю with CONSONANT DOUBLING
Here is the dramatic one. The soft-consonant feminines — ніч, сіль, тінь, по́дорож — take the ending -ю, and adding it makes the final stem consonant double (geminate). This is not a spelling quirk you can skip: ні́ч becomes ні́ччю, with two ч's that are genuinely pronounced long. The doubling is the visible mark of the instrumental for this whole declension.
The mechanics: the original soft sign (ь) disappears, the -ю attaches directly, and because a soft consonant is now squeezed against the iotated -ю, it doubles. This is the same gemination explained on the doubled consonants page.
| Nominative | Instrumental | What doubles | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ніч | ні́ччю | ч → чч | night |
| сіль | сі́ллю | л → лл | salt |
| тінь | ті́нню | н → нн | shadow |
| по́дорож | по́дорожжю | ж → жж | journey |
| ра́дість | ра́дістю | (no doubling — see below) | joy |
Ні́ччю мі́сто зо́всім і́нше — ти́хе й таємни́че.
At night the city is completely different — quiet and mysterious.
Посоли́ су́п сі́ллю, а не со́євим со́усом.
Salt the soup with salt, not soy sauce.
When the consonant does NOT double
Two important brakes on the doubling. First, the consonant only doubles when it stands between two vowels — that is, after a single vowel and before the -ю. If the stem ends in a cluster (two consonants), there is nothing to double: ра́дість → ра́дістю (the т follows с, so no gemination), смерть → сме́ртю, ві́сть → ві́стю. Second — and this is the labial exception flagged for you — if the stem ends in a labial consonant (б, п, в, м, ф) or р, the consonant cannot palatalise enough to double, so Ukrainian inserts an apostrophe instead:
| Nominative | Instrumental | Why |
|---|---|---|
| любо́в | любо́в’ю | labial в → apostrophe, no doubling |
| кров | кро́в’ю | labial в → apostrophe |
| о́сінь | о́сінню | н doubles normally (not labial) |
Вона́ ди́виться на тебе з тако́ю любо́в’ю!
She looks at you with such love!
The plural: -ами / -ями for everyone
Mercifully, the instrumental plural is almost uniform across all genders and declensions: -ами after hard stems, -ями after soft and hushing stems. The four-way singular system collapses into one easy pair.
| Nominative sg. | Instrumental pl. | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| стіл | стола́ми | tables |
| кни́га | кни́гами | books |
| ніж | ножа́ми | knives |
| кінь | кі́ньми / коня́ми | horses (both forms exist) |
| ніч | ноча́ми | nights |
Дру́зями не розкида́ються — їх бережу́ть.
You don't throw friends away — you cherish them.
Поли́ці заста́влені кни́гами від пі́длоги до сте́лі.
The shelves are crammed with books from floor to ceiling.
A small group of nouns keeps an old short instrumental plural in -ьми / -ми: людьми́ (people), дітьми́ (children), кі́ньми (horses), грі́шми (money), дверми́ (door). These are high-frequency, so they are worth memorising as set forms.
Із ти́ми людьми́ ва́рто триматися че́сно.
With those people it's worth being honest.
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, the conceptual leap is that Ukrainian packs "with/by" into an ending, so you must inflect the noun rather than reach for a preposition — but the forms themselves are regular and rule-driven, which is good news. The only genuinely new thing to drill is the Declension III doubling (ні́ччю, сі́ллю), which has no English parallel at all.
For a learner coming from Russian, this page hides two traps. One: the feminine ending is the long -ою / -ею (кни́гою, земле́ю), not Russian's short -ой / -ей — using the short form is the single most common "Russian accent" mistake in writing. Two: the Declension III doubling (ні́ччю, сі́ллю, по́дорожжю) is a Ukrainian feature; Russian writes ночью, солью with a soft sign and no geminate. Re-learn these as Ukrainian forms, not transferred ones.
Common Mistakes
❌ кни́гой (short Russian-style feminine ending)
Incorrect — Ukrainian feminine instrumental is the long -ою: кни́гою.
✅ кни́гою
with a book — full -ою ending.
❌ ні́чю (soft sign, no doubling)
Incorrect — Declension III feminine doubles the consonant: ні́ччю.
✅ ні́ччю
at night / by night — ч doubles to чч.
❌ любо́вю (doubling a labial)
Incorrect — after a labial (в) you write an apostrophe, not a geminate: любо́в’ю.
✅ любо́в’ю
with love — labial в takes the apostrophe.
❌ ножо́м (hard ending on a hushing stem)
Incorrect — hushing stems (ж) take -ем: ноже́м.
✅ ноже́м
with a knife — hushing stem, -ем.
❌ ра́дістю → ра́дісттю (doubling after a cluster)
Incorrect — no doubling after a consonant cluster: ра́дістю.
✅ ра́дістю
with joy — cluster ст, so no geminate.
Key Takeaways
- The instrumental answers ким? / чим? and is built by ending alone (no preposition needed for "with/by").
- Feminine I: -ою (hard, кни́гою) / -ею (soft & hushing, земле́ю, душе́ю) — note the long Ukrainian -ою/-ею, not short -ой.
- Masculine & neuter II: -ом (hard, столо́м, вікно́м) / -ем (soft & hushing, коне́м, ноже́м, мо́рем).
- Feminine III (-ь): -ю with consonant DOUBLING — ні́ччю, сі́ллю, ті́нню, по́дорожжю — except after a cluster (ра́дістю) or a labial, where the apostrophe replaces the geminate (любо́в’ю).
- Plural: the easy, near-universal -ами / -ями (стола́ми, ножа́ми, ноча́ми), with a few archaic short forms in -ьми (людьми́, дітьми́).
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Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- 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.
- Hard, Soft, and Mixed Stem GroupsA2 — Almost every 'which ending?' question in Ukrainian noun declension reduces to one diagnosis: does the stem end in a hard consonant, a soft one, or a hushing ж/ч/ш/щ? Hard stems take о-endings (столо́м), soft stems take е-endings (коне́м), and mixed hushing stems pattern between them (ноже́м) — one three-way test that unlocks the whole case system.
- Instrumental: Core UsesA2 — What the instrumental does — the bare 'by means of' (писа́ти ру́чкою, ї́хати авто́бусом, говори́ти украї́нською) with no preposition, the predicate noun after past/future/infinitive of бу́ти and after ста́ти/працюва́ти (він був учи́телем, хо́чу ста́ти лі́карем), companionship with з (з дру́гом, чай з цу́кром), route (іти́ лі́сом), and time adverbials (вра́нці, весно́ю).
- Doubled (Lengthened) ConsonantsB1 — Ukrainian writes certain long consonants as doubled letters — життя́, знання́, ні́ччю — and they are pronounced genuinely LONG. The doubling is phonemic, mandatory, and clusters predictably in the neuter -я noun class and the soft-feminine instrumental, so you can predict it rather than memorize each word.
- The Apostrophe (Апостроф)A1 — The Ukrainian apostrophe ’ is a full orthographic sign, not punctuation: it marks that a hard consonant is followed by an iotated vowel (я ю є ї) pronounced with a clear /j/ glide — blocking the softening that would otherwise happen. It is written after the labials б п в м ф and after р, and after consonant-final prefixes.
- Genitive Singular: FormsA2 — The genitive singular endings by declension — feminine -и/-і, neuter -а/-я, soft-feminine -і — and the famous masculine -а/-у split, where countable, animate, and short nouns take -а (бра́та, ножа́, Ки́єва) while abstract, mass, and many foreign place nouns take -у (цу́кру, снігу, Ло́ндону), a semantically-governed choice with no clean Russian parallel.