Some Ukrainian sentences contain two nouns in the nominative at once — and to an English speaker that looks impossible, because English keeps a single subject and marks everything else differently. But identity and naming sentences ("This is my brother," "He's a student," "the city of Kyiv") work by chaining two nominatives: the subject and a second noun that names, classifies, or identifies it. This page pulls those constructions together — це + a nominative predicate, the bare zero-copula predicate, apposition, and the "is called" pattern — and shows the one rule that ties them: in the present, the naming noun agrees in case with the noun it names, which is exactly where English does nothing at all.
1. Це + nominative predicate — "this is…"
The little word це ("this / this is") points at something and identifies it, and whatever follows це stays in the nominative. There is no verb between them in the present — це itself does the pointing, and the second noun simply names what was pointed at. The result is two nominatives sitting side by side.
Це мій брат Дани́ло, а це — його́ дружи́на.
This is my brother Danylo, and this is his wife. (брат and дружи́на — both nominative after це.)
Хто це на фотогра́фії? — Це на́ша вчи́телька англі́йської.
Who's this in the photo? — That's our English teacher. (вчи́телька — nominative.)
Це не помилка, це нови́й пра́вопис.
That's not a mistake, that's the new spelling. (помилка, пра́вопис — both nominative.)
Note that це does not agree with anything — it is a frozen, genderless pointing word. You say це мій брат (masculine), це моя́ сестра́ (feminine), and це мої́ батьки́ (plural) with the same це every time. The agreement lives in the predicate noun and its modifiers, not in це.
2. The bare predicate — the missing "to be"
When there is no це and no past/future verb, the predicate noun still stands in the nominative, and the present-tense "is/am/are" is simply omitted. This is the same zero-copula rule you met on the nominative uses page, seen here from the angle of "why are there two nominatives?" — because the verb that would otherwise govern the second noun is missing, so the noun defaults to the nominative.
Він студе́нт меди́чного, а я ще шко́ляр.
He's a medical student, and I'm still a schoolkid. (студе́нт and шко́ляр — nominative predicates, no verb.)
Моя́ ба́буся — спра́вжня леге́нда на́шого се́лища.
My grandmother is a real legend in our village. (Noun — noun, joined by the dash that stands in for 'is.')
In writing, when both sides are nouns (especially without a pronoun subject), Ukrainian marks the missing copula with a dash: Київ — столи́ця, Чита́ння — найкра́щий відпочи́нок. You generally drop the dash when the subject is a personal pronoun in a plain statement (Він студе́нт, not Він — студе́нт).
3. Apposition — two nouns, one referent, shared case
Apposition is when two nouns name the same thing and sit next to each other — "the city of Kyiv," "the river Dnipro," "my friend Marichka." Here English uses "of" (the city of Kyiv) or just juxtaposes the words, and the second noun never changes shape. Ukrainian does something English never does: both nouns take the same case, because they refer to one and the same entity and play one and the same role in the sentence.
In the nominative this gives two nominatives:
Мі́сто Ки́їв ма́є понад півтори́ ти́сячі ро́ків.
The city of Kyiv is over fifteen hundred years old. (мі́сто and Ки́їв — both nominative.)
Ріка́ Дніпро́ ді́лить столи́цю на дві части́ни.
The river Dnipro splits the capital in two. (ріка́ and Дніпро́ — both nominative.)
The striking part comes when the phrase moves into another case: both nouns decline together. "In the city of Kyiv" puts both the generic noun and the proper name into the locative:
| Case | "the city of Kyiv" | "the river Dnipro" |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | мі́сто Ки́їв | ріка́ Дніпро́ |
| genitive | мі́ста Ки́єва | ріки́ Дніпра́ |
| locative | (у) мі́сті Ки́єві | (на) ріці́ Дніпрі́ |
Я наро́дився в мі́сті Ки́єві, але́ ви́ріс у Льво́ві.
I was born in the city of Kyiv, but grew up in Lviv. (мі́сті and Ки́єві — both locative.)
Ми пливли́ ріко́ю Дніпро́м аж до Ка́нева.
We sailed down the river Dnipro all the way to Kaniv. (ріко́ю and Дніпро́м — both instrumental.)
This is the apposition rule in a nutshell: the proper name is not frozen the way English keeps "Kyiv" unchanged in "in the city of Kyiv." Both halves agree.
4. Titles and roles in apposition
The same shared-case logic governs a title or role + a name: президе́нт Зеленський, профе́сор Гру́шевський, кана́л «Суспі́льне». The role noun and the name decline together.
Президе́нт Зеленський ви́ступив із зве́рненням учо́ра вве́чері.
President Zelensky gave an address yesterday evening. (Both nominative.)
Ле́кцію профе́сора Гру́шевського відві́дало бага́то студе́нтів.
Many students attended Professor Hrushevsky's lecture. (профе́сора and Гру́шевського — both genitive.)
A quirk worth knowing: when the name is a quoted title in quotation marks (the magazine «Дзво́ник», the film «Те́ні»), the proper name usually stays in the nominative and only the generic noun declines — бо у фі́льмі «Те́ні забу́тих пре́дків» (locative фі́льмі, but the title untouched). This is the opposite of мі́сто Ки́їв, where the name does decline. The line is: bare proper names decline with their head noun; quoted titles freeze in the nominative.
Сцена́рій фі́льму «Те́ні забу́тих пре́дків» написа́ний за по́вістю Коцюби́нського.
The screenplay of the film 'Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors' is based on a novella by Kotsiubynsky. (фі́льму — genitive; the quoted title stays nominative.)
5. "X is called Y" — Його́ зва́ти / Його́ звуть
To say what someone or something is named, Ukrainian uses an impersonal construction: the person is the accusative object, and the verb зва́ти ("to call") has no expressed subject. The name itself appears in the nominative, as the thing being supplied.
Мене́ зва́ти Окса́на, а його́ — Тара́с.
My name is Oksana, and his is Taras. (literally 'me they-call Oksana'; the name Окса́на is nominative.)
Як вас зва́ти? — Мене́ звуть Андрі́й Шевче́нко.
What's your name? — My name is Andriy Shevchenko.
Both зва́ти and звуть are heard; зва́ти (infinitive-shaped, impersonal) is very common in everyday speech. The pattern surprises English speakers because you (the person) are the accusative (мене́, вас), not the subject — literally "they call me Oksana," with the name supplied in the nominative. A more formal alternative simply uses the verb "to be" with a name, but the зва́ти frame is the everyday default.
6. Present nominative vs past/future instrumental — the switch
Here is the boundary of the double-nominative world, and the single most important thing to carry away. The predicate noun is nominative only in the bare present, where no verb governs it. The moment a form of бу́ти (був, бу́де) or a verb like ста́ти / працюва́ти appears, the predicate leaves the nominative and goes into the instrumental.
| Tense / verb | "He is / was / will be a student" | Predicate case |
|---|---|---|
| present (no verb) | Він студе́нт. | nominative — студе́нт |
| past | Він був студе́нтом. | instrumental — студе́нтом |
| future | Він бу́де студе́нтом. | instrumental — студе́нтом |
| ста́ти 'become' | Він став студе́нтом. | instrumental — студе́нтом |
Ра́ніше він був звича́йним учи́телем, а тепе́р він дире́ктор шко́ли.
He used to be an ordinary teacher, and now he's the school principal. (Past був учи́телем — instrumental; present дире́ктор — nominative, no verb.)
Колись я хоті́ла ста́ти лі́каркою, але́ ста́ла журналі́сткою.
I once wanted to become a doctor, but I became a journalist. (ста́ти / ста́ла + instrumental.)
So the double nominative is a present-tense phenomenon. The deep treatment of when the predicate stays nominative versus flips to the instrumental lives on the predicate nominative vs instrumental page and the instrumental uses page.
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, two things are genuinely new. First, English never lets two nouns share a case in apposition: "the city of Kyiv," "in the city of Kyiv" — Kyiv is invariant, and "of" carries the relationship. Ukrainian declines the name in lockstep with its head noun (мі́сто Ки́їв → у мі́сті Ки́єві), so you must remember to decline both halves. Second, English forces a copula ("he is a student"), which quietly normalises the predicate; Ukrainian deletes the present-tense verb, leaving the predicate noun in the plain nominative — and then, jarringly, switches it to the instrumental once any verb reappears. Train the pair Він студе́нт (present, nominative) ↔ Він був студе́нтом (past, instrumental).
For a Russian speaker, the structure is familiar — Russian also chains nominatives in identity sentences (Это мой брат), declines appositional proper names, and uses the present nominative / past instrumental split. The cautions are lexical and orthographic: use Ukrainian це (not это), the dash convention is the same, and remember the Ukrainian forms (у мі́сті Ки́єві, not Russian endings). The зва́ти / звуть naming frame is also Ukrainian-flavoured — мене́ зва́ти is fully idiomatic.
Common Mistakes
❌ Я наро́дився в мі́сті Ки́їв.
Incorrect — in apposition both nouns decline; the locative is в мі́сті Ки́єві, not the frozen nominative Ки́їв.
✅ Я наро́дився в мі́сті Ки́єві.
I was born in the city of Kyiv — both nouns locative.
❌ Це є мій брат.
Incorrect — after це you don't add є in the present: Це мій брат.
✅ Це мій брат.
This is my brother — це + nominative, no verb.
❌ Він був студе́нт.
Incorrect — once the verb appears, the predicate goes instrumental: Він був студе́нтом. The nominative студе́нт needs the bare present.
✅ Він був студе́нтом.
He was a student — predicate instrumental in the past.
❌ Я зва́ти Окса́на.
Incorrect — the person is the accusative object, not the subject: Мене́ зва́ти Окса́на ('me they-call Oksana').
✅ Мене́ зва́ти Окса́на.
My name is Oksana — accusative person + nominative name.
❌ Лекцію професора Гру́шевський відві́дало бага́то студе́нтів.
Incorrect — a name in apposition shares the case of its title; genitive професора Гру́шевського.
✅ Ле́кцію профе́сора Гру́шевського...
Professor Hrushevsky's lecture — title and name both genitive.
Key Takeaways
- Identity and naming sentences chain two nominatives: це + nominative predicate (Це мій брат), and the bare zero-copula predicate (Він студе́нт), with a dash for noun-to-noun "is."
- Apposition (мі́сто Ки́їв, ріка́ Дніпро́, профе́сор Гру́шевський) makes both nouns share the same case — so у мі́сті Ки́єві declines both halves, unlike English's invariant "Kyiv."
- Quoted titles in quotation marks are the exception: «Те́ні забу́тих пре́дків» stays nominative while only the head noun declines.
- "X is called Y" is impersonal: person = accusative (мене́ зва́ти), name = nominative.
- The double nominative is present-tense only: the predicate flips to the instrumental the moment a verb appears (Він був студе́нтом, ста́ти лі́карем).
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- Nominative: Forms and UsesA1 — The nominative (називни́й) is the dictionary form, answering хто? 'who?' / що? 'what?'; it marks the subject and — crucially — the predicate noun after the missing present-tense 'to be', because Ukrainian has no copula in the present (Вона́ лі́карка 'she is a doctor', Київ — столи́ця 'Kyiv is the capital').
- Predicate Nouns: Nominative vs InstrumentalB1 — The case of the noun after 'to be' and its relatives flips with the verb form: in the present zero-copula it is NOMINATIVE (Він лі́кар), but with an overt бути in the past, future, or infinitive it goes INSTRUMENTAL (Він був лі́карем, Вона́ бу́де вчи́телькою, хо́чу бу́ти лі́карем). The same instrumental follows ста́ти/става́ти 'become,' працюва́ти 'work as,' залиша́тися 'remain,' назива́тися 'be called,' вважа́тися 'be considered' — so the same role changes case with the verb, a pattern English (which keeps 'a doctor' invariant) has no analogue for.
- 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).
- The Present of Бути (and the Missing Copula)A1 — Ukrainian normally has NO present-tense 'to be': Він студе́нт 'he is a student', Я вдо́ма 'I'm home' — the copula simply disappears, often replaced in writing by a dash (Київ — столи́ця). The single present form є exists for all persons but is used sparingly: for existence and possession (У ме́не є час 'I have time'), for emphasis or formal definitions (Украї́на є незале́жною держа́вою), and it negates to нема́є + genitive (нема́є ча́су). Inserting є everywhere is a beginner error; forgetting it in 'у ме́не є…' is the opposite error.
- Agreement: Subject–Verb, Adjective–NounA2 — How Ukrainian forces words to match: present/future verbs agree with the subject in person and number, but PAST verbs agree in gender and number (not person); and everything modifying a noun — adjectives, possessives, demonstratives — agrees in gender, number, AND case at once.
- Inserting Articles and the CopulaA1 — The two opposite English-transfer traps every beginner falls into: (1) supplying a word for 'a/the' — Ukrainian has NO articles, so add nothing (книга is already 'a/the book'); and (2) supplying 'is/are' in plain predication — there is no present copula (Він студе́нт, not *Він є студе́нт). Yet є IS needed for existence and possession (У ме́не є…), so the rule is: no article ever, no copula in predication, but keep є for 'there is' and 'have'.