To make a Ukrainian noun plural in its basic (nominative) form, you swap its ending — and which ending you swap in is decided almost entirely by one property of the noun's stem: whether it is hard or soft. Get that one distinction and the regular plural falls out cleanly: hard stems take -и, soft and hushing stems take -і, and neuters take -а/-я. The complications are two: the stress sometimes jumps to a different syllable in the plural, and a small but very common group of masculine nouns reveals a vowel hiding inside the stem (стіл → столи́), where the і of the singular turns back into о. This page teaches the regular system; the truly irregular plurals (діти, люди, очі) live on their own page.
The governing idea: hard stem vs soft stem
Almost every plural choice in this lesson reduces to one question: does the stem end hard or soft?
- A hard stem ends in a plain consonant (стіл, студе́нт, кни́га — the г here is hard).
- A soft stem ends in a soft consonant marked by ь or by an iotated vowel (кінь, край with the -й, земля́, пі́сня), or in a hushing consonant (ж, ч, ш, щ), which behaves like a soft stem for this purpose.
Hard stems pull in -и; soft and hushing stems pull in -і. That single split drives the whole table.
Masculine and feminine: -и for hard stems
Hard-stem masculines and hard-stem feminines (those ending in -а) take -и in the nominative plural.
У нас в університе́ті чудо́ві студе́нти — і працьови́ті, і допи́тливі.
We've got wonderful students at our university — both hard-working and curious. (студе́нт → студе́нти.)
Усі́ столи́ в кафе́ були́ за́йняті, дове́лося чека́ти.
All the tables in the café were taken, we had to wait. (стіл → столи́ — note the stem vowel change, below.)
Ці кни́ги я перечита́ла дві́чі — насті́льки вони́ га́рні.
I've read these books twice — that's how good they are. (кни́га → кни́ги.)
After к, г, х — still -и
A spelling point: stems ending in к, г, х are hard, so they take -и — but because of Ukrainian spelling rules these combine smoothly (рука́ → ру́ки, нога́ → но́ги, кни́га → кни́ги). There is no special ending here; it just confirms the hard-stem rule.
У ме́не за́мерзли но́ги — забу́ла те́плі шкарпе́тки.
My feet are freezing — I forgot warm socks. (нога́ → но́ги, with stress shift.)
Soft and -й stems: -і
Soft-stem nouns — those ending in a soft consonant (ь) or in -й, and the soft-stem feminines in -я — take -і.
На лу́ці пасли́ся коні́, а ді́ти бі́гали навко́ло.
Horses were grazing in the meadow, and children were running around. (кінь → коні́.)
Лісові́ краї́ Карпа́т ваблять тури́стів ці́лий рік.
The forested regions of the Carpathians attract tourists all year round. (край → краї́.)
Її́ пі́сні зна́ють напа́м’ять у ко́жному се́лі.
Her songs are known by heart in every village. (пі́сня → пі́сні.)
Зе́млі навко́ло села́ ро́дючі, тому́ й урожа́ї бага́ті.
The lands around the village are fertile, which is why the harvests are abundant. (земля́ → зе́млі — note the stress jumps back to the stem in the plural.)
Hushing stems (ж, ч, ш, щ): -і
The hushing consonants behave like soft stems and take -і in the plural. Note that this often comes with a stem-consonant softening or stress shift.
На столі́ лежа́ли два го́стрі ножі́ — оберіга́й па́льці.
Two sharp knives were lying on the table — mind your fingers. (ніж → ножі́, with the closed-syllable і→о reversal AND stress shift.)
Лю́блю, коли́ ду́ші напо́внені світло́м, а не ту́гою.
I love it when souls are filled with light, not sorrow. (душа́ → ду́ші.)
Neuters: -а / -я
Neuter nouns form their plural with -а (hard) or -я (soft), simply by swapping the singular -о/-е.
| Singular | Plural | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| вікно́ | ві́кна | window(s) |
| село́ | се́ла | village(s) |
| мо́ре | моря́ | sea(s) |
| по́ле | поля́ | field(s) |
Усі́ ві́кна в буди́нку нови́х власни́ків світи́лися до пі́зньої но́чі.
All the windows in the new owners' house were lit up until late at night. (вікно́ → ві́кна, with the stress jumping back to the first syllable.)
Поля́ навесні́ зелені́ють так шви́дко, що не встига́єш помі́тити.
In spring the fields turn green so fast you can hardly notice it. (по́ле → поля́.)
The doubled -я abstracts keep their shape
The neuter abstracts in doubled -я (життя́, знання́, завда́ння) are the same in singular and plural — the form does not change:
Її́ завда́ння на ти́ждень так і лиши́лися невико́наними.
Her tasks for the week ended up undone. (завда́ння — same in singular and plural.)
Two complications: stress and the о/і alternation
Stress shift
The plural often moves the stress, and you can't always predict where. The two patterns to expect: stress jumping back toward the start (вікно́ → ві́кна, село́ → се́ла) or forward onto the ending (ніж → ножі́, моря́). Learn the stress with the plural, just as you learn it with the singular.
| Singular | Plural | Stress moves |
|---|---|---|
| вікно́ | ві́кна | onto the stem (back) |
| село́ | се́ла | onto the stem (back) |
| ніж | ножі́ | onto the ending (forward) |
Се́ла на Поліссі́ дрібні́, але́ ко́жне зі своє́ю істо́рією.
The villages in Polissia are small, but each has its own history. (село́ → се́ла, stress back to first syllable.)
The о/і alternation reversing — the headline pattern
This is the most insightful pattern on the page. A group of masculine nouns has an і in the singular that turns back into о (or е) in the plural: стіл → столи́, дім → доми́, кінь → коні́ (the і of кінь is itself a "closed-syllable" о — when the plural ending opens the syllable, the о returns: ко-ні́), and ніж → ножі́ works the same way.
What's happening: Ukrainian historically lengthened о/е into і when the syllable became "closed" (ended in a consonant with no vowel after). The singular стіл is a closed syllable, so the о became і. But add the plural ending -и and the syllable "opens" again (сто-ли), so the vowel reverts to its original о. The і of the singular was the marked form; the plural restores the underlying vowel.
| Singular (closed → і) | Plural (open → о/е) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| стіл | столи́ | table(s) |
| дім | доми́ (also буди́нки) | house(s) |
| ніж | ножі́ | knife/knives |
| ка́мінь | камені́ | stone(s) — і→е |
Столи́ розста́вили в ряд, а сті́льці прине́сли із сусі́дньої за́ли.
They set the tables in a row and brought the chairs from the next hall. (стіл → столи́: the і opens back to о.)
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, the surprise is that there isn't one plural ending but several, chosen by the shape of the word, plus a stress that can move. English just adds -s (with a few -en/-i survivors); Ukrainian asks you to read the stem. The good news: the choice is rule-governed (hard → -и, soft → -і, neuter → -а/-я), not memorised word-by-word.
For a Russian speaker, two things differ. First, Ukrainian’s и/і split maps onto Russian’s ы/и split but with the extra wrinkle that Ukrainian і is a real front vowel. Second, and more strikingly, the о/і alternation has no Russian counterpart — Russian стол → столы keeps о everywhere, while Ukrainian's стіл → столи́ swings from і to о. A Russian speaker has to learn to expect the vowel to change between singular and plural.
Common Mistakes
❌ стіли (keeping the singular vowel)
Incorrect — the closed-syllable і reverts to о when the plural ending opens the syllable: столи́.
✅ столи́
tables — стіл → столи́, the о returns.
❌ коньи / коня (treating soft кінь as a hard or neuter stem)
Incorrect — кінь is a soft-stem masculine, so the plural takes -і: коні́.
✅ коні́
horses — soft stem → -і.
❌ пі́сни, зе́мли (wrong ending for soft feminines)
Incorrect — soft-stem feminines take -і: пі́сні, зе́млі (and the stress jumps back to the stem: зе́млі, not землі́).
✅ пі́сні, зе́млі
songs, lands.
❌ вікни, села (hard neuter taking -и; missing the -а)
Incorrect — neuters take -а/-я: вікно́ → ві́кна, село́ → се́ла.
✅ ві́кна, се́ла
windows, villages — neuter -а with stress shift.
❌ ножи (hard -и after the hushing ж)
Incorrect — hushing stems (ж ч ш щ) take -і: ніж → ножі́.
✅ ножі́
knives — hushing stem → -і, plus the і→о reversal.
Key Takeaways
- The regular nominative plural is chosen by stem type: hard → -и, soft / -й / hushing → -і, neuter → -а/-я.
- After к, г, х you still get -и (ру́ки, но́ги) — these are hard stems.
- The doubled -я abstracts (життя́, завда́ння) don't change in the plural.
- Expect the stress to shift in the plural, in either direction (вікно́ → ві́кна, ніж → ножі́); learn it with the word.
- The о/і alternation reverses: стіл → столи́, ніж → ножі́ — the singular's closed-syllable і returns to its underlying о/е once the plural ending opens the syllable, a pattern Russian lacks entirely.
- Genuinely irregular plurals (друг → дру́зі, око → о́чі, дити́на → ді́ти) are handled on the irregular plurals page.
Now practice Ukrainian
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Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- Irregular and Suppletive PluralsB1 — The high-frequency plurals that break the regular rules — suppletive люди/діти, the -ин singulatives that drop their suffix (громадяни), the -ата animal-young plurals (телята), the -ен- neuters (імена), and the old dual body-part pairs (очі, вуха) — grouped by their historical class so they can be learned together, with the genitive plural given for each.
- Grammatical Gender: Masculine, Feminine, NeuterA1 — Ukrainian sorts every noun into three genders — masculine, feminine, neuter — and you can predict which about 90% of the time from the nominative singular ending; gender then drives all adjective, pronoun, and past-tense agreement, so it must be learned with each word.
- The О/І and Е/І AlternationA2 — Ukrainian's signature vowel swap: an о or е in a closed final syllable (one ending in a consonant) becomes і — кіт, ніч, стіл — but reverts to о/е the moment an ending opens the syllable (кота́, но́чі, стола́); the same swing runs in reverse when a zero ending closes a syllable in the genitive plural (нога́→ніг, гора́→гір).
- 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.
- Stress Patterns in Noun DeclensionB2 — Ukrainian noun stress is mobile: it can shift between stem and ending across cases and number, and OFTEN differs from the Russian cognate. Three patterns — fixed stem-stress (кни́га / кни́ги / кни́зі), fixed end-stress (стіл / стола́ / столи́), and mobile (рука́ but ру́ки; голова́ → го́лову → го́лови). It must be learned per word, and a Russian-trained learner cannot transfer it.
- І, И, and Ї: The Three i-SoundsA1 — The trio і / и / ї is the feature English learners — and Russian-trained learners especially — get wrong most: і = /i/ (a clear 'ee' that softens the consonant before it), и = /ɪ/ (the hard central 'bit' vowel that does not soften), and ї = /ji/ (always iotated, never after a consonant).