The Versatile Preposition По | Ukrainian Grammar

If one preposition deserves its own page, it is по. Where English reaches for half a dozen different words — along, around, over, by, per, according to — Ukrainian often uses a single по, and the meaning falls out of context. The catch is that по is also the preposition most distorted by Russian interference: a great many "по + person/thing" constructions that sound natural to a Russian ear are wrong in standard Ukrainian, which prefers за, з, or на instead. This page sorts по into its real Ukrainian uses, shows which case each one takes, and marks the calques to avoid. The dominant case is the locative; one important use takes the accusative.

По + locative: motion over and around a surface

The core, original meaning of по is spread motion across or along a surface or area — not toward a point (that is в/на + accusative) but over the whole of something. English uses along, around, over, about.

Ми до́вго гуля́ли по мі́сту й зайшли́ в па́рочку кав’я́рень.

We wandered around the city for a long time and dropped into a couple of cafés.

Діти́ розки́дали і́грашки по всій кімна́ті — не пройти́.

The kids scattered toys all over the room — you can't get through.

По доро́зі додо́му купи́ хлі́ба, будь ла́ска.

On the way home, buy some bread, please.

The phrase по доро́зі ("on the way / along the road") is everyday and worth keeping as a chunk. Notice the difference from в/на + accusative: іти́ в парк is "go into the park" (a destination), but гуля́ти по па́рку is "stroll around the park" (motion all over it). По always implies coverage of an area, never arrival at a point.

По + locative: 'by / via' a means

По + locative names the channel or means by which something travels or is done — by phone, by post, on the radio, on TV. This is a high-frequency, fully standard use.

Я зателефону́ю тобі́ по телефо́ну, а докуме́нти наді́шлю по по́шті.

I'll call you by phone, and I'll send the documents by post.

Цю пі́сню я впе́рше почу́в по ра́діо ще в дити́нстві.

I first heard this song on the radio back in childhood.

(You will also hear simply зателефону́ю тобі́ without по телефо́ну — the verb already implies the phone. But по телефо́ну is correct and common when you want to name the means explicitly.)

По + locative: fixed 'after' in time phrases

In a small set of fixed phrases, по + locative means "after" a point in time — a slightly elevated, traditional register.

По обі́ді ми зазвича́й п’ємо́ ка́ву й трохи відпочива́ємо.

After lunch we usually have coffee and rest a little.

По закі́нченні університе́ту вона́ одра́зу знайшла́ робо́ту.

After finishing university, she found a job right away.

These are set expressions — по обі́ді (after lunch), по закі́нченні (after completion), по приї́зді (on arrival). For ordinary "after," everyday Ukrainian uses пі́сля + genitive (пі́сля обі́ду), which is more neutral; the по-versions are characteristically literary or formal.

По + accusative: 'up to / until' a limit

This is the one major use that switches the case to accusative. По + accusative means "up to / as far as / until" a boundary — a physical level or a point in time, inclusive of that point.

Вода́ підняла́ся аж по колі́на — довело́ся роззува́тися.

The water rose right up to the knees — we had to take off our shoes.

Я́рмарок працю́є по п’я́те число́ включно́.

The fair runs up to and including the fifth.

Чита́й з пе́ршої сторі́нки по деся́ту.

Read from page one through page ten.

The sense is inclusive: по п’я́те число́ means "up to and including the 5th." Compare до п’я́того числа́ (до + genitive), which tends to mean "up to but not including the 5th." The pairing з... по... (from... through...) is the standard way to give an inclusive span.

По + accusative/locative: the distributive 'so many each'

По carries Ukrainian's distributive meaning — handing out an equal share to each member of a group, English "each / apiece / per."

Дай ко́жному по я́блуку, а мені́ — по дві́ цуке́рки.

Give everyone an apple each, and me two sweets.

Квитки́ коштува́ли по сто гри́вень — недо́рого.

The tickets cost a hundred hryvnias each — not expensive.

Шику́йтеся по одно́му, не штовха́йтеся.

Line up one at a time, don't push.

The case in the distributive is partly fixed by tradition: по одно́му, по дві́ / по дві́ гри́вні, по п’я́ть — and you will simply learn the common ones as set phrases.

По-...-ому / по-...-ськи: manner adverbs built on по

По is also the engine behind a whole class of manner adverbs meaning "in an X way" — including the answer to "how do you say X in Ukrainian?" These are written with a hyphen and are covered in full on the adverb-formation page; here is the connection to по.

Поясни́, будь ла́ска, по-украї́нськи — я ще не зна́ю росі́йської.

Please explain in Ukrainian — I don't know Russian yet.

По-моє́му, ця ідея чудо́ва, тре́ба спро́бувати.

In my opinion, this idea is great, we should try it.

Він зроби́в усе по-сво́єму, як і завжди́.

He did everything his own way, as always.

So по-украї́нськи (or по-украї́нському) is "in Ukrainian" as a manner of speaking/doing, по-моє́му is "in my opinion / to my mind," по-сво́єму is "in one's own way," по-но́вому is "in a new way." Keep these distinct from naming the language itself, which uses the bare instrumental: говори́ти украї́нською ("to speak Ukrainian"). The instrumental names the language; the по-form names the manner.

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Two ways to say 'in Ukrainian', and they are not interchangeable. говори́ти украї́нською (bare instrumental) = 'speak the Ukrainian language'. по-украї́нськи / по-украї́нському (по + hyphenated adverb) = 'in a Ukrainian manner', i.e. the way Ukrainians do it — as in поясни́ по-украї́нськи 'explain it in Ukrainian'. For a language as a system, use the instrumental; for manner, use the по-adverb.

The Russian-calque trap: по + dative

Here is the single most important warning about по. In Russian, по very often governs the dative (по улице, по понедельникам, по математике, по телефону). Ukrainian does not copy this. Where Russian uses по + dative, standard Ukrainian does one of three things:

по + locative instead of dative — Ukrainian's по takes the locative, not the dative: по доро́зі (not по доро́гу/доро́ге).
a different preposition entirely — most often за or з.
a bare case with no по at all.

The classic examples to fix:

Russian-style calque (avoid)	Standard Ukrainian	Meaning
по понеділка́м (dat)	щопонеді́лка / по понеді́лках (loc)	on Mondays
підру́чник по матема́тиці	підру́чник з матема́тики	a maths textbook
фахіве́ць по фі́зиці	фахіве́ць з фі́зики	a physics specialist
піти́ по хліб	піти́ за хлі́бом	go (out) for bread

Я навча́юся в гру́пі з матема́тики, а не «по матема́тиці».

I study in the maths group — 'з матема́тики', not the calque 'по матема́тиці'.

Збі́гаю за хлі́бом — бу́ду за п’ять хвили́н.

I'll pop out for bread — I'll be five minutes.

The "fetch" case is especially worth internalising. Colloquially you may hear піти́ по хліб (по + accusative, "go for bread"), and it is not unheard of in speech, but careful standard Ukrainian prefers піти́ за хлі́бом (за + instrumental) for going to fetch something. The fields-of-study pattern is firmer: it is always з + genitive — уро́к з істо́рії, і́спит з хі́мії, спеціалі́ст з ма́ркетингу — never по + dative.

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Whenever you are tempted to say «по + a noun in the dative», stop — that is the Russian pattern. In standard Ukrainian, fields of study take з + genitive (підру́чник з матема́тики, і́спит з фі́зики), 'going to fetch' takes за + instrumental (за хлі́бом, за молоко́м), and where по does survive it governs the locative, not the dative (по доро́зі, по мі́сту).

Source-language comparison

For an English speaker, по is hard because it is many English prepositions at once: along/around (по мі́сту), by/via (по телефо́ну), up to (по колі́на), each/per (по одно́му), and the manner in an X way (по-новому). You cannot translate from English into по; you have to recognise the Ukrainian sense — coverage of an area, a channel, a limit, a share, or a manner — and then reach for по. The good news is that the spatial sense (motion all over an area, as opposed to toward a point) is the through-line that ties most of them together.

For a learner from Russian, по is a minefield precisely because the languages are so close: Russian's heavy по + dative does not carry over. Reset your defaults — по in Ukrainian governs the locative, fields of study are з + genitive, and "go fetch" is за + instrumental. The recurring-days sense is most idiomatically the single word щопонеді́лка / щосуботи.

Common Mistakes

❌ підру́чник по матема́тиці

Incorrect — fields of study take з + genitive: підру́чник з матема́тики. 'по + dative' is a Russian calque.

✅ підру́чник з матема́тики

a maths textbook — з + genitive.

❌ Я говорю́ по-украї́нською.

Incorrect — for the language itself use the bare instrumental: говорю́ украї́нською. (по-украї́нськи is the manner adverb, with a hyphen and no -ою.)

✅ Я говорю́ украї́нською.

I speak Ukrainian — bare instrumental for the language.

❌ по моє́му ця ідея гарна

Incorrect — the manner adverb is hyphenated and stressed по-моє́му: по-моє́му, ця ідея гарна.

✅ По-моє́му, ця ідея гарна.

In my opinion, this idea is good — hyphenated по-adverb.

❌ іти́ по доро́гу (meaning 'along the road')

Incorrect — по governs the locative here, not the accusative: іти́ по доро́зі. (по доро́гу would mean 'up to the road' as a limit.)

✅ іти́ по доро́зі

walk along the road — по + locative.

❌ Дай ко́жному по я́блука.

Incorrect — the distributive 'one apple each' is по я́блуку (singular): Дай ко́жному по я́блуку.

✅ Дай ко́жному по я́блуку.

Give everyone an apple each — distributive по.

Key Takeaways

По mostly governs the locative: motion over/around an area (по мі́сту, по доро́зі), means (по телефо́ну, по по́шті), and fixed 'after' (по обі́ді).
One major use takes the accusative: 'up to / until' a limit (по колі́на, по п’я́те число́), inclusive — paired as з... по....
По carries the distributive 'each / per' (по одно́му, по дві гри́вні).
По builds the hyphenated manner adverbs (по-украї́нськи, по-моє́му, по-но́вому) — distinct from the bare instrumental that names a language (украї́нською).
The big trap is the Russian по + dative: in standard Ukrainian, fields of study are з + genitive, 'go fetch' is за + instrumental, and surviving по takes the locative.

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