Demonstratives are the words you use to point: "this book," "that house," "this is my friend." English has just two, this and that, and they never change shape. Ukrainian has two too — цей "this" (near the speaker) and той "that" (away, or "the former") — but both agree with their noun in gender, number, and case, and both decline like adjectives. On top of that, the neuter form це carries a second, very common job: it is the all-purpose "this is / it is" of identification, the word that lets Ukrainian build sentences like Це мій друг "this is my friend" without any verb "to be." This page covers both jobs.
The two demonstratives: near and far
Ukrainian splits pointing into two distances, just as English does with this / that.
- цей — proximal: near the speaker, "this," the thing right here.
- той — distal: away from the speaker, "that," the thing over there — and also "the former / that other one" when contrasting.
Each has four base forms, one per gender plus the plural, exactly like an adjective.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "this" (near) | цей | ця | це | ці |
| "that" (far) | той | та | те | ті |
The demonstrative copies the gender and number of the noun it modifies, just like an adjective: цей стіл (masc.), ця кни́га (fem.), це вікно́ (neut.), ці буди́нки (pl.).
Цей буди́нок ста́рший, ніж той на ро́зі.
This building is older than that one on the corner. — цей (masc.) with буди́нок, той pointing further away.
Візьми́ ось ці кві́ти, а ті за́лиш на по́тім.
Take these flowers here, and leave those for later. — ці (near, plural) vs ті (far, plural).
Та доро́га коро́тша, але́ ця краси́віша.
That road is shorter, but this one is prettier. — та and ця, both feminine to agree with доро́га.
це as "this is / it is" — the headline feature
Here is the thing English speakers consistently miss. The neuter це is not only "this" (as in це мі́сто "this city"). It is also the standalone "this is / it is / these are" of identification — the word that opens a sentence naming or identifying something. Because Ukrainian has no present-tense "to be" (there is no everyday "is"), it uses це + noun where English uses "this is" or "it is."
Це мій брат, а це його́ дружи́на.
This is my brother, and this is his wife. — це stands in for 'this is'; there is no verb.
— Що це? — Це ка́ва з молоко́м.
'What's this?' 'It's coffee with milk.' — both the question (Що це?) and the answer (Це...) use це; no 'is' anywhere.
Це непра́вда — я там ніко́ли не був.
That's not true — I was never there. — Це opens an identifying statement, 'that is / this is.'
Crucially, this це stays in the neuter singular no matter what follows it. You say Це мій брат (masculine noun), Це моя́ сестра́ (feminine noun), Це мої́ батьки́ (plural noun) — це does not change to agree, because here it is the dummy subject "this/it," not a modifier. Contrast that with це місто "this city," where це is a modifier and does agree (neuter, with місто).
Full declension — they bend like adjectives
Because they agree in case too, both demonstratives run through all seven cases. The endings are the hard-adjective endings (with цей showing the soft variant in some slots). Learn these tables — demonstratives are among the most frequent words in the language.
цей "this"
| Case | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | цей | це | ця | ці |
| Genitive | цьо́го | цьо́го | ціє́ї | цих |
| Dative | цьо́му | цьо́му | цій | цим |
| Accusative | цей / цьо́го | це | цю | ці / цих |
| Instrumental | цим | цим | ціє́ю | ци́ми |
| Locative | (на) цьо́му / цім | (на) цьо́му | (на) цій | (на) цих |
той "that"
| Case | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | той | те | та | ті |
| Genitive | того́ | того́ | тіє́ї | тих |
| Dative | тому́ | тому́ | тій | тим |
| Accusative | той / того́ | те | ту | ті / тих |
| Instrumental | тим | тим | тіє́ю | ти́ми |
| Locative | (на) тому́ / тім | (на) тому́ | (на) тій | (на) тих |
In the masculine and plural accusative, the form depends on animacy: with an inanimate noun the accusative copies the nominative (цей стіл, ті столи́), with an animate one it copies the genitive (цьо́го хло́пця, тих люде́й) — the same animacy rule that runs through the whole accusative.
Я не зна́ю цьо́го чолові́ка.
I don't know this man. — genitive-accusative цьо́го because чолові́ка is animate.
Поговори́ з тіє́ю жі́нкою біля две́рей.
Talk to that woman by the door. — instrumental тіє́ю after з, agreeing with жі́нкою.
У то́му мі́сті я наро́дився.
I was born in that city. — locative то́му after у.
такий "such" and стільки "so much"
Two more pointing words belong here. такий / така́ / таке́ / такі́ means "such (a) / that kind of," and it declines exactly like a hard adjective. It intensifies — "such a beautiful one!" — and it points to a quality just mentioned.
Така́ га́рна сукня! Де ти її́ купи́ла?
Such a beautiful dress! Where did you buy it? — така́ (fem.) agreeing with сукня.
Я ще ніко́ли не ба́чив таки́х краєви́дів.
I've never seen such landscapes before. — genitive-accusative plural таки́х after a negated verb.
стільки "so much / so many / this many" takes the genitive of what it counts, the same as other quantity words.
Чому́ тут сті́льки люде́й?
Why are there so many people here? — сті́льки + genitive plural люде́й.
той ... той and то ... то
той also works as a stand-alone pronoun "the one / that one," especially when paired: той ... той "this one ... that one," and одни́й ... той style contrasts. The neuter то appears in the correlative то ... то "now ... now / sometimes ... sometimes," describing alternation.
То дощ, то со́нце — пого́да сього́дні божеві́льна.
Now rain, now sun — the weather today is crazy. — то ... то marking alternation.
Оди́н хо́че в кіно́, той — у теа́тр, а тре́тій — додо́му.
One wants the cinema, that one the theatre, and the third one home. — той as 'that one,' a stand-alone pronoun.
Deictic particles: ось and он
To sharpen the pointing, Ukrainian adds the particles ось "here / look here" (near) and он "there / over there" (far) in front of the demonstrative. They are like a gesturing finger.
Ось цей — то і є той клю́ч, що ти шука́в.
This one right here is the very key you were looking for. — ось sharpens цей; той resumes the earlier mention.
Он та гора́ нази́вається Гове́рла.
That mountain over there is called Hoverla. — он points far, with та.
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, three resets are needed. (1) English this / that never change; Ukrainian цей / той agree and decline — you must produce цьо́го, ціє́ю, тих, not one frozen form. (2) There is no separate "it is / this is" — Ukrainian uses це + noun with no verb, and that це stays neuter regardless of what follows (Це мій брат, Це моя́ сестра́). English speakers reach for a missing "is" and get confused that the same word це means both "this" and "this is." (3) Animacy reshapes the masculine accusative (цей стіл but цьо́го хло́пця) — a distinction English does not draw.
For a Russian speaker, beware the forms: Ukrainian "this" is цей / ця / це / ці, not the Russian этот; "that" is той / та / те / ті; and the identifying word is це, not the Russian это. The paradigms (цьо́го, ціє́ї, тіє́ю) are Ukrainian and must be learned in their own shape — do not import Russian spellings.
Common Mistakes
❌ Цей кни́га на столі́.
Agreement error — кни́га is feminine, so the demonstrative must be ця, not the masculine цей.
✅ Ця кни́га на столі́.
This book is on the table — ця agreeing with feminine кни́га.
❌ Це є мій друг.
Don't insert 'є' here — identifying це needs no verb in the present tense; це alone carries 'this is.'
✅ Це мій друг.
This is my friend — no verb, just це plus the noun.
❌ Ця моя́ сестра́.
Wrong — as the dummy subject 'this is,' the word is frozen neuter це, not feminine ця, even before a feminine noun.
✅ Це моя́ сестра́.
This is my sister — identifying це stays neuter regardless of the noun's gender.
❌ Я говори́в з той жі́нкою.
Case error — after з the demonstrative must be instrumental and agree: тіє́ю жі́нкою, not the nominative той.
✅ Я говори́в з тіє́ю жі́нкою.
I spoke with that woman — instrumental тіє́ю after з.
❌ Тут так бага́то люди́.
After a quantity word the noun is genitive plural; and 'so many' is сті́льки, not так with a noun: сті́льки люде́й.
✅ Чому́ тут сті́льки люде́й?
Why are there so many people here? — сті́льки + genitive plural люде́й.
Key Takeaways
- Ukrainian points with цей "this" (near) and той "that" (far); both agree in gender/number/case and decline like adjectives (цьо́го, цьо́му, цим; того́, тому́, тим).
- The neuter це does double duty: a modifier that agrees (це мі́сто) and the copula-less "this is / it is" that stays frozen neuter (Це мій брат, Це моя́ сестра́, Це мої́ батьки́).
- The masculine/plural accusative follows animacy: цей стіл but цьо́го хло́пця.
- такий "such" declines like an adjective; стільки "so many" takes the genitive.
- Sharpen the pointing with the particles ось (here) and он (there): ось цей, он та гора́.
Now practice Ukrainian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- Personal Pronouns: Overview and DeclensionA1 — Ukrainian personal pronouns — я, ти, він, вона́, воно́, ми, ви, вони́ — decline through all seven cases (я → мене́ → мені́ → мно́ю). Two facts dominate: the third-person forms take a euphonic н- prefix after a preposition (бачу його́ 'I see him' but дивлю́ся на ньо́го 'I look at him'; її́ but до не́ї; їх but з ни́ми), and subject pronouns are usually DROPPED because the verb ending already shows the person.
- Цей, Той, Такий, Стільки in UseB1 — A working-level deep dive into the demonstrative family: цей/той fully declined in context (у цьо́му мі́сті, з тим чолові́ком, про ці кни́ги), такий 'such/so' agreeing through its forms, сті́льки + genitive, and the той самий / такий самий 'the same' and не той 'the wrong one' constructions — one small group of words that covers what English spreads across such, so, same, and wrong.
- Hard-Stem Adjective DeclensionA2 — The full declension of hard-stem adjectives (the нови́й 'new' type) across all seven cases, three singular genders, and the plural. The endings — -ого, -ому, -им, -ою, -их, -ими — are the same set you meet on demonstratives and most pronouns, so learning нови́й unlocks the agreement endings for той, котри́й, and the bulk of the adjective system at once. Includes the velar-stem spelling (вели́кий → вели́кого but вели́кі) and the animacy split in the masculine and plural accusative.
- Ukrainian Has No ArticlesA1 — Ukrainian has no articles at all — no 'a', no 'an', no 'the'. A bare кни́га means 'a book', 'the book', or just 'book' depending entirely on context. Definiteness is carried not by a word but by WORD ORDER (new information drifts to the end: На столі́ кни́га 'there's a book on the table' vs Кни́га на столі́ 'the book is on the table'), by demonstratives (цей/той) when you truly need 'this/that', and by оди́н for 'a certain'. The fix for English speakers is to drop the article instinct entirely — don't reach for a word to translate 'a' or 'the'.
- Expressing 'the' and 'a' Without ArticlesA2 — A practical toolkit for conveying English article distinctions in article-less Ukrainian. DEFINITE ('the'): put the known noun FIRST (Маши́на стої́ть бі́ля до́му 'the car is by the house') or use a demonstrative цей/той. INDEFINITE ('a'): put the new noun LATER (Бі́ля до́му стої́ть маши́на 'there's a car by the house'), use оди́н for 'a (certain specific)', or якийсь for 'some (vague)'. GENERIC: bare noun (Соба́ка — друг люди́ни). The workhorse is WORD ORDER + topic position, not a word — most of the time you add nothing.
- 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.