Цей, Той, Такий, Стільки in Use | Ukrainian Grammar

You already met цей "this" and той "that" as pointers. This page takes the whole demonstrative family up to working level: the two demonstratives running live through the cases (у цьо́му мі́сті, з тим чолові́ком, про ці кни́ги), the intensifier такий "such / so," the quantity word сті́льки "so much / so many," and the constructions that English speakers reliably stumble over — той самий / такий самий "the same," не той "the wrong one," and the correlatives той, що and то ... то. The payoff is a single insight: this small group of agreeing, declining words covers a swathe of meaning that English splits across such, so, same, and wrong. Learn them together and they reinforce each other.

Цей and той live in the cases

The base forms цей / ця / це / ці and той / та / те / ті are only the nominative. In real sentences these words appear inside prepositional phrases and as objects, so they show up in every case, agreeing with their noun. The thing to internalize is that the demonstrative and its noun move through the case system together — change the case of the noun, and the demonstrative changes with it.

У цьо́му мі́сті я прожи́в де́сять ро́ків.

I've lived in this city for ten years. — locative цьо́му after у, agreeing with neuter мі́сті.

Я не дові́ряю тому́ чолові́кові.

I don't trust that man. — dative тому́ governed by дові́ряти, with masculine чолові́кові.

Розкажи́ мені́ про ці кни́ги — яку́ ра́диш пе́ршою?

Tell me about these books — which one do you recommend first? — accusative ці (inanimate plural copies the nominative) after про.

З тим чолові́ком кра́ще не спереча́тися.

It's better not to argue with that man. — instrumental тим after з.

Notice the proximal/distal contrast is alive in every case, not just the nominative. Цей is what is near you in space, time, or attention — the thing you are holding, the topic you just raised. Той is what is further off, already mentioned, or being set against something nearer.

Не цю су́мку, а ту, що на по́лиці.

Not this bag, but the one on the shelf. — accusative цю (near) set against ту (far), both feminine for су́мка.

💡

The proximal/distal split maps onto more than physical distance. Цей is "the one I'm focused on right now"; той is "the other one / the one from before / the one over there." In a story, той often means "that aforementioned" — the character or thing already in play.

Такий: one word for English "such" AND "so"

Here is the first place English speakers misfire. Такий / така́ / таке́ / такі́ declines like a hard adjective and does the job of both English "such (a)" before a noun and "so" before an adjective. English uses two different words; Ukrainian uses one, and it agrees.

Before a noun, такий = "such a / that kind of":

Таку́ наго́ду не мо́жна пропуска́ти.

You can't pass up such an opportunity. — accusative таку́ agreeing with feminine наго́ду.

Я ще не зустріча́в таки́х до́брих люде́й.

I've never met such kind people. — genitive-accusative plural таки́х after the negated verb.

Before an adjective, такий = "so" (an intensifier of degree):

Він тако́го ро́зуму, що з ним ціка́во говори́ти про що завго́дно.

He's so clever that it's interesting to talk to him about anything. — такий intensifying, here in a genitive-of-quality turn.

Чому́ ти сього́дні така́ ти́ха?

Why are you so quiet today? — така́ (feminine, addressing a woman) intensifying the adjective ти́ха.

The agreement is the catch. Because такий modifies the adjective-plus-noun, it copies the gender, number, and case of what follows: такий день but така́ пробле́ма, таке́ пита́ння, такі́ лю́ди. English "so/such" never change shape; такий always does.

Яка́ така́ пробле́ма? Я ні́чого не помі́тив.

What problem? I didn't notice anything. — literally 'what such problem,' with яка́ and така́ both feminine for пробле́ма; a very common idiomatic 'what X are you talking about?'

Стільки + genitive: counting with a demonstrative

Сті́льки means "so much / so many / this many" — the quantity counterpart of такий. Like all quantity words in Ukrainian, it takes the genitive of whatever it counts: genitive plural for countables, genitive singular for uncountables. This is the same government you see with бага́то "many" and ма́ло "few."

Чому́ тут сті́льки люде́й?

Why are there so many people here? — сті́льки + genitive plural люде́й.

У ме́не сті́льки робо́ти, що не зна́ю, за що бра́тися.

I have so much work I don't know what to start with. — сті́льки + genitive singular робо́ти (uncountable).

Я не ду́мав, що це забере́ сті́льки ча́су.

I didn't think it would take so much time. — сті́льки + genitive singular ча́су.

Сті́льки itself declines when the phrase is in an oblique case (зі сті́лькома людьми́ "with so many people"), but in everyday speech you will overwhelmingly meet the nominative/accusative сті́льки governing the genitive. Pair it with its question word скі́льки "how much / how many," which works identically. The full quantifier picture is on genitive-with-quantifiers.

Той самий and такий самий: "the (very) same"

To say "the same," Ukrainian combines a demonstrative with самий "self-same, very." Той самий = "the same (one already mentioned)"; такий самий = "the same kind of (an identical but different one)." Both halves decline and agree.

The distinction is real and worth holding onto:

той самий — numerically the same, the identical individual.
такий самий — qualitatively the same, an exact copy that is nonetheless a different object.

Це той са́мий чолові́к, яко́го ми ба́чили вчо́ра.

That's the same man we saw yesterday. — той самий: the very same person, identical individual.

У ме́не таки́й са́мий телефо́н, як у те́бе.

I have the same phone as you. — такий самий: an identical model, but a different physical phone.

Вона́ прийшла́ в тій са́мій су́кні, що й торі́к.

She came in the same dress as last year. — locative тій самій (feminine) after в: literally the very same dress.

In speech you will also hear той же / той же са́мий with the particle же reinforcing identity. The plain самий can also mean "the very / right at" in spatial phrases (на са́мому верху́ "right at the top"), so context tells you which sense is live.

💡

Quick test: if you could point and say "that one, the identical individual," use той самий. If you mean "one just like it," use такий самий. English collapses both into "the same," which is exactly why learners pick the wrong one — decide which kind of sameness you mean first.

Не той: "the wrong one"

This is a small construction with an outsized payoff. Не той / не та / не те / не ті literally "not that" idiomatically means "the wrong one" — the wrong book, the wrong key, the wrong turn. Ukrainian has no everyday adjective "wrong" for "incorrect item"; it uses не + the agreeing demonstrative.

Ти взяв не ту кни́гу — мені́ потрі́бна си́ня.

You took the wrong book — I need the blue one. — не ту (feminine accusative): the wrong book.

Ми зверну́ли не туди́ й заблука́ли.

We turned the wrong way and got lost. — не туди́, the adverbial 'wrong direction.'

Вибача́йте, я набра́в не той но́мер.

Sorry, I dialled the wrong number. — не той (masculine accusative, inanimate) with но́мер.

Because the demonstrative agrees, "the wrong one" shows gender and case: не той по́їзд (wrong train), не ту ву́лицю (wrong street), не ті лю́ди (the wrong people / not our kind of people). The negated да́та, кно́пка, две́рі — all take не + the matching form. This is one of the highest-value little patterns in the language for everyday troubleshooting.

Той, що: "the one that" (the relative той)

Той also launches relative clauses as the antecedent "the one / the one that," picked up by a relative pronoun (що, який, хто). It is the Ukrainian for "the one who/that," and it declines for its own role in the main clause while що/який carries the role inside the relative clause.

Той, хто бага́то обіця́є, ча́сто ма́ло роби́ть.

The one who promises a lot often does little. — той (nominative subject) + хто launching the relative clause.

Дай мені́ ту, що лежи́ть зве́рху.

Give me the one that's lying on top. — ту (feminine accusative) + що; the noun is understood from context.

Я говори́в з тим, що сиді́в біля вікна́.

I was talking to the one who was sitting by the window. — instrumental тим after з; що picks him up inside the clause.

The interplay of той with який / що is developed on relative pronouns; the key point here is that той is the hook the relative clause hangs on.

То ... то: "now ... now"

Finally, the bare neuter то, doubled, gives the correlative то ... то "now ... now / sometimes ... sometimes," marking alternation between two states. This то does not agree — it is a frozen connector, not a modifier.

То дощ, то со́нце — пого́да сього́дні божеві́льна.

Now rain, now sun — the weather today is crazy. — то ... то marking back-and-forth alternation.

Він то смія́вся, то ра́птом замо́вкав.

He kept laughing, then suddenly falling silent. — то ... то over two verbs, 'now ... now.'

Source-language comparison

For an English speaker, the headline is consolidation: where English deploys this, that, such, so, the same, the wrong one, the one that, Ukrainian works almost entirely from цей / той / такий / самий plus negation — and every one of them agrees and declines. So you are not learning six unrelated words; you are learning one family and applying case endings. The flip side is that you can never leave them in a frozen base form: "the wrong book" is не ту кни́гу, not "не той книга."

For a Russian speaker, watch the forms. "Such" is такий, "so many" is сті́льки (not the Russian столько), "the same" is той самий / такий самий, and the demonstrative paradigms (цьо́го, ціє́ї, тіє́ю) are Ukrainian — do not import the Russian spellings. The constructions line up closely, but the surface forms must be relearned.

Common Mistakes

❌ Він такий розу́мна люди́на.

Agreement error — такий must agree with the noun phrase. With feminine люди́на it is така́: така́ розу́мна люди́на.

✅ Він така́ розу́мна люди́на.

He's such a smart person — така́ agreeing with feminine люди́на.

❌ Тут так бага́то люди́.

Two errors — 'so many' is сті́льки (not так), and the quantity word takes the genitive plural: сті́льки люде́й.

✅ Тут сті́льки люде́й.

There are so many people here — сті́льки + genitive plural люде́й.

❌ Ти взяв не той кни́гу.

Agreement error — не той must match feminine кни́га in gender and accusative case: не ту кни́гу.

✅ Ти взяв не ту кни́гу.

You took the wrong book — не ту, feminine accusative, 'the wrong one.'

❌ У ме́не такий самий телефо́н, як у те́бе — це той самий.

Sense error — той самий means the identical physical phone; if you each own a copy, it's такий самий (the same kind), not той самий.

✅ У ме́не таки́й са́мий телефо́н, як у те́бе.

I have the same kind of phone as you — такий самий for an identical-but-separate object.

❌ Я живу́ в цей мі́сті.

Case error — after в (location) the demonstrative is locative: у цьо́му мі́сті, not the nominative цей.

✅ Я живу́ в цьо́му мі́сті.

I live in this city — locative цьо́му agreeing with мі́сті.

Key Takeaways

Цей (near) and той (far) decline through all cases with their noun: у цьо́му мі́сті, з тим чолові́ком, про ці кни́ги.
Такий is one word for both English "such (a)" (before a noun) and "so" (before an adjective), and it agrees: такий день, така́ пробле́ма, таке́ пита́ння, такі́ лю́ди.
Сті́льки "so much / many" governs the genitive: сті́льки люде́й, сті́льки робо́ти.
Той самий = the identical individual; такий самий = an identical-but-separate copy. English "the same" hides this split.
Не той = "the wrong one," fully agreeing: не ту кни́гу, не той но́мер.
Той, що / той, хто is the antecedent "the one that/who"; doubled то ... то means "now ... now."

Now practice Ukrainian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Ukrainian→