Tag Questions and Alternative Questions | Ukrainian Grammar

Two more question types round out the set: tag questions ("…, right?"), which append a little confirmation-seeker to a statement, and alternative questions ("X or Y?"), which offer a choice. English makes the first of these famously painful — the tag has to agree with the main verb, its tense, and its polarity (you can, *can't you?; he won't, **will he?; they've gone, **haven't they?). Ukrainian throws all that out: it uses *one invariant tag that never changes. This is pure relief for an English speaker — but it's still a new habit to build, because the reflex is to conjugate something. Alternative questions, meanwhile, hinge on the now-familiar particle чи "or."

Tag questions: one invariant tag, always

A tag question is a statement with a short questioning tag stuck on the end, seeking agreement: "You'll come, right?" Ukrainian's tags are invariant — they do not change for the verb, tense, or polarity of the sentence. Pick one and append it after a comma. The common ones, from neutral to colloquial:

Tag	Force / register	Rough English
пра́вда?	neutral, the default	right? / true?
так?	neutral, brisk	yes? / right?
чи не так?	slightly formal	isn't that so?
пра́вда ж?	warm, seeking agreement	right, isn't it?
га?	colloquial, casual	eh? / huh?

Ти ж при́йдеш, пра́вда?

You'll come, right? — the invariant tag пра́вда?, unchanged by the verb or tense.

Га́рно тут, чи не так?

It's lovely here, isn't it? — чи не так?, the slightly formal invariant tag.

Ми ж домовля́лися на сьо́му, так?

We agreed on seven, didn't we? — так? confirms, unchanged by the past tense.

Ході́мо вже, га?

Let's get going, shall we? — га?, the casual, coaxing tag.

Notice that the same tag survives across every verb and tense in those examples — present, future, past, a hortative — where English would have forced won't you / isn't it / didn't we / shall we. The Ukrainian tag carries no agreement; it just says "confirm this for me."

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The English horror of matching tags collapses to one word. Whatever the sentence — can, won't, did, is, have — the Ukrainian tag is just ..., пра́вда? or ..., так?. You never conjugate the tag. The reflex to build 'doesn't he?' / 'will they?' is exactly the habit to drop.

The little particle ж (же) inside the statement (Ти *ж при́йдеш…*) adds a "surely / you do remember" nudge, reinforcing that you expect agreement. It's optional but very idiomatic in tag questions.

Alternative questions: чи "or" between the options

An alternative question offers a choice and asks which one. The "or" here is чи — not або́, which is the "or" of plain statements (see the particle чи). Put чи between the two options; the rest stays in statement order.

Ка́ва чи чай?

Coffee or tea? — чи 'or' between two offered options.

Ти йдеш чи залиша́єшся?

Are you going or staying? — чи between two verbs, the choice of action.

Зустрі́немося за́раз чи пізні́ше?

Shall we meet now or later? — чи offering two times.

Тобі́ зда́чу готі́вкою чи на ка́ртку?

Change in cash or to your card? — чи between two everyday options at a till.

Alternative questions take a distinctive disjunctive intonation: the pitch rises on the first option and falls on the second, framing them as a closed either/or. That contour is what tells the listener it's "X or Y?" rather than a list.

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In a question, 'or' is чи; in a statement it's або́. Хо́чеш чай чи ка́ву? 'Do you want tea or coffee?' (question → чи) vs Мо́жна чай або́ ка́ву 'You can have tea or coffee' (statement → або́). Mixing them up is the most common alternative-question slip.

Doubled чи…чи — paired, uncertain alternatives

The correlative чи…чи "either…or / whether…or" pairs two alternatives when you're uncertain which holds — often musing aloud about possibilities. It's a touch more bookish than a single чи. (More on these on the correlatives page.)

Чи то він заба́рився, чи то по́тяг пішо́в ра́ніше.

Either he was late, or the train left early. — чи то…чи то, weighing two uncertain explanations.

Я ще не ви́рішив, чи лиша́тися, чи ї́хати.

I still haven't decided whether to stay or to go. — чи…чи pairing the two options inside a clause.

не…чи — "X or isn't it?"

A handy short form tacks чи ні "or not" onto the end of a yes/no question to force a clear answer, the equivalent of "…or not?":

Ти йдеш чи ні?

Are you coming or not? — чи ні presses for a definite yes/no.

Він зго́ден чи ні?

Does he agree or not? — чи ні demanding a clear answer.

Echo and clarifying questions

When you didn't catch something and want it repeated, Ukrainian doubles the relevant word with a hyphen, with a sharp questioning intonation: Що-що? "What was that? / Come again?", Хто-хто? "Who, did you say?" These are informal and very common in speech.

— Його́ зва́ти Свири́д. — Хто-хто? Як ти сказа́в?

'His name's Svyryd.' 'Who? What did you say?' — Хто-хто? asks for a repeat of an unfamiliar word.

— Зустрі́немося о шо́стій. — Що-що? Я не розчу́в.

'Let's meet at six.' 'Sorry, what? I didn't catch that.' — Що-що? is the everyday 'come again?'.

Source-language comparison

For an English speaker, the tag question is the big payoff: where English makes you compute a matching tag (you can, *can't you?, he won't, **will he?, they've finished, **haven't they?), Ukrainian uses *one invariant tag — …, пра́вда? / …, так? / …, чи не так? — for everything, regardless of verb, tense, or polarity. There's nothing to conjugate; just append it. For alternative questions, remember that "or" in a question is чи (statements use або́), and that the intonation rises on the first option and falls on the second. The clarifying Що-що? "come again?" has no real English structural parallel — it's a reduplication, not a sentence.

For a Russian speaker, the tags are the Ukrainian set — пра́вда?, так?, чи не так?, пра́вда ж?, га? — and crucially the alternative "or" is чи, not the Russian или/ли. The reduplicated Що-що? matches Russian Что-что? in pattern but uses the Ukrainian що.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ти при́йдеш, чи не при́йдеш ти?

Over-built tag — Ukrainian doesn't repeat or conjugate the tag; just append an invariant one: Ти при́йдеш, пра́вда?

✅ Ти при́йдеш, пра́вда?

You'll come, right? — single invariant tag, no agreement.

❌ Ти хо́чеш чай або́ ка́ву?

Wrong 'or' — in a question the alternative 'or' is чи, not the statement-word або́: Ти хо́чеш чай чи ка́ву?

✅ Ти хо́чеш чай чи ка́ву?

Do you want tea or coffee? — чи between the options in a question.

❌ Га́рно тут, чи не є так?

Over-built — the tag is the fixed чи не так?, with no verb inserted: Га́рно тут, чи не так?

✅ Га́рно тут, чи не так?

It's lovely here, isn't it? — чи не так? is invariant, no 'is/isn't'.

❌ Ми домовля́лися на сьо́му, чи не домовля́лися?

English-style matched tag — Ukrainian just appends так?: Ми домовля́лися на сьо́му, так?

✅ Ми домовля́лися на сьо́му, так?

We agreed on seven, didn't we? — invariant так?, no repeated verb.

Key Takeaways

Tag questions use one invariant tag appended after a comma — пра́вда?, так?, чи не так?, пра́вда ж?, га? (colloquial) — and it never changes for verb, tense, or polarity. The English matched-tag system collapses to …, пра́вда?
The particle ж inside the statement (Ти ж при́йдеш…) adds a "surely" nudge — idiomatic but optional.
Alternative "X or Y?" questions use чи "or" (Ка́ва чи чай?, Ти йдеш чи залиша́єшся?); statements use або́. The intonation rises on the first option, falls on the second.
Чи…чи pairs uncertain alternatives ("either…or / whether…or"); чи ні ("or not") forces a clear yes/no answer.
Clarifying/echo questions reduplicate the word: Що-що? "come again?", Хто-хто? "who, did you say?" (informal).

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