A shopper haggles over apples and tomatoes at an outdoor market. This is the best place to see Ukrainian numeral grammar in the wild, because every weight and price forces a case decision: кілогра́м pulls the produce into the genitive plural (кілогра́м я́блук), the number два wants one form while п’ять wants another, and гри́вень is genitive plural after big numbers. Layered on top is the warm, diminutive-heavy register of market speech — я́блучка, помідо́рчики — and a little friendly bargaining.
The dialogue
Покупе́ць: До́брий день! Почі́м у вас я́блука? Good afternoon! How much are your apples?
Прода́вчиня: До́брий день! Два́дцять п’ять гри́вень за кілогра́м. Со́лодкі, беріть! Good afternoon! Twenty-five hryvnias a kilo. They're sweet, take some!
Покупе́ць: Да́йте два кілогра́ми. А помідо́ри почі́м? Give me two kilos. And how much are the tomatoes?
Прода́вчиня: Помідо́рчики — три́дцять за кіло́. Сього́дні сві́жі, з гря́дки. The tomatoes are thirty a kilo. Fresh today, straight from the garden.
Покупе́ць: А мо́жна тро́хи деше́вше, як візьму́ бі́льше? Could you do a bit cheaper if I take more?
Прода́вчиня: Ну до́бре, за три кілогра́ми — ві́сімдесят п’ять. All right then, for three kilos — eighty-five.
Покупе́ць: Згода́. Ще да́йте п’ять я́блучок на доро́гу. Deal. Also give me five little apples for the road.
Прода́вчиня: Будь ла́ска. З вас сто де́сять гри́вень. Here you go. That'll be one hundred and ten hryvnias.
Покупе́ць: Ось, трима́йте. Дя́кую! Here, take it. Thank you!
Прода́вчиня: На здоро́в’я! Прихо́дьте ще. You're welcome! Come again.
Line-by-line grammar
"How much?" at a market — Почі́м
The colloquial market opener is Почі́м? ("how much a unit?") — a worn-down fusion of по чо́му you will hear constantly at stalls. The neutral alternative is Скі́льки ко́штують…?. Note я́блука here is the plural subject, nominative.
Почі́м у вас я́блука?
'How much are your apples?' — почі́м is colloquial 'how much per unit'; у вас ('at yours') localizes the seller; я́блука is nominative plural.
Price per kilo — за + accusative
The price is given за кілогра́м ("per/for a kilo"), with за + accusative (кілогра́м is inanimate, so accusative = nominative). The number два́дцять п’ять гри́вень ends in п’ять, so the currency is genitive plural: гри́вня → гри́вень.
Два́дцять п’ять гри́вень за кілогра́м.
'Twenty-five hryvnias a kilo.' — за + accusative кілогра́м ('per kilo'); after п’ять the currency is genitive plural гри́вень.
See money and counting.
кілогра́м + genitive plural — what you weigh
When you order a weight, the produce goes into the genitive plural: it is "a kilo of apples." Apples is я́блука, and its genitive plural is the zero-ending я́блук. This is the same partitive logic as ча́шку ка́ви, scaled up to weights.
Кілогра́м я́блук, будь ла́ска.
'A kilo of apples, please.' — кілогра́м takes the genitive plural of the produce: я́блука → я́блук (zero ending).
See the genitive plural.
The numeral split — два кілогра́ми vs п’ять / три кілогра́ми
Here is the rule that trips everyone. After два, три, чотири (2–4), the noun takes the nominative plural form: два кілогра́ми, три кілогра́ми. After п’ять and up, the noun jumps to the genitive plural: п’ять кілогра́мів. Ukrainian treats "2–4" and "5+" as two different grammatical worlds.
Да́йте два кілогра́ми.
'Give me two kilos.' — after два the noun is nominative plural кілогра́ми (the 2–4 pattern).
За три кілогра́ми — ві́сімдесят п’ять.
'For three kilos — eighty-five.' — три also takes nominative plural кілогра́ми; this is the 2, 3, 4 group.
Ще да́йте п’ять я́блучок.
'Also give me five little apples.' — after п’ять the noun is genitive plural; я́блучка → я́блучок (zero ending).
See numeral agreement and the genitive after numbers.
Market diminutives — помідо́рчики, я́блучка
Sellers shrink everything for warmth and to sound appetising. Помідо́р ("tomato") becomes помідо́рчики, я́блука becomes я́блучка. These are diminutives — they do not mean the tomatoes are small; they signal friendliness and freshness, the verbal equivalent of a smile. The diminutive still declines normally: п’ять я́блучок (genitive plural).
Помідо́рчики сього́дні сві́жі, з гря́дки.
'The tomatoes are fresh today, from the garden.' — помідо́рчики is an affectionate diminutive (not 'small'); з + genitive гря́дки = 'from the garden bed.'
Bargaining — деше́вше, як візьму́ бі́льше
The shopper negotiates with the comparative деше́вше ("cheaper," comparative of деше́вий) and a conditional offer: як візьму́ бі́льше ("if I take more"). Як here means "if/when," візьму́ is the perfective future of взя́ти (one completed purchase), and бі́льше is "more." The seller relents with Ну до́бре ("well, all right"), where ну is the classic spoken hesitation-then-agreement particle.
А мо́жна тро́хи деше́вше?
'Could you do a bit cheaper?' — мо́жна ('is it allowed') + the comparative adverb деше́вше; тро́хи softens it to 'a bit.'
Як візьму́ бі́льше, бу́де деше́вше?
'If I take more, will it be cheaper?' — як = 'if'; візьму́ is perfective future (one purchase); бі́льше / деше́вше are comparatives.
Closing the deal and paying — Згода́, З вас…
Згода́ ("agreed / deal") seals it. The seller states the total with З вас сто де́сять гри́вень ("from you — 110 hryvnias"), where з вас (з + genitive) idiomatically means "you owe." Трима́йте ("hold/take," polite imperative) hands over the money. The farewell На здоро́в’я! ("you're welcome," lit. "to health") is the standard cheerful reply to thanks here.
З вас сто де́сять гри́вень.
'That'll be one hundred and ten hryvnias.' — з + genitive вас idiomatically means 'you owe'; after сто де́сять the currency stays genitive plural гри́вень.
Ось, трима́йте. Дя́кую!
'Here, take it. Thank you!' — трима́йте is the polite imperative of трима́ти, handing over the cash.
How this differs from English
In English, every number above one takes the same plural: one apple, two apples, five apples, ninety apples — the noun never changes shape. Ukrainian carves the number line into zones, and the noun's case shifts as you cross between them. Оди́н takes the singular; два, три, чоти́ри take the nominative plural (два кілогра́ми); п’ять and everything above flip the noun into the genitive plural (п’ять кілогра́мів). The boundary between 4 and 5 is a real grammatical cliff with no parallel in English, and it is exactly where learners stumble — saying п’ять кілогра́ми by carrying the "2–4" form too far. The pattern even resets inside larger numbers: it is the last digit that decides, so два́дцять два кілогра́ми but два́дцять п’ять кілогра́мів.
The other surprise is the diminutive. English diminutives are rare and usually mean literal smallness or are reserved for children ("doggie," "a little nap"). At a Ukrainian market, помідо́рчики and я́блучка are not small tomatoes or small apples — the diminutive is a register, a warmth marker, the seller's verbal smile. English has no neutral, adult, everyday diminutive of this kind, so learners either miss the friendliness entirely or wrongly read it as baby-talk. Hearing it as tone rather than size is the key to following real market speech, and using a diminutive back — да́йте я́блучок — instantly warms the exchange.
Common Mistakes
❌ Да́йте два кілогра́мів.
Incorrect — after два the noun is nominative plural кілогра́ми, not genitive plural.
✅ Да́йте два кілогра́ми.
Correct — два + nominative plural кілогра́ми (the 2–4 rule).
❌ П’ять кілогра́ми я́блука.
Incorrect — after п’ять both the measure and the produce go genitive plural.
✅ П’ять кілогра́мів я́блук.
Correct — genitive plural throughout after п’ять.
❌ Кілогра́м я́блука.
Incorrect — a kilo takes the genitive PLURAL of the produce, not the singular.
✅ Кілогра́м я́блук.
Correct — кілогра́м я́блук, 'a kilo of apples.'
❌ Два́дцять п’ять гри́вня.
Incorrect — after п’ять the currency is genitive plural гри́вень.
✅ Два́дцять п’ять гри́вень.
Correct — genitive plural гри́вень.
Phrases to reuse
- Почі́м…? / Скі́льки ко́штують…? — "How much are…?"
- Кілогра́м я́блук, будь ла́ска. — "A kilo of apples, please." (genitive plural)
- Да́йте два кілогра́ми / п’ять кілогра́мів. — "Give me two / five kilos."
- А мо́жна тро́хи деше́вше? — "Could you do a bit cheaper?"
- Згода́. — "Deal."
- З вас сто де́сять гри́вень. — "That'll be 110 hryvnias."
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
- Genitive Plural: FormsB1 — Ukrainian's hardest ending set, taught as a procedure: the zero ending for feminine -а/-я and neuter -о (often with a fleeting vowel — кни́га→книг, вікно́→ві́кон, сестра́→сесте́р), the -ів/-їв ending for masculines (стіл→столі́в, брат→браті́в), and -ей for soft-feminine -ь and many soft/hushing stems (ніч→ноче́й, кінь→коне́й), with the о/і alternation surfacing in zero-ending forms (нога́→ніг, гора́→гір, шко́ла→шкіл).
- Numeral–Noun Agreement (The Hard Part)B1 — The notorious three-way rule: after 1 (and …1) the noun is nominative SINGULAR, after 2/3/4 (and …2/3/4) nominative PLURAL with the dual-reflex end-stress (два столи́, дві сестри́), and after 5+ genitive PLURAL — chosen by the LAST digit, and applying only when the whole phrase is nominative or inanimate-accusative.
- Genitive After Numbers and QuantityB1 — When numbers and quantity words trigger the genitive — numbers 5+ (and any number ending in 5–9 or 0) take the genitive PLURAL (п’ять столі́в, де́сять книг, сто гри́вень, два́дцять ро́ків), as do quantity words бага́то, ма́ло, кі́лька, скі́льки, тро́хи; fractions and полови́на/чверть take the genitive singular (полови́на я́блука) — all contrasted with the 2/3/4 rule that takes nominative plural, plus the suppletive рік→ро́ків and люди́на→люде́й you must drill as fixed combinations.
- Money, Age, and Everyday CountingA2 — The numeral-agreement rule made practical: counting money (одна́ гри́вня, дві гри́вні, п’ять гри́вень), asking and stating prices (Скі́льки ко́штує? — ко́штує п’ять гри́вень), and the dative-experiencer age construction (Мені́ два́дцять ро́ків) where 'year' is suppletive — рік (1), ро́ки (2–4), ро́ків (5+) — so 'I am five' literally says 'to-me five years' with no verb 'to be'.
- Noun Forms After Numbers (Preview)A2 — After a number, a Ukrainian noun changes shape three different ways: 1 takes the nominative singular, 2–4 take the nominative plural with a stress that often jumps to the ending (два столи́), and 5 and up take the genitive plural — and the 2–4 rule, using the nominative plural rather than the Russian genitive singular, is a hallmark of correct Ukrainian.
- Accusative: Uses Beyond the Direct ObjectB1 — The accusative does more than mark the object — with в/у, на, за, під, через it marks motion TOWARD a target (іду в школу), it expresses bare-preposition duration (чекав годину 'waited an hour'), and it stands in a pivotal contrast with the locative: the same prepositions в/у and на take the accusative for direction (куди? в школу) but the locative for static location (де? в школі).