Talking about the news is where a learner's Ukrainian either sounds adult or stays at textbook level — because it demands the language of stance: how to say I think, it seems, apparently, they say, and in my opinion without committing to more certainty than you have. This dialogue between two friends over coffee runs through the whole kit: opinion frames (на мою́ ду́мку, я вважа́ю, що), reported speech that keeps its original tense (ка́жуть, що), the headline-style impersonal passive (повідо́мили, було́ оголо́шено), and the hedges (ні́би, наче, мабу́ть) that let you pass on a rumour without vouching for it.
The dialogue
Мари́на: Ти чита́ла нови́ну про підви́щення цін на пальне́? Ка́жуть, що з насту́пного мі́сяця зно́ву подорожча́є. Did you read the news about the fuel price hike? They say it'll go up again from next month.
Дми́тро: Чита́в. На мою́ ду́мку, це було́ передбачу́вано — ще навесні́ попереджа́ли, що так бу́де. I did. In my opinion it was predictable — they warned back in spring that this would happen.
Мари́на: Мо́жливо. Але́ я вважа́ю, що уря́д міг би зроби́ти бі́льше, щоб стри́мати ці́ни. Maybe. But I think the government could have done more to hold prices down.
Дми́тро: Зго́ден частко́во. Хоча́, че́сно ка́жучи, я не впе́внений, що це лише́ ї́хня прови́на. I partly agree. Though, honestly, I'm not sure it's their fault alone.
Мари́на: До ре́чі, по телеба́ченню повідо́мили, що ни́зку компа́ній оштрафу́ють за змо́ву. By the way, they reported on TV that a number of companies will be fined for collusion.
Дми́тро: Серйо́зно? Я цьо́го не чув. Хоча́ ні́би щось таке́ писа́ли і в газе́тах. Seriously? I hadn't heard that. Though apparently something like that was written in the papers too.
Мари́на: Безпере́чно. Було́ оголо́шено, що розслі́дування трива́тиме до кінця́ ро́ку. Definitely. It was announced that the investigation will continue until the end of the year.
Дми́тро: Що ж, поба́чимо. Як на ме́не, ра́но роби́ти висно́вки, по́ки нема́є офіці́йних да́них. Well, we'll see. As far as I'm concerned, it's too early to draw conclusions while there's no official data.
Мари́на: Ці́лком пого́джуюся. Тре́ба зачека́ти, що ска́же суд. I completely agree. We need to wait and see what the court says.
Line-by-line grammar
Reported rumour — "кажуть, що" (no backshift)
Marina opens with Ка́жуть, що… подорожча́є ("They say it'll go up"). Two things: ка́жуть is the subjectless 3rd-person-plural "they say / people say", the standard frame for unattributed news; and the reported clause keeps its original tense. Where English backshifts ("they said it would go up"), Ukrainian leaves the future подорожча́є untouched. The verb is perfective future — one completed rise in price.
Ка́жуть, що з насту́пного мі́сяця пальне́ зно́ву подорожча́є.
'They say that fuel will go up again from next month.' — ка́жуть = subjectless 'they say'; the future подорожча́є keeps its tense (no backshift); з + genitive (мі́сяця).
Каза́ли, що дощ бу́де ввече́рі, але́ так і не пішо́в.
'They said it would rain in the evening, but it never did.' — even after past каза́ли, the embedded бу́де stays in the future.
See reported speech.
Opinion frames — "на мою думку" and "я вважаю, що"
Dmytro answers with на мою́ ду́мку ("in my opinion", literally "to my thought") — a fixed phrase taking the possessive + accusative ду́мку. Marina counters with the verb frame я вважа́ю, що ("I consider / believe that"), which is a notch more assertive than я ду́маю, що ("I think that"). Вважа́ти is the verb of considered opinion; ду́мати is the verb of passing thought.
На мою́ ду́мку, це було́ передбачу́вано.
'In my opinion, this was predictable.' — на мою́ ду́мку is a fixed stance phrase (на + accusative ду́мку).
Я вважа́ю, що уря́д міг би зроби́ти бі́льше.
'I believe the government could have done more.' — вважа́ти ('to consider') is more assertive than ду́мати; міг би is the conditional 'could have.'
The third stance phrase, як на ме́не ("as far as I'm concerned / if you ask me"), appears near the end — it is the most colloquial of the three. See opinion and stance markers and думати.
Headline passive 1 — "повідомили" (indefinite-personal)
News register loves the agentless report. По телеба́ченню повідо́мили, що… ("on TV they reported that…") uses the subjectless plural повідо́мили — the same indefinite-personal device, here meaning "it was reported". The source goes in по + locative (по телеба́ченню).
По телеба́ченню повідо́мили, що ни́зку компа́ній оштрафу́ють за змо́ву.
'On TV they reported that a number of companies will be fined for collusion.' — повідо́мили / оштрафу́ють are both subjectless plurals; за + accusative for the reason (за змо́ву = 'for collusion').
Headline passive 2 — the -но/-то impersonal "було оголошено"
The most newspaper-like form in the dialogue is було́ оголо́шено ("it was announced"). This is the -но/-то impersonal: a frozen neuter predicate built from a passive participle (оголо́шений → оголо́шено), with було́ for the past. It has no subject at all — not even an implied "they". This is the signature register of official announcements and headlines.
Було́ оголо́шено, що розслі́дування трива́тиме до кінця́ ро́ку.
'It was announced that the investigation will continue until the end of the year.' — було́ оголо́шено is the -но impersonal (subjectless past passive); до + genitive (кінця́).
У докуме́нті чі́тко напи́сано, хто несе́ відповіда́льність.
'It is clearly written in the document who bears responsibility.' — напи́сано is the -но impersonal present (no subject, no auxiliary).
Hedging — "ніби", "мабуть", "чесно кажучи"
To pass on something you are not sure of, Ukrainian has a set of hedges. Ні́би / на́че ("apparently / as if / supposedly") flag second-hand or doubtful information. Мабу́ть is "probably". And the discourse hedge че́сно ка́жучи ("honestly speaking") is a verbal adverb (ка́жучи) used to soften a frank admission.
Ні́би щось таке́ писа́ли і в газе́тах, але́ я не впе́внений.
'Apparently something like that was written in the papers too, but I'm not sure.' — ні́би flags the report as second-hand and uncertain.
Че́сно ка́жучи, я не впе́внений, що це лише́ ї́хня прови́на.
'Honestly, I'm not sure it's their fault alone.' — че́сно ка́жучи is a verbal-adverb hedge softening the admission.
See expressing modality and nuance.
Agreeing and disagreeing — graded stance
The dialogue is a small lesson in calibrated agreement. Зго́ден ("[I] agree", short adjective, masculine — a woman says зго́дна) can be partial: зго́ден частко́во ("I partly agree"). Full agreement escalates to ці́лком пого́джуюся ("I completely agree"). And хоча́ ("although") signals a coming concession.
Зго́ден частко́во, хоча́ я не впе́внений, що це лише́ ї́хня прови́на.
'I partly agree, though I'm not sure it's their fault alone.' — зго́ден частко́во = partial agreement; хоча́ flags the concession that follows.
Ці́лком пого́джуюся. Тре́ба зачека́ти, що ска́же суд.
'I completely agree. We need to wait and see what the court says.' — ці́лком пого́джуюся is full agreement; the embedded що ска́же суд keeps its future tense.
See cause-and-result connectors.
How this differs from English
English news-talk hangs on one frame — "I think that…" — and varies it with tone. Ukrainian asks you to choose your commitment level through the grammar itself: я ду́маю, що (a passing thought), я вважа́ю, що (a considered view), на мою́ ду́мку (a stated opinion), як на ме́не (a casual take). Mixing them up is not wrong but flattens your register; using вважа́ти for "I believe" is what makes an opinion sound weighed rather than blurted.
The hardest gap is reported speech. English religiously backshifts — "they said prices would rise". Ukrainian does not: the embedded verb keeps the tense the original speaker used (ка́жуть / каза́ли, що подорожча́є). English speakers instinctively backshift and produce subtly wrong Ukrainian. The second gap is the -но/-то impersonal (було́ оголо́шено), which has no clean English equivalent — English reaches for the passive "it was announced", but the Ukrainian form is more truly subjectless, carrying no agent at all, which is exactly why headlines and official statements love it.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ка́жуть, що ці́ни підви́щаться б.
Wrong — no backshift particle; the embedded future stays plain.
✅ Ка́жуть, що ці́ни підви́щаться.
'They say prices will rise.' — the future keeps its tense, no backshift.
❌ В моє́й ду́мці, уря́д помили́вся.
Wrong phrase — the fixed stance idiom is на мою́ ду́мку, not a literal 'in my opinion.'
✅ На мою́ ду́мку, уря́д помили́вся.
'In my opinion, the government made a mistake.'
❌ Було́ оголо́шений, що розслі́дування трива́тиме.
Wrong form — the -но impersonal is оголо́шено (frozen neuter), not the agreeing participle оголо́шений.
✅ Було́ оголо́шено, що розслі́дування трива́тиме.
'It was announced that the investigation will continue.'
❌ Я ду́маю, що уря́д ви́нен, я ду́маю, це пога́но.
Repeating ду́маю flattens the register — vary your stance frames.
✅ Я вважа́ю, що уря́д ви́нен, і, як на ме́не, це пога́но.
'I believe the government is at fault, and, if you ask me, that's bad.' — varied stance markers sound adult.
Phrases to reuse
- Ка́жуть, що… — "they say that…" (unattributed report, no backshift)
- На мою́ ду́мку / я вважа́ю, що… — "in my opinion / I believe that…"
- як на ме́не — "as far as I'm concerned / if you ask me"
- повідо́мили / було́ оголо́шено, що… — "it was reported / announced that…" (news passives)
- ні́би / че́сно ка́жучи — "apparently / honestly speaking" (hedges)
- зго́ден частко́во — ці́лком пого́джуюся — "I partly agree — I completely agree"
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Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- Stance and Opinion MarkersB1 — The comma-set parentheticals that let a Ukrainian speaker frame a proposition: opinion (на мою́ ду́мку / по-мо́єму 'in my opinion', я вважа́ю 'I consider', як на ме́не 'as for me'), certainty (безпере́чно 'undoubtedly', очеви́дно 'obviously', напе́вно 'surely'), hedging (ма́буть 'probably', мо́жливо 'perhaps', зда́ється 'it seems', ні́би / ні́бито 'supposedly'), evaluation (на жаль 'unfortunately', на ща́стя 'fortunately', чесно ка́жучи 'frankly'), and the reported-speech particle мовля́в — explaining that Ukrainian carries attitude through these comma-set adverbials, not through tone alone.
- Reported (Indirect) SpeechB1 — How to report what someone said — and the one rule English speakers must unlearn: Ukrainian does NOT backshift tenses. 'He said he would come' is Він сказа́в, що при́йде (the future is kept, not turned into 'would'); the embedded tense reflects the ORIGINAL utterance, not the reporting verb. Statements take що + comma; yes/no questions take чи ('whether'); wh-questions keep the question word; and commands/requests use щоб + the past form, never an infinitive.
- The -но / -то Impersonal PassiveB1 — The -но/-то predicative (безособо́ва фо́рма на -но/-то) is a hallmark of authentic Ukrainian that Russian lacks. Built from the passive-participle stem (прочи́тано, напи́сано, зро́блено, збудо́вано, відкри́то, забу́то), it is INVARIANT — it never agrees with anything — and forms an agentless, subjectless past passive: Кни́гу прочи́тано 'the book has been read', Робо́ту ви́конано 'the work has been completed', Вхід заборо́нено 'entry forbidden'. The logical object stays in the ACCUSATIVE (Кни́гу, not Кни́га), there is no grammatical subject, and було́ can be added for a past-perfect nuance (Робо́ту було́ ви́конано). This is the natural Ukrainian passive — everywhere in signs, news, and formal writing.
- Expressing Probability, Obligation, and AdviceC1 — How Ukrainian grades modal nuance with ADVERBS and predicatives rather than modal verbs. PROBABILITY ladder: можли́во 'maybe' < ма́буть 'probably' < напе́вно 'almost certainly' < ймові́рно 'likely', plus здає́ться 'it seems' and the future-of-probability (Він уже́, ма́буть, удо́ма). OBLIGATION ladder: тре́ба (need) < слід/ва́рто (should/worth) < пови́нен (ought, agreeing) < му́сити (must) < зобов’я́заний (obliged). ADVICE: ва́рто, кра́ще, ра́джу, на твоє́му мі́сці я б… and the softeners ма́ло не / ледь не / ча́сом не. The insight English speakers miss: nuanced modality is a matter of choosing the right adverb/predicative + construction, and advice leans on ва́рто/кра́ще/ра́джу + the conditional (на твоє́му мі́сці я б).
- Думати (to think)A2 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for ду́мати 'to think' — a perfectly regular vowel-stem first-conjugation verb (ду́маю, ду́маєш, ду́має…). It governs про + accusative ('think about someone': ду́маю про те́бе) and над + instrumental ('ponder, work through': ду́маю над зада́чею), and takes a що-clause for opinions ('think that…'). Covers the past ду́мав / ду́мала, all three futures, the imperative ду́май, the perfective поду́мати, and the key question Як ти ду́маєш? 'What do you think?'
- Connectors of Cause, Result, and PurposeB1 — How Ukrainian links reasons to outcomes: cause connectors (тому́ що / оскі́льки 'because/since', че́рез це 'because of this', and the distinctly Ukrainian justifying адже́ 'after all/since'), result connectors (тому́ 'that's why', о́тже 'thus', таки́м чи́ном 'in this way', в результа́ті 'as a result', тож 'so'), and purpose/conclusion markers (для цьо́го 'for this', з ціє́ю мето́ю 'with this aim', підсумо́вуючи 'to sum up', одни́м сло́вом 'in a word') — with the key contrast that тому́ means result ('therefore') while тому́ що means cause ('because').