Two flatmates split up the day's errands — the post office, the pharmacy, the shop, the bank. This is the everyday machinery of getting things done, and it puts four A2 patterns to work at once: motion verbs aimed at a destination (до ба́нку, в апте́ку, на по́шту), тре́ба + infinitive for "I need to", за + instrumental for fetching something (піти́ за хлі́бом, "go for bread"), and the little sequencing words спе́ршу… по́тім that string the trip together. Read it once as a conversation, then use the line-by-line notes to see why each form was chosen.
The dialogue
Окса́на: Сла́во, що нам тре́ба сього́дні зроби́ти? Slava, what do we need to do today?
Яросла́в: Спе́ршу тре́ба сходи́ти на по́шту — там лежи́ть поси́лка. First we need to go to the post office — there's a parcel waiting there.
Окса́на: До́бре. А по́тім? Okay. And then?
Яросла́в: По́тім я зайду́ в апте́ку, тре́ба купи́ти лі́ки для ма́ми. Then I'll pop into the pharmacy, I need to buy medicine for Mum.
Окса́на: А я тоді́ збі́гаю в магази́н за хлі́бом і молоко́м. And I'll then run to the shop for bread and milk.
Яросла́в: Чудо́во. І ще тре́ба заї́хати до ба́нку, заплати́ти за кварти́ру. Great. And we also need to drop by the bank, to pay for the flat.
Окса́на: До ба́нку кра́ще пої́хати, бо це дале́ко. Пі́демо чи пої́демо? It's better to drive to the bank, it's far. Shall we walk or drive?
Яросла́в: Пої́демо авто́бусом, так шви́дше. We'll take the bus, it's quicker that way.
Окса́на: Гара́зд. То зустрі́немося вдо́ма о шо́стій? Alright. So shall we meet at home at six?
Яросла́в: Так. Тільки не забу́дь паспо́рт — без ньо́го в ба́нку нічо́го не зро́биш. Yes. Just don't forget your passport — you can't do anything at the bank without it.
Line-by-line grammar
"What do we need to do?" — тре́ба + dative + infinitive
The workhorse of the whole dialogue is тре́ба ('it is necessary'). It is impersonal — there is no "I" or "we" as a subject. The person who needs to do something goes in the dative (here нам, 'to us'), and the action is an infinitive: нам тре́ба зроби́ти = "to-us it-is-necessary to-do".
Що нам тре́ба сього́дні зроби́ти?
'What do we need to do today?' — тре́ба is impersonal; нам is dative ('to us'), and зроби́ти is the infinitive. There is no nominative subject at all.
Notice зроби́ти is perfective — we are talking about getting the whole list done, finished, not about the ongoing process of doing things.
"First… then" — спе́ршу and по́тім
Errands come in order, and Ukrainian sequences them with спе́ршу ('first') and по́тім ('then, afterwards'). They are adverbs and usually open the clause, exactly where English puts "first" and "then".
Спе́ршу тре́ба сходи́ти на по́шту.
'First we need to go to the post office.' — спе́ршу ('first') opens the sequence; сходи́ти is a there-and-back trip (go and return).
The verb сходи́ти is special: it means "go and come back" — a quick round trip — which is exactly what an errand is. You are not moving to the post office permanently; you go, collect the parcel, return.
Destinations — на по́шту, в апте́ку, до ба́нку
This is the heart of the page. Where you are heading decides the preposition, and the destination always takes a case after a motion verb:
- на + accusative for the post office: на по́шту. Like many public/functional places, по́шта takes на, not в.
- в (у) + accusative for enclosed places: в апте́ку, в магази́н.
- до + genitive for "up to / to" a building, very common with banks, shops, people: до ба́нку.
Спе́ршу тре́ба сходи́ти на по́шту.
'First we need to go to the post office.' — по́шта takes на + accusative (на по́шту), one of the set of places that pattern with на rather than в.
По́тім я зайду́ в апте́ку.
'Then I'll pop into the pharmacy.' — в + accusative апте́ку for an enclosed place; зайду́ (perfective of заходити) means 'drop in briefly.'
Ще тре́ба заї́хати до ба́нку.
'We also need to drop by the bank.' — до + genitive (ба́нку) for heading to a building; заї́хати adds 'by vehicle, in passing.'
The choice of на vs в is one of the things learners get wrong most; the place-by-place logic is on the в/на page, and the spatial set as a whole on motion verbs overview.
"For bread" — за + instrumental for fetching
To go for something — to fetch it — Ukrainian uses за + instrumental, not "for" + the thing. So "run to the shop for bread and milk" is в магази́н за хлі́бом і молоко́м: за + the instrumental of what you are fetching.
Я збі́гаю в магази́н за хлі́бом і молоко́м.
'I'll run to the shop for bread and milk.' — за + instrumental (хлі́бом, молоко́м) means 'to fetch'; збі́гаю is a quick perfective run-and-return.
Do not translate the English "for" with для here — для is "for the benefit of someone", which is a different idea (and appears correctly later: лі́ки для ма́ми, "medicine for Mum"). For fetching, it is always за + instrumental. See the за preposition.
Тре́ба купи́ти лі́ки для ма́ми.
'I need to buy medicine for Mum.' — here для + genitive (ма́ми) is the benefactive 'for' — for Mum's benefit — contrasting with за + instr. for fetching.
Walk or drive? — піти́ vs пої́хати
Ukrainian forces a choice English does not: on foot vs by vehicle. Піти́ / пі́демо is going on foot; пої́хати / пої́демо is going by transport. When Oksana says the bank is far, she switches to the vehicle verb on purpose.
До ба́нку кра́ще пої́хати, бо це дале́ко.
'It's better to drive to the bank, it's far.' — пої́хати is the by-vehicle motion verb, chosen because the bank is too far to walk.
Пі́демо чи пої́демо?
'Shall we walk or drive?' — the minimal pair: пі́демо (on foot) vs пої́демо (by vehicle), the choice Ukrainian always makes explicit.
The full contrast is on піти vs поїхати. The means of transport itself goes in the instrumental: пої́демо авто́бусом ("we'll go by bus").
Пої́демо авто́бусом, так шви́дше.
'We'll take the bus, it's quicker.' — the vehicle авто́бус goes into the bare instrumental (авто́бусом), no preposition needed for 'by bus.'
A euphonic touch — в vs у
You may notice в апте́ку but у магази́н could equally appear. Ukrainian swaps в / у (and і / й) to keep sound flowing — у between consonants, в next to a vowel. So after the vowel of я зайду́ you get в апте́ку. This is automatic euphony, not a meaning change; see euphonic variants.
То зустрі́немося вдо́ма о шо́стій?
'So shall we meet at home at six?' — зустрі́немося is the reflexive 'meet each other'; о + locative (шо́стій) tells the time, 'at six.'
Common Mistakes
❌ Я йду на апте́ку.
Incorrect — апте́ка is an enclosed place and takes в, not на.
✅ Я йду в апте́ку.
Correct — в + accusative for an enclosed destination.
❌ Я біжу́ в магази́н для хлі́ба.
Incorrect — 'for bread' in the fetching sense is за + instrumental, not для + genitive.
✅ Я біжу́ в магази́н за хлі́бом.
Correct — за + instrumental (хлі́бом) means 'to fetch bread.'
❌ Мені́ тре́ба йду на по́шту.
Incorrect — тре́ба takes an infinitive, not a conjugated verb.
✅ Мені́ тре́ба піти́ на по́шту.
Correct — тре́ба + infinitive (піти́).
❌ Пої́демо авто́бус.
Incorrect — 'by bus' is the bare instrumental, авто́бусом, not the nominative.
✅ Пої́демо авто́бусом.
Correct — instrumental of means, авто́бусом.
Phrases to reuse
- Що нам тре́ба зроби́ти? — "What do we need to do?" (тре́ба + dative + infinitive)
- Спе́ршу… по́тім… — "First… then…" (sequencing a list of errands)
- сходи́ти на по́шту / зайти́ в апте́ку / заї́хати до ба́нку — destination + its case after a motion verb
- піти́ за хлі́бом — "go for bread" (за + instrumental = to fetch)
- Пі́демо чи пої́демо? — "Shall we walk or drive?" (on-foot vs by-vehicle)
- пої́хати авто́бусом — "go by bus" (means of transport in the instrumental)
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- Піти, Поїхати and the Inceptive По-B1 — The high-frequency inceptive по- verbs that mean 'set off / head off'. ПІТИ́ (perfective, по+іти́): set out on foot — Він пішо́в додо́му 'he went/left home', Я піду́ за́втра 'I'll go tomorrow', and the idiomatic Ході́мо! / Пішли́! 'let's go!'. ПОЇ́ХАТИ (perfective): set off by vehicle — Вони́ пої́хали до Льво́ва 'they went/left for Lviv'. These are the DEFAULT way to say someone 'went (off)' as a single completed departure — distinct from round-trip ходи́в and on-the-way ішо́в.
- В/У vs На: A Persistent DifficultyB1 — The в/у-vs-на choice for English 'in/at/to' is one of Ukrainian's stubbornest puzzles because it does not map onto 'in' vs 'on'. The clean half of the rule is spatial — enclosed spaces and most place-names take в/у (в кімна́ті, в Украї́ні, у Льво́ві), while surfaces and open areas take на (на столі́, на ву́лиці). The messy half is a lexicalised set where на marks events, activities and certain institutions seen as functions rather than buildings (на робо́ті, на по́шті, на вокза́лі, на заво́ді), an idiosyncratic split you must learn word-by-word — so 'at work' is на робо́ті but 'at school' is в шко́лі. And one form is a political fault line: в Украї́ні is the only correct standard Ukrainian, на Україні the Russian-imperial relic.
- The Many Uses of ЗаB1 — За is a two-case preposition whose meaning is read off the case. With the INSTRUMENTAL it is static: 'behind / beyond' (за до́мом, за кордо́ном), 'at' a table or task (за столо́м, за робо́тою), 'after / following' (оди́н за о́дним), and 'to fetch' (піти́ за хлі́бом). With the ACCUSATIVE it is dynamic or transactional: motion 'behind' (за ріг), 'for / in exchange for' (дя́кую за допомо́гу, плати́ти за ка́ву), 'within' a future time-span (за годи́ну, за ти́ждень), 'by' a body part (за́ руку), and — crucially — the comparative 'than' (ста́рший за ме́не). With the GENITIVE it means 'in the era of' (за часі́в, за Шевче́нка). The split за стіл (motion) vs за столо́м (location) is the same motion-vs-location switch that runs through the whole preposition system.
- Genitive: Possession and 'of'A2 — How Ukrainian shows possession and the English 'of' relationship — by putting the owner in the genitive AFTER the thing owned (кни́га бра́та 'the brother's book', центр мі́ста 'the centre of the city'), with no apostrophe-s and no separate word for 'of', and with the WHOLE possessor phrase declining (маши́на мого́ дру́га), contrasted with possessive pronouns like мій/твій that agree instead.
- Verbs of Motion: OverviewA2 — A single English 'go' splits into FOUR base verbs by mode (on foot іти́/ходи́ти vs by vehicle ї́хати/ї́здити) AND directionality — unidirectional (one trip, one way, in progress: іду́) vs multidirectional (habitual, round-trip, general: ходжу́). This base two-by-two of mode × direction is the foundation of the whole motion system, before prefixes (прийти́, піти́, ви́йти) add direction and aspect on top.
- Euphonic Variants: з/із/зі, у/в, від/одB1 — The euphonic preposition variants — з/із/зі ('with, from'), у/в ('in'), and від/од ('from') — are the SAME preposition in different phonetic clothing, chosen purely to smooth the boundary between sounds: з before a vowel or single consonant, зі before з/с/ш/щ-clusters, із to break an awkward consonant pile-up; у after a consonant or at a pause, в after a vowel. The choice never touches case or meaning — it parallels the word-level в/у and і/й euphony and is one of the clearest markers of native-like, polished Ukrainian.