Про сім’ю: Talking About Family | Ukrainian Grammar

Two friends compare notes on their families. This is where Ukrainian's favourite way of saying "to have" comes out: not a verb but the existential frame у ме́не є ("at me there is"). Watch how possession lives in the genitive of the owner, how свій ("one's own") replaces the possessive when it points back to the subject, how the verb ма́ти can do the same job with the accusative, and how age is built entirely on the dative — Йому́ де́сять ро́ків ("he is ten"). And note the apostrophe in сім’я́, written with the proper ’.

The dialogue

Окса́на: У те́бе є бра́ти чи се́стри? Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Мари́на: Так, у ме́не є ста́рший брат і моло́дша сестра́. А в те́бе? Yes, I have an older brother and a younger sister. And you?
Окса́на: Я одна́ в батькі́в. Зате́ ма́ю двох двоюрі́дних сесте́р. А скі́льки ро́ків твоє́му ста́ршому бра́тові? I'm an only child. But I have two cousins. And how old is your older brother?
Мари́на: Моє́му бра́тові два́дцять во́сім. Він уже́ ма́є свою́ сім’ю́. My brother is twenty-eight. He already has his own family.
Окса́на: О, то ти вже ті́тка! А ді́ти є? Oh, so you're an aunt already! Any kids?
Мари́на: Так, син. Йому́ де́сять ро́ків, хо́дить у п’я́тий клас. Yes, a son. He's ten years old, he's in fifth grade.
Окса́на: Як швидко́ ро́стуть! А батьки́ де живу́ть? How fast they grow! And where do your parents live?
Мари́на: У рі́дному мі́сті. Ми ча́сто їх навіща́ємо. In their hometown. We visit them often.

Line-by-line grammar

"To have" — у ме́не є

The default Ukrainian way to say "I have" is у ме́не є — literally "at me there is." The owner goes into the genitive after у (ме́не = genitive of я, те́бе = genitive of ти), the thing owned stays in the nominative as the real subject, and є ("there is") is the verb. So in у ме́не є брат, брат is nominative — it is what exists.

У те́бе є бра́ти чи се́стри?

'Do you have brothers or sisters?' — у + genitive те́бе marks the owner; бра́ти/се́стри stay nominative as the things that 'exist.'

У ме́не є ста́рший брат і моло́дша сестра́.

'I have an older brother and a younger sister.' — у ме́не є + nominative; the adjectives ста́рший / моло́дша agree with their nouns.

See the existential-possessive construction.

The verb ма́ти — + accusative

Ukrainian also has a real verb ма́ти ("to have"), and unlike у ме́не є, it takes a direct object in the accusative: ма́ю двох двоюрі́дних сесте́р ("I have two cousins"). ма́ти feels a touch more formal or emphatic than у ме́не є, and it is the form you must use after numbers and in many fixed phrases. Notice двох… сесте́р: after "two" with a feminine animate noun, you get the accusative-genitive двох + genitive plural сесте́р.

Ма́ю двох двоюрі́дних сесте́р.

'I have two cousins.' — ма́ти takes the accusative; with the animate count двох, сестра́ goes to the genitive-plural form сесте́р.

Він уже́ ма́є свою́ сім’ю́.

'He already has his own family.' — ма́є + accusative сім’ю́ (сім’я́ → сім’ю́); свою́ is the accusative of свій agreeing with it.

See ма́ти vs у ме́не є. The word сім’я́ carries the apostrophe (see the apostrophe); its accusative is сім’ю́.

Possessives — твій, мій — and свій

Ordinary possessives твій ("your"), мій / моя́ / моє́ ("my") agree in gender, number and case with the noun they modify: твоє́му бра́тові ("to your brother," dative), моє́му бра́тові (also dative). But when the possessor is the subject of the same clause, Ukrainian switches to свій ("one's own"). Marina's brother has свою́ сім’ю́ — his own family — because він (he) is the subject. Using його́ сім’ю́ there would suggest someone else's family.

Моє́му бра́тові два́дцять во́сім.

'My brother is twenty-eight.' — моє́му бра́тові is dative (the age construction); моє́му agrees with бра́тові in case.

Він ма́є свою́ сім’ю́, а не його́.

'He has his own family, not his (someone else's).' — свою́ points back to the subject він; його́ would mean a different man's family.

See possessive pronouns.

Age — the dative

This is the headline grammar point. Ukrainian does not say "he is ten." It says Йому́ де́сять ро́ків — "to-him ten years." The person whose age it is goes into the dative (йому́ = dative of він, бра́тові = dative of брат), and there is no verb at all in the present. The number governs the noun years: after де́сять (and 5+), it is the genitive plural ро́ків.

Йому́ де́сять ро́ків.

'He is ten years old.' — the dative йому́ ('to him') carries the age; after де́сять, рік → ро́ків (genitive plural); no verb 'to be.'

Скі́льки ро́ків твоє́му бра́тові?

'How old is your brother?' — the age question puts the person in the dative (бра́тові) and asks 'how many years to him.'

See uses of the dative. Watch the number-noun match: оди́н рік, два/три/чоти́ри ро́ки, п’ять+ ро́ків — the same 2–4 vs 5+ split as everywhere else.

Natural particles — зате́, то, є

Real family chat is full of small connectors. Зате́ ("but on the other hand / to make up for it") concedes and pivots: Я одна́ в батькі́в. Зате́ ма́ю… ("I'm an only child — but I do have…"). То here is a soft "so/then" (то ти вже ті́тка!). And the answer А ді́ти є? drops everything except є ("are there [any]?"), the bare existential.

Я одна́ в батькі́в, зате́ ма́ю двох сесте́р.

'I'm an only child, but I do have two cousins.' — зате́ pivots, conceding one point and offering a compensating one.

А ді́ти є?

'Any kids?' — the bare existential є ('are there'), with the owner left implicit from context.

Visiting — навіща́ємо + accusative, їх

The closer Ми ча́сто їх навіща́ємо ("we often visit them") shows навіща́ти ("to visit"), which takes a direct object in the accusative: їх ("them," accusative of вони́). The location у рі́дному мі́сті ("in the hometown") uses у + locative.

Ми ча́сто їх навіща́ємо.

'We often visit them.' — навіща́ти takes the accusative object їх ('them'); ча́сто = 'often.'

How this differs from English

English builds family talk on two verbs it treats as basic: "to have" ("I have a brother") and "to be" ("he is ten"). Ukrainian quietly avoids both. Possession most naturally goes through the existential frame у ме́не є — "at me there is a brother" — where the owner sits in the genitive and the thing owned stays nominative, the reverse of the English subject-object layout. There is a real verb ма́ти ("to have"), and you will use it, but it is the marked, slightly more formal option, where English makes "have" the unmarked default. Reaching for ма́ти every time, English-style, sounds stiff; у ме́не є is the everyday choice.

Age is even further from English. "He is ten" has a subject ("he"), the verb "to be," and a number. Ukrainian has none of the first two: Йому́ де́сять ро́ків is "to-him ten years," with the person in the dative and no verb at all. The dative says "this state belongs to him" — the same logic behind "to me it is cold." English speakers instinctively look for a subject and a copula and find neither, so the temptation is to invent він є де́сять, which is simply wrong. Finally, свій ("one's own") has no English equivalent: English uses "his/her/their" and lets context disambiguate, but Ukrainian forces свій whenever the owner is the clause's subject, precisely to prevent the ambiguity English tolerates.

Common Mistakes

❌ Я ма́ю брат.

Incorrect — ма́ти needs an accusative object; with an animate masculine noun the form must be accusative.

✅ У ме́не є брат. / Я ма́ю бра́та.

Correct — either the existential nominative (брат) or ма́ти + accusative (бра́та).

❌ Він є де́сять ро́ків.

Incorrect — age uses the dative and no verb; 'він є' is wrong here.

✅ Йому́ де́сять ро́ків.

Correct — the dative йому́, no copula.

❌ Він ма́є його́ сім’ю́.

Incorrect — when the owner is the clause subject, use свій, not його́ (which points to someone else).

✅ Він ма́є свою́ сім’ю́.

Correct — свою́ (the reflexive possessive) refers back to він.

❌ Йому́ де́сять рік.

Incorrect — after де́сять the noun is genitive plural ро́ків, not the singular рік.

✅ Йому́ де́сять ро́ків.

Correct — genitive plural ро́ків after the number ten.

💡

Two of the most useful family patterns deliberately avoid a verb for 'to be.' Possession is у ме́не є + nominative ('at me there is a…'), and age is dative + number + ро́ків ('to-him ten years'). If you find yourself reaching for є / 'is' in an age sentence, stop — Ukrainian leaves it out entirely.

Phrases to reuse

У ме́не є… — "I have…" (genitive owner + nominative thing)
У те́бе є…? — "Do you have…?"
Я ма́ю… — "I have…" (ма́ти + accusative)
Скі́льки ро́ків…? — "How old is…?" (person in the dative)
Йому́ де́сять ро́ків. — "He is ten years old."
свою́ сім’ю́ — "one's own family" (свій + сім’я́)

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