Two strangers meet at a friend's housewarming and introduce themselves. This is the most common script you will ever run in a new language, so it is worth seeing it whole — not as a list of rules but as connected speech. Watch four things as you read: how Ukrainian says "my name is" with the accusative pronoun мене́, how origin uses з + genitive, how profession is stated with no verb "to be" at all, and how two adults who have just met use the polite ви until one of them suggests switching to ти.
The dialogue
Окса́на: До́брий день! Мене́ зва́ти Окса́на. А вас? Good afternoon! My name is Oksana. And you?
Бо́гдан: До́брий день, Окса́но! Я Бо́гдан. Ду́же приє́мно. Good afternoon, Oksana! I'm Bohdan. Very pleased to meet you.
Окса́на: Взаємно. Ви друг Анто́на? Likewise. Are you Anton's friend?
Бо́гдан: Так, ми ра́зом працю́ємо. А ви зві́дки? Yes, we work together. And where are you from?
Окса́на: Я з Льво́ва, але́ вже п’ять ро́ків живу́ в Ки́єві. А ви? I'm from Lviv, but I've been living in Kyiv for five years now. And you?
Бо́гдан: Я з Кана́ди, але́ батьки́ украї́нці. Я програмі́ст. А ви ким працю́єте? I'm from Canada, but my parents are Ukrainian. I'm a programmer. And what do you do?
Окса́на: Я працю́ю вчи́телькою, виклада́ю англі́йську. I work as a teacher, I teach English.
Бо́гдан: О, ціка́во! Слу́хайте, мо́жемо на ти? Oh, interesting! Listen, can we switch to "ty"?
Окса́на: Зві́сно, дава́й. Приє́мно познайо́митися, Бо́гдане. Of course, let's. Nice to meet you, Bohdan.
Line-by-line grammar
"My name is" — the accusative мене́
The most natural way to give your name is Мене́ зва́ти…, literally "(it) calls me." There is no word for "is" and no nominative "I." The pronoun мене́ is the accusative of я — you are the object of the calling, not the subject.
Мене́ зва́ти Окса́на.
'My name is Oksana' — literally '(they) call me Oksana.' мене́ is the accusative of я; this idiom has no verb 'to be.'
The reply trims the verb entirely: А вас? ("And you?"), where вас is the accusative/genitive of polite ви. Notice she does not repeat зва́ти — Ukrainian leaves out everything that can be guessed, which is what makes it sound like real speech. See the accusative forms and ти vs ви.
А вас?
'And you?' — вас is the accusative of polite ви, echoing 'Мене́ зва́ти' without repeating the verb.
A name in address — the vocative Окса́но / Бо́гдане
When Bohdan greets her back, her name changes shape: Окса́но, not Окса́на. Ukrainian still has a living vocative case used whenever you call or address someone by name. Feminine names in -а take -о (Окса́на → Окса́но); masculine names like Бо́гдан take -е (Бо́гдан → Бо́гдане).
До́брий день, Окса́но!
'Good afternoon, Oksana!' — Окса́но is the vocative of Окса́на (-а → -о), required when you address someone by name.
Приє́мно познайо́митися, Бо́гдане.
'Nice to meet you, Bohdan.' — Бо́гдане is the vocative of Бо́гдан, with the masculine ending -е.
Leaving the name in the nominative (Бо́гдан!) sounds foreign and slightly cold. See the vocative.
"Pleased to meet you" — fixed phrases
Ду́же приє́мно ("very pleasant") and Взаємно ("mutually / likewise") are frozen formulas — no verb, no subject. Learn them as single chunks, the way you learned "nice to meet you." Later in the dialogue the fuller verb form appears: приє́мно познайо́митися ("pleasant to get acquainted"), where познайо́митися is a perfective reflexive infinitive — the meeting is viewed as one complete event. See greetings and farewells.
Ду́же приє́мно.
'Very pleased (to meet you).' — a fixed nominal phrase with no verb; приє́мно is a predicative adverb, 'it is pleasant.'
Origin — з + genitive
To say where you are from, Ukrainian uses з ("from") plus the genitive. The city or country goes into the genitive: Львів → Льво́ва, Кана́да → Кана́ди. The pattern is rigid — з always governs the genitive here.
Я з Льво́ва.
'I'm from Lviv.' — з + genitive of origin; Львів shifts to Льво́ва (the і → о alternation in a closed-to-open syllable).
Я з Кана́ди.
'I'm from Canada.' — з + genitive; Кана́да → Кана́ди marks the source of origin.
Note Льво́ва, not "Львіва": the і of Львів becomes о once an ending is added, because the syllable stops being closed. This і/о swap is everywhere in Ukrainian and worth noticing early. See з + genitive of origin.
"Where from?" — зві́дки, and "in Kyiv"
The question word зві́дки ("from where") already contains the "from," so you do not add з. The answer about current residence uses в + locative: в Ки́єві ("in Kyiv"). Standard Ukrainian says в Києві, never the Russian-style construction — and the city is Kyiv, not Kiev.
А ви зві́дки?
'And where are you from?' — зві́дки already means 'from where,' so no preposition з is added.
Вже п’ять ро́ків живу́ в Ки́єві.
'I've been living in Kyiv for five years now.' — в + locative Ки́єві for location; п’ять ро́ків is genitive plural after the numeral 'five.'
Profession — no copula, or the instrumental
There are two ways to state a job. The plain identity statement drops "to be" completely: Я програмі́ст ("I [am a] programmer") — just pronoun + noun. But when the job is framed as an activity with працюва́ти ("to work as"), the profession goes into the instrumental: працю́ю вчи́телькою ("I work as a teacher").
Я програмі́ст.
'I'm a programmer.' — a bare predicate noun with no copula; Ukrainian needs no word for 'am' in the present tense.
Я працю́ю вчи́телькою.
'I work as a teacher.' — after працюва́ти the profession takes the instrumental: вчи́телька → вчи́телькою.
The question matches: Ким працю́єте? ("[as] whom do you work?") uses ким, the instrumental of хто. So Я студе́нт (bare noun) and Я працю́ю студе́нтом (instrumental) are both possible — the verb choice forces the case. See predicate noun vs instrumental.
А ви ким працю́єте?
'And what do you do?' — literally 'as whom do you work'; ким is the instrumental of хто, demanded by працюва́ти.
The ти/ви switch — and the particle дава́й
Throughout, the two use polite ви, the default between adult strangers. Bohdan then proposes the move to informal ти with the set phrase мо́жемо на ти? ("can we go to 'ty'?"). Oksana agrees with дава́й — literally the imperative "give," used as "let's / go on." This little particle is the engine of casual agreement in spoken Ukrainian.
Мо́жемо на ти?
'Can we switch to ty?' — the fixed phrase на ти / на ви describes which pronoun two people use with each other.
Зві́сно, дава́й.
'Of course, let's.' — дава́й (imperative of дава́ти, 'give') works as 'go ahead / let's,' the standard way to accept a suggestion.
How this differs from English
An English introduction is built around the verb "to be": I am Bohdan, I am from Canada, I am a programmer. Ukrainian rips the copula out of every one of those slots in the present tense. Я Бо́гдан, Я з Кана́ди, Я програмі́ст — three statements, zero verbs "to be." The work that English loads onto "am" is carried instead by case: the accusative мене́ signals "name," the genitive after з signals "origin," the instrumental after працюва́ти signals "role." English has nothing like this redistribution, so the instinct to insert є ("am") is the single most persistent transfer error English speakers make.
The second gap is the ти/ви distinction, which English lost centuries ago when "thou" disappeared. Modern English has one "you" for your boss and your toddler alike, so learners under-feel how loaded the choice is. In Ukrainian, defaulting to ти with a stranger can read as rude or over-familiar; ви is the safe adult-to-adult choice, and the switch to ти is a small social event that someone has to propose — exactly what Bohdan does with мо́жемо на ти?. Treat ви as your default until invited otherwise.
Common Mistakes
❌ Я зва́ти Окса́на.
Incorrect — the idiom needs the accusative мене́, not the nominative я.
✅ Мене́ зва́ти Окса́на.
Correct — 'My name is Oksana,' literally '(they) call me Oksana.'
❌ Я є програмі́ст.
Incorrect — Ukrainian drops 'to be' in the present; adding є sounds bookish and wrong here.
✅ Я програмі́ст.
Correct — a bare predicate noun, no copula.
❌ Я працю́ю вчи́телька.
Incorrect — after працюва́ти the profession must be instrumental, not nominative.
✅ Я працю́ю вчи́телькою.
Correct — 'I work as a teacher,' with the instrumental вчи́телькою.
❌ Я з Львів.
Incorrect — з governs the genitive; the city name must change, not stay in the nominative.
✅ Я з Льво́ва.
Correct — з + genitive Льво́ва (with the і → о shift).
❌ До́брий день, Бо́гдан!
Incorrect — when you address someone by name, use the vocative, not the nominative.
✅ До́брий день, Бо́гдане!
Correct — the vocative Бо́гдане for direct address.
Phrases to reuse
- Мене́ зва́ти… — "My name is…" (accusative мене́, no verb "to be")
- Ду́же приє́мно. / Взаємно. — "Very pleased to meet you. / Likewise."
- Я з + (genitive) — "I'm from…" (Я з Льво́ва, Я з Кана́ди)
- Я працю́ю + (instrumental) — "I work as a…" (вчи́телькою, програмі́стом)
- А ви зві́дки? — "And where are you from?"
- Мо́жемо на ти? — Дава́й. — "Can we switch to 'ty'? — Let's."
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- Greetings and FarewellsA1 — Everyday Ukrainian hellos and goodbyes with register and time-of-day. Greetings: Приві́т! (informal 'hi'), Добри́день! / До́брий день! 'good day', До́брого ра́нку! 'good morning', До́брий ве́чір! / Добри́вечір! 'good evening', Віта́ю! 'greetings', and the folksy Здоро́в був! / Здоро́ві були́!. Farewells: До поба́чення! 'goodbye' (lit. 'until our seeing'), Бува́й! / Бува́йте! (informal 'bye'), До зу́стрічі! 'see you', На добра́ніч! 'good night', Щасли́во! and Усьо́го найкра́щого! 'all the best'. The insight English speakers miss: Ukrainian often greets in the GENITIVE (До́брого ра́нку! — a wish 'of a good morning'), and farewells like До поба́чення literally mean 'until (our) seeing' (до + genitive); the choice Приві́т/Бува́й (informal) vs Добри́день/До поба́чення (neutral-formal) tracks the ти/ви relationship.
- Ти vs Ви: Informal and Formal YouA1 — English 'you' splits in two in Ukrainian: ти is singular and informal (family, friends, children, peers, God), while ви is both the plural 'you' and the polite singular for strangers, elders, and officials. The verb takes plural agreement with ви even for one person (Ви ма́єте ра́цію), the capitalized Ви signals respect in letters, and moving from ви to ти (перейти́ на «ти») is a real social step you often propose out loud.
- 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.
- Predicate Nouns: Nominative vs InstrumentalB1 — The case of the noun after 'to be' and its relatives flips with the verb form: in the present zero-copula it is NOMINATIVE (Він лі́кар), but with an overt бути in the past, future, or infinitive it goes INSTRUMENTAL (Він був лі́карем, Вона́ бу́де вчи́телькою, хо́чу бу́ти лі́карем). The same instrumental follows ста́ти/става́ти 'become,' працюва́ти 'work as,' залиша́тися 'remain,' назива́тися 'be called,' вважа́тися 'be considered' — so the same role changes case with the verb, a pattern English (which keeps 'a doctor' invariant) has no analogue for.
- Accusative: FormsA1 — The accusative (знахідний) is the direct-object case, and only feminine -а/-я nouns have an ending of their own (-у/-ю: книгу, школу); everything else borrows its accusative from the nominative (things: бачу стіл) or the genitive (living beings: бачу брата), with animacy as the switch.
- The Vocative Case: OverviewA1 — Ukrainian's living seventh case — the vocative (кли́чний відмі́нок), used whenever you call or address someone directly. Unlike Russian, which lost it, Ukrainian keeps it fully alive and obligatory: Іва́не!, ма́мо!, дру́же!, па́не!, Марі́є!, Тара́се Григо́ровичу! Using the nominative to address a person sounds foreign and faintly rude.