Оренда квартири: Renting an Apartment

Renting a flat forces you to say where things are, how much they cost, what the place has, and how it compares to another — which means the locative case, the genitive plural of currency, possessive у constructions, and comparatives all in one conversation. This dialogue follows Іри́на viewing an apartment that the landlord, пан Петро́, is renting out. Read it for the situation first, then work through how each case and comparison does its job.

The dialogue

Іри́на: Добри́день! Я телефонува́ла з приво́ду кварти́ри. Мо́жна подиви́тися? Hello! I called about the apartment. May I take a look?

Пан Петро́: Зві́сно, заходьте. Ось віта́льня, а ку́хня там, право́руч. Of course, come in. Here's the living room, and the kitchen is over there, on the right.

Іри́на: У віта́льні до́сить сві́тло. А скі́льки кімна́т усьо́го? It's quite bright in the living room. And how many rooms are there in total?

Пан Петро́: Дві кімна́ти й ку́хня. На ку́хні є вся те́хніка: плита́, холоди́льник, посудоми́йка. Two rooms and a kitchen. In the kitchen there's all the appliances: stove, fridge, dishwasher.

Іри́на: А скі́льки ко́штує о́ренда на мі́сяць? And how much is the rent per month?

Пан Петро́: Двана́дцять ти́сяч гри́вень плюс комуна́льні по́слуги. Twelve thousand hryvnias plus utilities.

Іри́на: Тро́хи до́рого. А чи мо́жна тро́хи деше́вше, якщо́ на рік? A bit expensive. Could it be a little cheaper if it's for a year?

Пан Петро́: Мо́жна одина́дцять ти́сяч. Ця кварти́ра бі́льша за сусі́дню, але́ я гото́вий поступи́тися. We can do eleven thousand. This flat is bigger than the one next door, but I'm willing to give a bit.

Іри́на: Чудо́во. У вас є інтерне́т і пра́льна маши́на? Wonderful. Do you have internet and a washing machine?

Пан Петро́: Усе́ є. Якщо́ вас усе́ влашто́вує, мо́жемо підписа́ти до́говір. Everything's there. If everything suits you, we can sign the contract.

Line-by-line grammar

Turn 1 — the polite request: Мо́жна…? and verb government

Мо́жна? ("is it permitted / may one?") is the impersonal request word — no subject, just the bare infinitive after it. The fuller, more careful version uses the question particle чи: Чи мо́жна…? (Turn 7). The perfective infinitive подиви́тися ("to take a look," a single completed glance) is chosen over imperfective диви́тися ("to be looking") because she wants one viewing. З приво́ду ("regarding, on the matter of") governs the genitive кварти́ри. The feminine past телефонува́ла tells you the caller is a woman. See the question particle чи.

Turn 2 — the contrastive а, and direction words

Ось ("here is") presents something in view. The connector а contrasts the two rooms side by side ("here is X, and over there is Y") — a balanced juxtaposition, not an objection. Both віта́льня and ку́хня are nominative here because they are the subjects being pointed out, with the copula "to be" silent. Право́руч ("to/on the right") is an adverb needing no preposition.

Turn 3 — the locative for location: у віта́льні

To say where something is, Ukrainian uses у/в + the locative case: у віта́льні (from віта́льня). The locative is the case of static location — "in the living room" as a place, not a destination. Сві́тло here is a predicate adverb in an impersonal sentence: "[it is] bright," with no subject at all, a very common Ukrainian pattern for describing conditions. See uses of the locative.

The quantity word скі́льки ("how many") forces the counted noun into the genitive plural: кімна́т (from кімна́та, with the zero ending typical of feminine genitive plural). Усьо́го ("in total") is the genitive of усе́ used adverbially.

Turn 4 — на + locative for another room, and existential є

Crucial contrast: the kitchen takes на + locative (на ку́хні), not у. A handful of common places idiomatically use на rather than у for "in/at" — на ку́хні, на по́шті, на робо́ті — and the kitchen is the one renters meet first, so memorize на ку́хні. The existential є ("there is/are") asserts that the appliances exist in the space; вся те́хніка ("all the appliances") is the subject in the nominative. See the existential and possessive є.

Turn 5 — asking the price: скі́льки ко́штує

Скі́льки ко́штує…? ("how much does … cost?") is the fixed way to ask a price; ко́штувати is the verb "to cost." На мі́сяць ("per month / for a month") uses на + accusative to express the rate or period covered.

Turn 6 — prices and the genitive plural of currency: гри́вень

Numerals five and above (and ти́сяча, "thousand") put the counted noun into the genitive plural: гри́вень is the genitive plural of гри́вня (the Ukrainian currency). Note the form — гри́вня → гри́вень, with a fleeting е filling the final consonant cluster. After ти́сяч (itself genitive plural of ти́сяча after двана́дцять), the currency stays genitive plural: ти́сяч гри́вень. Комуна́льні по́слуги ("communal services / utilities") is a fixed phrase. See the genitive after numbers.

Turn 7 — the softened request and the comparative деше́вше

Here the full Чи мо́жна…? makes the request more tentative and polite than bare Мо́жна. Деше́вше is the comparative adverb "cheaper" (from деше́во, "cheaply") — comparatives in -ше/-іше cover both "more cheaply" and, predicatively, "cheaper." Тро́хи ("a little") hedges the ask. Якщо́ на рік ("if for a year") offers a condition. See forming the comparative.

Turn 8 — the comparative adjective бі́льша за

Бі́льша is the comparative adjective "bigger" (feminine, agreeing with кварти́ра). The standard of comparison — "than X" — is expressed with за + accusative: за сусі́дню [кварти́ру] ("than the neighbouring one"). This за + accusative is the everyday spoken comparison; the alternative ніж + nominative (бі́льша, ніж сусі́дня) is slightly more formal. Поступи́тися ("to give way, make a concession") is perfective — a single act of yielding on the price. See comparative constructions.

Turn 9 — у вас є possession

Ukrainian has no verb "to have" in everyday use. Possession is expressed as у/в + genitive of the possessor + є + the thing possessed in the nominative: у вас є інтерне́т = literally "at you there-is internet" = "you have internet." Вас is the genitive of ви. The thing owned (інтерне́т, пра́льна маши́на) stays nominative — it is the grammatical subject of є. This is the construction that replaces "to have" across the whole language, so it is worth more practice than almost anything else here. See the possessive construction.

Turn 10 — closing the deal

Влашто́вувати ("to suit, to be acceptable to") takes the person in the accusative (вас) and the thing that suits in the nominative (усе́): "if everything suits you." Мо́жемо ("we can") plus the perfective infinitive підписа́ти ("to sign," one completed act) points to the single concluding action; до́говір is the accusative object. The euphonic й would replace і here between vowels, but after the consonant of до́говір the plain forms stand.

Common Mistakes

Phrases to reuse

• Мо́жна подиви́тися? — "May I take a look?" (the viewing request)
• Скі́льки ко́штує о́ренда на мі́сяць? — "How much is the rent per month?"
• Чи мо́жна тро́хи деше́вше? — "Could it be a bit cheaper?" (the polite haggle)
• У вас є…? — "Do you have…?" (asking about features)
• На ку́хні є вся те́хніка — "The kitchen has all the appliances"
• Мо́жемо підписа́ти до́говір — "We can sign the contract" (closing the deal)