«Заповіт» ("Testament") is the most famous poem in the Ukrainian language. Taras Shevchenko wrote it on 25 December 1845 in Pereiaslav while gravely ill, believing he might be dying; it has since been set to music, sung as a near-anthem, and translated into roughly 150 languages. For a B2 learner it is the perfect bridge from textbook grammar to real literature: the language is folk-plain, every word is transparent, and yet the syntax is poetically marked in ways worth slowing down over. We annotate only the first two stanzas — exactly what we quote — so that every line you read here is one you can also parse.
The text
Як умру́, то похова́йте Мене́ на моги́лі, Серед сте́пу широ́кого, На Вкраї́ні ми́лій, Щоб лани́ широкопо́лі, І Дніпро́, і кру́чі Було́ ви́дно, було́ чу́ти, Як реве́ реву́чий.
When I die, then bury me On a burial mound (grave-hill), Amid the wide steppe, In my dear Ukraine, So that the broad-acred fields, And the Dnipro, and the steep banks Might be seen, might be heard — How [the river] roars, the roaring one.
This is canonical, public-domain text (Shevchenko, 1845). The translation is line-by-line and literal, to keep the grammar visible; it does not try to reproduce the rhyme.
Line-by-line grammar
«Як умру́, то похова́йте» — the як…то condition
The opening is a conditional/temporal frame: як… то… — "when / if…, then…". як умру́ uses the perfective future умру́ (from уме́рти / поме́рти, "to die") with present-tense endings — Ukrainian forms the simple future of a perfective verb with the same endings as the present, so умру́ literally looks like a present but means "I will (have) die(d)." то ("then") opens the main clause. This як…то pairing is the everyday way to say "when X happens, then Y" and is far more common in speech than English speakers expect.
Як прийде́ весна́, то пої́демо на да́чу.
When spring comes, we'll go to the country house.
Як зда́си і́спит, то відсвяткує́мо.
When you pass the exam, we'll celebrate.
похова́йте — the imperative, and the synthetic future inside it
похова́йте is a 2nd person plural imperative of the perfective похова́ти ("to bury"). The plural -те here is not "you all" so much as the respectful, weighty "you" a dying poet uses to address his people. The imperative is built on the present/future stem: похова́й (singular) → похова́йте (plural). Note the perfective aspect: this is a single, complete act ("bury me"), not a process — exactly what the imperative of a one-time request wants.
Похова́йте ці папе́ри в архі́в, вони́ ще знадо́бляться.
File these papers away in the archive — they'll come in useful.
Не забу́дьте ви́мкнути світло, коли́ йти́мете.
Don't forget to turn off the light when you leave.
For how imperatives are built across the conjugations, see The Imperative: Formation.
«Мене́ на моги́лі» — marked word order
Prose order would be похова́йте мене́ на моги́лі. Shevchenko splits the imperative похова́йте onto the previous line and lets мене́ ("me," accusative) open the new one. Fronting the object мене́ is marked, emphatic word order: the whole poem is about me — my body, my burial, my Ukraine — so мене́ carries the weight. Ukrainian's free word order lets the poet foreground it without any change in grammar. на моги́лі is locative (location, "on the grave-mound"), governed by на.
Мене́ ця істо́рія зо́всім не здивува́ла.
That story didn't surprise me at all (object fronted for emphasis).
On why Ukrainian word order is free but not random, see Word Order: Free but Not Random.
«Серед сте́пу широ́кого» — genitive after серед
серед ("amid, in the middle of") is a genitive-governing preposition: степ ("steppe") becomes сте́пу, and its adjective широ́кий agrees in the genitive as широ́кого. So the whole phrase is genitive singular: "amid the wide steppe." Watch the agreement chain — preposition sets the case, noun and adjective both follow.
Серед но́чі задзвони́в телефо́н.
In the middle of the night the phone rang.
Серед лі́та раптом похолода́ло.
In the middle of summer it suddenly turned cold.
«На Вкраї́ні ми́лій» — the euphonic В- and a poetic locative
This line carries the most famous grammatical feature of the poem. The country is Украї́на, but here it appears as Вкраї́ні — with an added в- at the front. This is the euphonic у/в alternation applied to a word: after the vowel-final на… the form Вкраї́ні flows better than на Украї́ні (which would stack na-u-…). Modern standard Ukrainian keeps this alternation alive; в Украї́ні / на Вкраї́ні are both heard, and Shevchenko chose the в- form for rhythm. (Note for learners: the modern standard preposition with the country is в Украї́ні, "in Ukraine," not "на" — the на here is poetic/older usage; do not generalise it to modern prose.) ми́лій is the locative singular feminine of ми́лий ("dear"), agreeing with Вкраї́ні.
Я наро́дився в Украї́ні, а виріс за кордо́ном.
I was born in Ukraine and grew up abroad (modern standard: в Україні).
Учо́ра ми бага́то ходи́ли, і я геть стоми́вся.
Yesterday we walked a lot, and I got completely tired (в → у after a consonant for euphony).
The whole у/в, з/із/зі, від/од system is set out in Euphonic Variants.
«Щоб лани́ широкопо́лі… було́ ви́дно, було́ чу́ти» — purpose + impersonal
щоб ("so that, in order that") opens a purpose clause. Inside it the construction is impersonal: було́ ви́дно ("[it] was visible / one could see") and було́ чу́ти ("[it] was audible / one could hear"). These are subjectless predicative-adverb constructions — ви́дно and чу́ти are not verbs agreeing with a subject; they are impersonal predicates, with було́ (neuter past of бу́ти) supplying tense. The "things seen and heard" — лани́ ("fields"), Дніпро́, кру́чі ("steep banks") — are not the grammatical subject but the objects of perception. English has to invent a subject ("so that the fields might be seen"); Ukrainian needs none.
Зві́дси було́ ви́дно все мі́сто як на доло́ні.
From here you could see the whole city laid out below.
Кру́гом було́ ти́хо, тільки десь чу́ти со́баку.
All around it was quiet, only a dog audible somewhere.
This subjectless type is described in Impersonal and Subjectless Sentences; the missing present-tense copula behind було́ is in The Present of Бути.
«Як реве́ реву́чий» — figura etymologica
The closing line is a deliberate sound-play: реве́ ("[it] roars," 3rd person sg present of реве́ти) paired with реву́чий ("the roaring one," an active participle/adjective used as a noun for the Dnipro). Repeating a verb and a noun from the same root — рев… рев… — is a figura etymologica, a hallmark of folk poetry that intensifies the image. реву́чий here works as a nickname for the river: "the roarer." Active participles in -чий are otherwise rare and bookish in modern Ukrainian; here it is purely poetic.
Мо́ре реве́, нена́че зві́р, цілу́ ніч.
The sea roars like a beast all night long.
Glossary: poetic / older forms → modern equivalents
| In the poem | Form / note | Modern standard |
|---|---|---|
| на Вкраї́ні | poetic на + euphonic В-; older usage | в Украї́ні ("in Ukraine") |
| Вкраї́ні | euphonic в- prefixed to Украї́на | Украї́ні (after a consonant) / Вкраї́ні (after a vowel) — both alive |
| широкопо́лі | poetic compound, "broad-acred / wide-fielded" | широ́кі (lit. "wide"); широкопо́лий is literary |
| реву́чий | active participle used as a noun, the Dnipro | той, що реве́ ("the one that roars"); active -чий participles avoided in prose |
| кру́чі | plural of кру́ча, "steep river-bank, bluff" | стрімкі́ бе́реги ("steep banks") in plain prose |
Common Mistakes
❌ Я живу́ на Украї́ні.
Non-standard in modern usage — say в Україні; 'на' with the country is older/poetic (as in the poem).
✅ Я живу́ в Украї́ні.
I live in Ukraine (modern standard preposition).
❌ Серед широ́кий степ.
Incorrect — серед governs the genitive: серед широкого степу.
✅ Серед широ́кого сте́пу.
Amid the wide steppe (genitive after серед).
❌ Похова́й мене́, бу́дь ла́ска, ці папе́ри.
Wrong register/sense — поховати is 'to bury (a person)'; for 'file away' use заховати/скласти.
✅ Скла́діть ці папе́ри в архі́в.
File these papers in the archive.
❌ Щоб усе́ було́ ви́дний.
Incorrect — the impersonal predicate is the invariable adverb видно, not the adjective видний.
✅ Щоб усе́ було́ ви́дно.
So that everything could be seen.
Now practice Ukrainian
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Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- The Imperative: FormationA1 — Ukrainian builds the imperative (наказо́вий спо́сіб) from the PRESENT stem. The 2sg takes -и (when stressed or after a cluster: пиши́!, неси́!), -й after a vowel (чита́й!, грай!), a soft -ь after one consonant (сядь!, будь!), or a bare consonant (роби́!). The 2pl/polite adds -те (чита́йте!, несі́ть!). There's a dedicated 1pl hortative in -мо (ході́мо! 'let's go', чита́ймо!) and a 3rd-person command with хай / неха́й (Хай іде́! 'let him go').
- The Present of Бути (and the Missing Copula)A1 — Ukrainian normally has NO present-tense 'to be': Він студе́нт 'he is a student', Я вдо́ма 'I'm home' — the copula simply disappears, often replaced in writing by a dash (Київ — столи́ця). The single present form є exists for all persons but is used sparingly: for existence and possession (У ме́не є час 'I have time'), for emphasis or formal definitions (Украї́на є незале́жною держа́вою), and it negates to нема́є + genitive (нема́є ча́су). Inserting є everywhere is a beginner error; forgetting it in 'у ме́не є…' is the opposite error.
- 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.
- Impersonal and Subjectless SentencesB1 — The syntax of sentences with NO nominative subject — where English supplies a dummy 'it/they/you/one', Ukrainian drops the subject entirely and the logical argument (if any) surfaces as a dative or accusative: Темні́є, Ка́жуть, Тре́ба йти, Мені́ хо́лодно, Що роби́ти?
- Word Order: Free but Not RandomA1 — Ukrainian word order is flexible because case endings (not position) mark grammatical roles — but the freedom is pragmatic: the neutral order is Subject–Verb–Object, and you front the known topic and end with the new, emphasized information.
- Literary and Poetic FeaturesC1 — The features learners meet in the Ukrainian canon — Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, Franko — and in folk song. The expressive VOCATIVE in apostrophe (Україно!, Світе мій!, Думи мої!), the colloquial/poetic -ть infinitive (співать, кохать), inverted word order for metre (Реве та стогне Дніпр широкий), the archaic preposition од for від, folk diminutives for lyric warmth (соловейко, зіронька, серденько), poetic plurals (очі), epithets and parallelism, the historical present in ballads, and euphony (і/й, з/із/зі). The insight English speakers miss: literary Ukrainian deploys the vocative as direct address to nations and nature, and uses marked archaic forms (од, -ть) that are absent from neutral prose — so reading Shevchenko requires recognizing these as literary devices, not as the everyday norm to imitate.