Non-Fiction: A News Brief (Новинна замітка)

Ukrainian news prose is built on a grammatical principle that beginner material never prepares you for: the agent disappears. Who opened the exhibition, who counted the visitors, who reported the figures — the news brief systematically leaves all of this unsaid, using a special impersonal construction (-но / -то) and attribution phrases that present information as fact rather than as someone's claim. Learning to read this register unlocks essentially all Ukrainian journalism, official announcements, and reports. This page presents a short, authentic-style brief and walks through its machinery.

The text

У Льво́ві відкри́то ви́ставку, присвя́чену істо́рії украї́нського кінема́тографа. Захі́д органі́зовано Націона́льним музе́єм за підтри́мки Міністе́рства культу́ри. In Lviv, an exhibition dedicated to the history of Ukrainian cinema has been opened. The event was organised by the National Museum with the support of the Ministry of Culture.

Як повідо́мляють організа́тори, на відкритті́ було́ предста́влено понад дві́сті експона́тів, части́ну з яки́х ви́явлено в прива́тних архі́вах. За слова́ми дире́ктора музе́ю, ви́ставка трива́тиме до кінця́ бе́резня. According to the organisers, more than two hundred exhibits were presented at the opening, some of which were discovered in private archives. According to the museum director, the exhibition will run until the end of March.

Вхід безкошто́вний. Крім то́го, для шкільни́х груп заплано́вано безкошто́вні екску́рсії. Admission is free. In addition, free guided tours have been planned for school groups.

(This is original, authentic-style prose written for this page in standard journalistic Ukrainian.)

Line-by-line grammar

The headline impersonal: відкри́то, органі́зовано, предста́влено, ви́явлено, заплано́вано

This is the defining feature of Ukrainian news style. The -но / -то form is an impersonal passive: it states that something was done without naming any doer and without a grammatical subject. Відкри́то ви́ставку literally is "(it has been) opened — an exhibition," with the exhibition in the accusative (ви́ставку), not the nominative. There is no "is/was" verb in the present-result reading: відкри́то alone carries it.

These forms are built from the passive past participle (відкри́тий → відкри́то, органі́зований → органі́зовано). They are invariable — no gender, no number, no agreement — which is exactly why they feel so impersonal.

For the full construction see the -но/-то impersonal and passive and impersonal style.

The agent, when it appears: instrumental Націона́льним музе́єм

The -но/-то construction is agentless by default, but when the doer is named it goes into the instrumental case: органі́зовано *Націона́льним музе́єм (organised *by the National Museum). This is the instrumental of agent. Note how it is normally omitted precisely to keep the institutional, impersonal tone — and how naming it here adds a touch of officialness.

See instrumental uses.

Attribution: як повідо́мляють…, за слова́ми…, за пові́домленням…

A news brief never simply asserts; it attributes. Two patterns dominate:

• як повідо́мляють організа́тори — "as the organisers report," a finite verb (повідо́мляють, 3rd plural) introducing reported information.
• за слова́ми дире́ктора — "according to the director's words," the preposition за
  • instrumental слова́ми, then the source in the genitive (дире́ктора). The parallel за пові́домленням
    • genitive ("according to the report of…") works the same way.

These phrases let the journalist relay claims without vouching for them, the cornerstone of neutral reporting. See reported speech and journalistic register.

Genitive of the source / of "of": дире́ктора музе́ю, істо́рії кінема́тографа

Journalistic prose stacks genitive chains to pack institutions and topics tightly: дире́ктор*а музе́ю (the director *of the museum), *істо́рії украї́нського кінема́тографа (the history *of Ukrainian cinema), *до підтри́мки Міністе́рства культу́ри* (the support of the Ministry of Culture). Each "of" is a genitive. This nominal density — noun-of-noun-of-noun — is characteristic of formal Ukrainian and lets a single phrase carry a lot of information. See the genitive of possession and 'of'.

Dates, numbers and quantity: понад дві́сті експона́тів, до кінця́ бе́резня

News is full of figures, and figures govern case. After понад ("more than") and numbers above four, the counted noun is genitive plural: понад дві́сті експона́т*ів (more than two hundred exhibits), понад ти́сячу люде́й. Dates use the genitive too: до кінця́ бе́резня* (until the end of March), the month in the genitive. See numeral agreement and the genitive after numbers.

Note also the synthetic future трива́тиме (will last), one word, formed by attaching -ме to the infinitive трива́ти — a compact future favoured in written register. See the synthetic future.

Connectors: крім то́го, за підтри́мки

Formal prose threads its sentences with precise connectors. Крім то́го ("in addition, moreover," literally "besides that") adds a further point; за підтри́мки + genitive ("with the support of") attaches a sponsoring body. Other staples of this register are отже (therefore), однак (however), таким чином (thus). See journalistic and academic register.

Glossary

Common Mistakes