This proverb hides one of the most counterintuitive rules in Ukrainian: after the number сто ('a hundred'), and after every number from five upward, the counted noun jumps into the genitive plural. The proverb also models the corrective contrast «не..., а...» — 'not X but rather Y' — and the bare imperative май from the verb ма́ти 'to have.' One short line, three grammar lessons, and a piece of wisdom worth more than money.
«Не май сто карбо́ванців, а май сто дру́зів».
'Don't have a hundred coins, but rather have a hundred friends.' (Friends are worth more than money.)
Ukrainians say this to remind someone that human connections outvalue wealth — to a person obsessed with earning, or to celebrate a friend who always shows up when needed. It encodes a whole worldview: in hard times it is people, not coins, who pull you through.
Word by word
| Word | Lemma | Form | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| Не | не | negative particle | negates the first imperative |
| май | ма́ти (imperfective) | imperative, 2nd person singular | '(don't) have' |
| сто | сто | cardinal numeral | 'a hundred' |
| карбо́ванців | карбо́ванець | masculine noun, genitive plural | 'coins' — counted noun after сто |
| а | а | contrastive conjunction | 'but rather' — corrects the first clause |
| май | ма́ти (imperfective) | imperative, 2nd person singular | 'have' |
| сто | сто | cardinal numeral | 'a hundred' |
| дру́зів | друг | masculine noun, genitive plural | 'friends' — counted noun after сто |
The two halves are mirror images: same imperative, same numeral, contrasting nouns. Only the genitive-plural endings change — карбо́ванц-ів and дру́з-ів — and the conjunction а swings the meaning from "not this" to "but that."
The grammar
сто + genitive plural
This is the rule English speakers find hardest to believe. In Ukrainian, the number controls the case of the noun it counts. After сто ('hundred') — and after п’ять (5) and every higher number that isn't a compound ending in 1–4 — the counted noun stands in the genitive plural. So 'a hundred coins' is сто карбо́ванців (genitive plural), and 'a hundred friends' is сто дру́зів (genitive plural), not the nominative plural карбованці / друзі.
Не май сто карбо́ванців, а май сто дру́зів.
'Don't have a hundred coins, but rather a hundred friends.'
The same case-jump happens with any large number in real speech:
У за́лі сиді́ло сто студе́нтів.
'A hundred students were sitting in the hall.'
Я прочита́в уже́ п’ять книжо́к цього́ мі́сяця.
'I've already read five books this month.'
На по́лиці стоя́ло два́дцять пля́шок.
'There were twenty bottles on the shelf.'
Contrast the small numbers: 2, 3, 4 take the nominative plural (два дру́зі, три кни́жки), but 5 and up flip to the genitive plural (п’ять дру́зів, п’ять кни́жок). See numerals after which the genitive appears and numeral agreement.
The imperative май, and the prohibition before it
Май is the imperative of ма́ти ('to have') — formed by taking the present stem ма- and adding the imperative -й: ма-й. The proverb uses it twice. In the first clause it sits under не, forming a prohibition ('don't have'), and as with all prohibitions the verb is imperfective — ма́ти, which has no real perfective partner anyway. In the second clause the same май is a plain positive command.
Май терпі́ння, усе́ нала́годиться.
'Have patience, everything will sort itself out.'
Не май на ме́не зла, я не хоті́в тебе́ обра́зити.
'Don't hold a grudge against me, I didn't mean to offend you.'
For how imperatives are built across verb types, see imperative formation.
The corrective contrast «не..., а...»
The pivot of the whole proverb is а. Ukrainian has two words for English "but": але́ (general contrast, 'but / however') and а (a corrective contrast, 'but rather / and instead'). When you negate one option and replace it with another — not X, but Y — you must use а, never але́. The structure не X, а Y sets up a deliberate substitution: reject the coins, choose the friends.
Не май сто карбо́ванців, а май сто дру́зів.
'Don't have a hundred coins, but rather a hundred friends.'
This pattern is everywhere in everyday correction:
Це не моя́ кни́жка, а твоя́.
'This isn't my book, it's yours.'
Я хо́чу не ка́ву, а чай.
'I don't want coffee, I want tea.'
Він прийшо́в не сього́дні, а вчо́ра.
'He came not today but yesterday.'
In each, а marks the replacement after a negation. Swapping in але́ here would be wrong. See contrast and concession connectors.
Glossary
- карбо́ванець (genitive plural карбо́ванців) — a historical Ukrainian monetary unit (worth 100 копі́йок), used in pre-revolutionary Ukraine, the Ukrainian SSR, and again as Ukraine's transitional currency from 1991 to 1996 before the гри́вня replaced it. In the proverb it simply means 'a coin / a sum of money.' Stress on the second syllable: карбо́ванець.
A note on the variant «Не май сто рублі́в...». You will often hear and read the proverb with рублі́в ('roubles') instead of карбо́ванців — a legacy of the Soviet rouble and of the Russian version Не имей сто рублей.... Both circulate, but карбо́ванець is the native Ukrainian currency word, so the карбо́ванців form is preferred in standard Ukrainian. Use карбо́ванців unless you are deliberately quoting the rouble variant.
Common Mistakes
❌ Не май сто карбо́ванці, а май сто дру́зі.
Wrong case — after сто the nouns must be genitive plural: карбо́ванців, дру́зів.
✅ Не май сто карбо́ванців, а май сто дру́зів.
'Don't have a hundred coins, but rather a hundred friends.'
Using the nominative plural after a large number is the classic numeral error. Сто forces the genitive plural.
❌ Не май сто карбо́ванців, але́ май сто дру́зів.
Wrong conjunction — a corrective 'not X but Y' takes а, not але́.
✅ Не май сто карбо́ванців, а май сто дру́зів.
'Don't have a hundred coins, but rather a hundred friends.'
After a negation, the replacing clause is joined by а, the corrective "but."
❌ Не май сто рублі́в, а май сто дру́зів.
Russified lexis — standard Ukrainian uses карбо́ванців, the native currency word, not рублі́в.
✅ Не май сто карбо́ванців, а май сто дру́зів.
'Don't have a hundred coins, but rather a hundred friends.'
The рублі́в variant is widely heard but is a Russian carry-over; prefer карбо́ванців in standard Ukrainian.
❌ Не маєш сто карбо́ванців, а маєш сто дру́зів.
Wrong mood — this is a piece of advice, so it needs the imperative май, not the present tense маєш.
✅ Не май сто карбо́ванців, а май сто дру́зів.
'Don't have a hundred coins, but rather a hundred friends.'
The proverb gives a command, so the verb is the imperative май, not the indicative маєш ('you have').
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- Numeral–Noun Agreement (The Hard Part)B1 — The notorious three-way rule: after 1 (and …1) the noun is nominative SINGULAR, after 2/3/4 (and …2/3/4) nominative PLURAL with the dual-reflex end-stress (два столи́, дві сестри́), and after 5+ genitive PLURAL — chosen by the LAST digit, and applying only when the whole phrase is nominative or inanimate-accusative.
- Genitive After Numbers and QuantityB1 — When numbers and quantity words trigger the genitive — numbers 5+ (and any number ending in 5–9 or 0) take the genitive PLURAL (п’ять столі́в, де́сять книг, сто гри́вень, два́дцять ро́ків), as do quantity words бага́то, ма́ло, кі́лька, скі́льки, тро́хи; fractions and полови́на/чверть take the genitive singular (полови́на я́блука) — all contrasted with the 2/3/4 rule that takes nominative plural, plus the suppletive рік→ро́ків and люди́на→люде́й you must drill as fixed combinations.
- 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').
- Connectors of Contrast and ConcessionB1 — The Ukrainian toolkit for marking that two ideas clash: contrast connectors (одна́к / проте́ 'however', натомі́сть 'instead', з одного́ бо́ку… з і́ншого бо́ку 'on one hand… on the other', а 'whereas') and concession (все ж / все-та́ки 'still', тим не ме́нш 'nonetheless', незважа́ючи на це 'despite this', хоча́ 'although'), plus the counter-expectation pair наспра́вді 'actually' and навпаки́ 'on the contrary' — and the key insight that written Ukrainian keeps the inter-sentential 'however' (одна́к, проте́) distinct from the clause-internal 'but' (але́, а).
- Numeral Agreement MistakesB1 — The errors that give away a non-native — or a Russian-trained — speaker after numbers. The headline trap is два стола (Russian genitive singular) instead of the Ukrainian два столи́ (NOMINATIVE PLURAL) for 2/3/4; then forgetting that 5+ forces the genitive plural (п’ять столі́в), that compounds follow their LAST digit (два́дцять оди́н стіл, два́дцять п’ять столі́в), that 'years' is suppletive (оди́н рік, два ро́ки, п’ять ро́ків), and that an oblique numeral must decline (з двома́ друзя́ми).
- Special Counted Forms (2/3/4 and Stress)B2 — After два/три/чотири a Ukrainian noun takes the NOMINATIVE PLURAL — not the Russian genitive singular — and crucially the stress often jumps to the ending and differs from the plain plural (два столи́, три си́ни, дві сестри́): a surviving reflex of the lost dual number, the most distinctively Ukrainian corner of the case system, with the adjective wavering between nominative plural and genitive plural (два нові́ / нови́х столи́).