Ми чекаємо сімнадцять хвилин.

Ми means we.

In Ukrainian, subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already shows the subject. Here, чекаємо already means we are waiting, so Чекаємо сімнадцять хвилин is also possible.

Including ми can:

• make the subject explicit,
• add a little emphasis,
• or just sound perfectly normal in context.

So both versions are correct:

• Ми чекаємо сімнадцять хвилин.
• Чекаємо сімнадцять хвилин.

Чекаємо is the 1st person plural present tense form of чекати.

So:

• чекати = to wait
• чекаємо = we wait / we are waiting

Because чекати is an imperfective verb, it describes an ongoing action or process, not a completed result.

Ukrainian usually expresses duration of time without a separate word like English for.

So:

• сімнадцять хвилин literally looks like seventeen minutes
• but in this sentence it means for seventeen minutes

This is very normal in Ukrainian.

For example:

• Я працюю дві години. = I have been working for two hours / I work for two hours
• Вони спали десять хвилин. = They slept for ten minutes

Because after сімнадцять, the noun takes the genitive plural form.

With Ukrainian numbers:

• 1 → хвилина
• 2, 3, 4 → хвилини
• 5+ and 11–14 → хвилин

So:

• одна хвилина = one minute
• дві хвилини = two minutes
• п’ять хвилин = five minutes
• сімнадцять хвилин = seventeen minutes

That is why хвилин is correct here.

Yes.

This is one of those places where two grammar ideas meet:

1. The whole time expression functions like a duration phrase: for seventeen minutes.
2. Inside that phrase, the numeral сімнадцять requires the noun to be in the genitive plural: хвилин.

So even though the phrase expresses duration, the noun still appears as хвилин because that is the form required after 17.

In natural English, it is often best translated as We have been waiting for seventeen minutes.

Ukrainian uses the present tense imperfective for an action that is still going on, even when English often prefers the present perfect continuous.

So Ми чекаємо сімнадцять хвилин can describe:

• an action that started earlier,
• is still continuing now,
• and has lasted seventeen minutes so far.

That is why English often uses have been waiting here.

Yes. Ukrainian word order is more flexible than English word order.

The version you have is a neutral, straightforward order:

• Ми чекаємо сімнадцять хвилин.

But you could also say:

• Сімнадцять хвилин ми чекаємо.
  This emphasizes the duration.
• Ми сімнадцять хвилин чекаємо.
  Also possible, with slightly different focus.

The basic meaning stays the same, but the emphasis changes.

A simple approximation is:

• Ми = my, but with a shorter vowel
• чека́ємо = che-KA-ye-mo
• сімна́дцять = sim-NA-dtsyatʹ
• хвили́н = khvy-LIN

Stress:

• чека́ємо
• сімна́дцять
• хвили́н

Two pronunciation points that often feel unusual for English speakers:

• х is like a rough h/ch sound, not an English h
• и is not the same as English ee; it is shorter and more central

Because the sentence describes the process of waiting, not the completion of it.

Чекати is imperfective, so it fits an ongoing action:

• Ми чекаємо сімнадцять хвилин. = We have been waiting for seventeen minutes.

A perfective verb would focus on reaching an endpoint or result. For example:

• Ми дочекалися автобуса. = We waited until the bus came / We finally got the bus.

So here, imperfective чекати is the natural choice.

No. Ukrainian can leave that unstated if it is already clear from context or simply not important.

This sentence focuses only on the fact and duration of waiting:

• Ми чекаємо сімнадцять хвилин.

If you want to add what you are waiting for, you can:

• Ми чекаємо на автобус сімнадцять хвилин. = We have been waiting for the bus for seventeen minutes.

So the object is optional if the situation already makes it clear.

In grammar, сімнадцять behaves like the group of numbers that require the noun form used after 5 and above.

That is why you get:

• сімнадцять хвилин

A helpful pattern to remember is:

• 21 хвилина
• 22 хвилини
• 25 хвилин
• 17 хвилин

So even though 17 contains seven, it does not act like 7 in a simple one-word sense for the noun ending; it takes the хвилин form.