Лікар оглянув лікоть.

• лікар = doctor
• оглянув = examined / inspected
• лікоть = elbow

So the sentence means The doctor examined the elbow.

Because this is the past tense masculine singular form of the verb.

The infinitive is оглянути = to examine / to inspect.
In the past tense, Ukrainian verbs agree with the subject in gender and number:

• оглянув = he examined
• оглянула = she examined
• оглянуло = it examined
• оглянули = they examined

Since лікар is grammatically masculine singular, the verb is оглянув.

оглянув is perfective.

That means the action is seen as completed: the doctor examined the elbow and finished doing so.

Compare:

• оглянув = examined, finished the examination
• оглядав = was examining / examined repeatedly / examined as a process

So Лікар оглянув лікоть presents the examination as a single completed event.

Yes, the direct object is in the accusative case.
But for many inanimate masculine nouns, the accusative singular looks exactly like the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: лікоть = elbow
• accusative: лікоть = elbow

That is why the form stays the same.

Yes. In Ukrainian, nouns ending in -ь can be masculine or feminine, so you have to learn the gender with the word.

лікоть is masculine.

A useful clue is its adjective agreement:

• болючий лікоть = painful elbow

The masculine adjective болючий shows that лікоть is masculine.

Yes, it can be changed. Ukrainian word order is more flexible than English because case endings help show who is doing what.

The order Лікар оглянув лікоть is a very natural, neutral subject–verb–object order.

Other orders are possible, for example:

• Лікоть оглянув лікар. = It was the doctor who examined the elbow / As for the elbow, the doctor examined it.
• Оглянув лікоть лікар. = more marked, often used for style or emphasis

So the basic sentence uses the most straightforward order.

Grammatically, лікар is a masculine noun, but in real usage it can refer to a doctor of either sex, depending on context.

If you want to refer specifically to a female doctor, modern Ukrainian also uses:

• лікарка = female doctor

So:

• Лікар оглянув лікоть. = The doctor examined the elbow.
• Лікарка оглянула лікоть. = The female doctor examined the elbow.

Because Ukrainian has no articles like English a/an/the.

Whether something is a doctor, the doctor, an elbow, or the elbow is understood from context.

So Лікар оглянув лікоть can correspond to English The doctor examined the elbow or sometimes A doctor examined an elbow, depending on the situation. In normal translation, context usually makes the doctor examined the elbow the best choice.

They are related, but not the same.

• оглянути = to examine, inspect, look over carefully
• подивитися на = to look at

In a medical context, оглянув is much better because it suggests a professional examination, not just a glance.

So a doctor would naturally оглянути лікоть, not merely подивитися на лікоть, if they are checking it properly.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• Лікар ≈ LEE-kar
• оглянув ≈ oh-HLYA-noov
• лікоть ≈ LEE-kohtʹ

A few helpful notes:

• я in оглянув gives a ya sound and also softens the previous consonant.
• г in Ukrainian is usually like a softer h sound, not a hard English g.
• The ь in лікоть is the soft sign. It does not make its own sound; it softens the preceding consonant.

Yes, but it means something slightly different.

• Лікар оглянув лікоть. = The doctor examined the elbow.
  
  • completed action
• Лікар оглядав лікоть. = The doctor was examining the elbow / examined the elbow as a process
  
  • focuses on the ongoing action, not the completed result

So if you just want the simple idea that the examination happened and was completed, оглянув is the better choice.