Лікар оглянув зап’ястя.

Оглянув is the past tense form of the verb оглянути (to examine, inspect).

The ending -ув shows that the subject is:

• singular
• masculine
• in the past tense

So in this sentence, the grammar tells you that the doctor is grammatically male.

Compare:

• Лікар оглянув зап’ястя. = a male doctor examined the wrist
• Лікар оглянула зап’ястя. = a female doctor examined the wrist

In Ukrainian, past-tense verbs agree with the subject in gender and number.

The dictionary form is оглянути.

This is a perfective verb, meaning it presents the action as completed: the doctor examined the wrist.

A related imperfective verb is оглядати or more commonly оглянути / оглядати as a pair:

• оглянути = to examine once, to complete the examination
• оглядати = to be examining, to examine repeatedly or as a process

So:

• Лікар оглянув зап’ястя. emphasizes the completed result.
• Лікар оглядав зап’ястя. would sound more like was examining the wrist or examined it over a period of time.

Yes, the direct object is in the accusative case here. The reason it looks unchanged is that зап’ястя is a neuter inanimate noun, and in the singular its nominative and accusative forms are the same.

So:

• nominative: зап’ястя
• accusative: зап’ястя

This is very common in Ukrainian with many inanimate nouns.

Лікар is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence.

It is the person performing the action:

• Лікар = the doctor
• оглянув = examined
• зап’ястя = wrist

So the basic sentence structure is:

Subject + Verb + Object

Not always. Лікар is the standard word for doctor, and it is grammatically a masculine noun. In real usage, it can refer to a doctor of either sex, but the verb form in the past tense usually makes the sex clear.

Here:

• Лікар оглянув... = the doctor was male
• Лікар оглянула... = the doctor was female

You may also see лікарка for female doctor, especially in modern Ukrainian.

So these are all possible:

• Лікар оглянув зап’ястя.
• Лікар оглянула зап’ястя.
• Лікарка оглянула зап’ястя.

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

So:

• лікар can mean a doctor or the doctor
• зап’ястя can mean a wrist or the wrist

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is why a very short Ukrainian sentence can often be translated in more than one natural way in English.

The apostrophe in Ukrainian is not like the English apostrophe for possession or contractions. It is a spelling sign that shows the preceding consonant is not softened before certain iotated vowels like я, ю, є, ї.

In зап’ястя, the apostrophe helps separate the sounds so that я is pronounced more like ya, rather than simply softening the previous consonant.

So the apostrophe affects pronunciation, not meaning.

It is an important part of the spelling and should not be omitted.

A natural pronunciation is roughly:

• лікАр
• оглянУв
• зап’Ястя

Approximate English-style guide:

• лікар ≈ lee-KAR
• оглянув ≈ oh-hlya-NOOV
• зап’ястя ≈ za-PYAS-tya

A few notes:

• г in Ukrainian is usually a softer sound than English g, closer to a voiced h
• я often sounds like ya
• the apostrophe in зап’ястя keeps that ya sound clear

Yes. Ukrainian word order is more flexible than English because case endings help show the grammatical roles.

The most neutral order here is:

Лікар оглянув зап’ястя.

But other orders are possible, for example:

• Зап’ястя оглянув лікар.
• Оглянув лікар зап’ястя.

These alternatives change the focus or emphasis, not the basic meaning.

For a learner, the given order is the best one to use first because it is straightforward and natural.

It is singular.

If you wanted the plural wrists, you would use:

• nominative plural: зап’ястя
• accusative plural: зап’ястя

This noun has the same form in several cases and numbers, so you often need context to tell whether it is singular or plural. In this sentence, it is understood as singular.

Yes, absolutely. It is a fully complete and natural Ukrainian sentence.

It contains everything needed:

• Лікар = subject
• оглянув = finite verb
• зап’ястя = direct object

Ukrainian often allows very compact sentences, especially when the context already makes things clear.