Лікар оглянув зап’ястя.

The doctor examined the wrist.

Breakdown of Лікар оглянув зап’ястя.

• лікар: the doctor
• оглянути: to examine; inspect
• зап’ястя: the wrist

Questions & Answers about Лікар оглянув зап’ястя.

Why is оглянув used here, and what does it tell me about the subject?

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.

What is the base form of оглянув?

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.