Шина м’яка.

In Ukrainian, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So:

• Шина м’яка = The tire is soft

Literally, it is more like Tire soft.

This is completely normal Ukrainian. If you wanted a past or future meaning, then a form of бути could appear:

• Шина була м’яка = The tire was soft
• Шина буде м’яка = The tire will be soft

Because the adjective has to agree with the noun.

Шина is a feminine singular noun, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• masculine: м’який
• feminine: м’яка
• neuter: м’яке
• plural: м’які

So:

• шина
  • feminine adjective = м’яка

The dictionary form is usually м’який, but in this sentence it changes to match шина.

A very common beginner rule is:

• nouns ending in -а or -я are often feminine

So шина is feminine.

This rule is not perfect—there are exceptions—but it works very often and is a good first guess.

The apostrophe shows that the consonant before it is not softened, and that я is pronounced with a clear y sound.

So м’я is pronounced roughly like mya, not like a single softened m sound.

For an English speaker, a good approximation is:

• м’яка ≈ mya-KA

This happens especially after labial consonants such as б, п, в, м, ф.

A rough English-friendly pronunciation is:

• Шина м’яка ≈ SHY-na mya-KA

A few sound notes:

• ш sounds like sh in shop
• и is not English ee; it is a shorter, more central vowel
• я after the apostrophe sounds like ya

So try something like:

• SHY-na mya-KA

Both words are in the nominative singular.

• шина = nominative singular feminine noun
• м’яка = nominative singular feminine adjective

Why? Because шина is the subject, and м’яка is a predicate adjective describing it.

Yes, but it means something slightly different grammatically.

• м’яка шина = a/the soft tire
  This is a noun phrase.
• Шина м’яка = The tire is soft
  This is a full sentence.

So the same words can appear in both orders, but the structure changes.

Adjectives usually come before nouns when they directly modify them:

• м’яка шина = soft tire

But in Шина м’яка, the adjective is not part of the noun phrase. It is the main description in the sentence:

• The tire is soft

That is why the noun comes first.

Ukrainian does not have articles like English a and the.

So Шина м’яка could be understood in English as:

• The tire is soft
• A tire is soft

In real use, context usually makes the intended meaning clear. In many simple examples, English translations choose the because it sounds more natural.