Щелепа рухається.

Ukrainian has no articles, so there is no separate word for the or a/an.

So щелепа can mean:

• the jaw
• a jaw

Which one is meant depends on context. In a normal sentence like this, English will often use the jaw.

Щелепа is in the nominative singular.

That tells you it is the subject of the sentence — the thing doing the action.

A quick breakdown:

• щелепа = feminine noun
• singular
• nominative case
• subject of рухається

The dictionary form is рухатися.

So:

• рухатися = to move
• рухається = moves / is moving

In this sentence, рухається is 3rd person singular present tense, matching the singular subject щелепа.

The -ся is a very common Ukrainian ending, often called the reflexive ending.

Here it shows that the verb is intransitive: the jaw is moving itself / on its own, rather than moving something else.

Compare:

• рухати = to move something
• рухатися = to move, to be moving

So:

• Щелепа рухається = The jaw moves / is moving

You should not always translate -ся literally as itself. In many verbs, it is just part of the normal verb form.

It can mean either one.

Ukrainian present tense often covers both:

• moves
• is moving

So this sentence could describe:

• a general fact: The jaw moves
• an action happening now: The jaw is moving

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

Yes. Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible.

The neutral order here is:

• Щелепа рухається.

You could also say:

• Рухається щелепа.

That version is less neutral and may sound more emphatic, contrastive, or stylistic, depending on context.

For a learner, Щелепа рухається is the safest basic order.

The letter щ in Ukrainian is usually pronounced roughly like shch.

So щелепа begins something like:

• shche-...

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• щ ≈ shch
• є often sounds like ye
• х in рухається is like the sound in Scottish loch or German Bach, not like English h

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

• shche-le-pa ru-kha-ye-tsya

That is only an approximation, but it is a good starting point.

Yes.

• рухає = moves in the sense of moves something
• рухається = moves / is moving in the sense of is itself moving

So:

• Він рухає стіл. = He moves the table.
• Стіл рухається. = The table is moving.

In your sentence, the jaw is the thing that is moving, so рухається is the correct form.

It can mean jaw in a normal general sense, and depending on context it can also refer more specifically to the jawbone.

If you need to be specific, Ukrainian can say:

• верхня щелепа = upper jaw
• нижня щелепа = lower jaw

But by itself, щелепа is the standard everyday anatomical word for jaw.

Yes, it is perfectly natural.

It would fit especially well in contexts like:

• anatomy
• medicine
• biology
• describing physical movement
• observing someone or something

For example, it could be part of a description such as:

• Щелепа рухається нерівномірно. = The jaw is moving unevenly.
• Коли він говорить, щелепа рухається дуже мало. = When he speaks, the jaw moves very little.

So as a standalone sentence, it is simple and natural.