Лікар оглянув потилицю.

Because it is in the accusative case, not the nominative.

• Dictionary form: потилиця = the back of the head / nape
• In this sentence, it is the direct object of the verb оглянув (examined), so Ukrainian uses the accusative:
  • потилиця → потилицю

This is a very common pattern for many feminine nouns ending in -я:

• вулиця → вулицю
• станція → станцію
• потилиця → потилицю

So Лікар оглянув потилицю literally has:

• Лікар = subject
• оглянув = verb
• потилицю = direct object in the accusative

Not exactly. Потилиця means the back of the head, especially the area behind the skull. In some contexts, English might translate it as nape, but that can overlap with the upper back of the neck depending on context.

So:

• потилиця = back of the head / occiput / nape area
• шия = neck

A learner may feel that English and Ukrainian divide these body areas a little differently, so the best core meaning of потилиця is the back of the head.

Because оглянув is the perfective past form, and it presents the examination as a completed action.

• оглянути → perfective = to examine, inspect, look over once / to completion
• оглянув = he examined / he looked over
• оглядати → imperfective = to be examining, to examine repeatedly, or to focus on the process
• оглядав = he was examining / he examined (in a process-oriented sense)

So:

• Лікар оглянув потилицю.
  = The doctor examined the back of the head.
  Focus: the action was completed.

If you said Лікар оглядав потилицю, it would sound more like:

• the doctor was examining the back of the head
• or the doctor examined it in a more process-focused way

It shows that the verb is in the past tense masculine singular.

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

• оглянув = masculine singular
• оглянула = feminine singular
• оглянуло = neuter singular
• оглянули = plural

So Лікар оглянув потилицю suggests that the doctor is grammatically masculine.

Compare:

• Лікар оглянув потилицю. = The doctor examined the back of the head. (male doctor / masculine reference)
• Лікарка оглянула потилицю. = The female doctor examined the back of the head.

Yes, лікар is grammatically masculine.

It can refer to:

• a male doctor specifically, or
• a doctor in a general sense, depending on context

If you want to make it explicitly female, modern Ukrainian commonly uses:

• лікарка = female doctor

So you could say:

• Лікар оглянув потилицю. = The doctor (male / grammatically masculine) examined the back of the head.
• Лікарка оглянула потилицю. = The female doctor examined the back of the head.

This is useful because the past tense verb will change too:

• лікар оглянув
• лікарка оглянула

Because Ukrainian does not use articles like English a / an / the.

So лікар can mean:

• a doctor
• the doctor

and потилицю can mean:

• a back of the head in a very literal grammatical sense
• but in real usage, context tells you something more natural like the back of the head

English requires articles, but Ukrainian usually leaves that information to:

• context
• word order
• emphasis
• the situation being described

So Лікар оглянув потилицю is completely normal without any article-like word.

Ukrainian often leaves that unstated when it is obvious from context.

So Лікар оглянув потилицю naturally means something like:

• The doctor examined the back of the person’s head
• The doctor examined his/her nape
• The doctor examined the patient’s back of the head

If needed, Ukrainian can specify it:

• Лікар оглянув його потилицю. = The doctor examined his back of the head.
• Лікар оглянув її потилицю. = The doctor examined her back of the head.
• Лікар оглянув потилицю пацієнта. = The doctor examined the patient’s back of the head.

But if the owner is obvious, omitting it is very natural.

Yes. Ukrainian word order is relatively flexible because case endings show the grammatical roles.

The neutral order here is:

• Лікар оглянув потилицю.

But you may also see:

• Потилицю оглянув лікар.
• Оглянув лікар потилицю.

These versions are grammatically possible, but the emphasis changes.

For example:

• Лікар оглянув потилицю.
  Neutral: The doctor examined the back of the head.

• Потилицю оглянув лікар.
  Emphasis on потилицю or contrast with something else: It was the back of the head that the doctor examined.

In beginner Ukrainian, it is best to learn the basic neutral order first: subject + verb + object.

A helpful approximate pronunciation is:

LEE-kar oh-HLYA-noov po-ty-LY-tsyu

A few useful notes:

• Лікар
  Stress: ЛІкар
• оглянув
  Stress: огЛЯнув
• потилицю
  Stress: потиЛИцю

Some sound notes:

• гл in оглянув may feel tricky; say it smoothly as part of -гля-
• цю at the end of потилицю sounds roughly like tsyu
• Ukrainian и is not exactly English ee or ih; it is a separate vowel sound learners need to get used to

Yes, оглянути is a common verb, especially for meanings like:

• to examine
• to inspect
• to look over
• to check

It is more purposeful and thorough than дивитися.

Compare:

• дивитися = to look, to watch
• оглянути = to examine, inspect, look over carefully

So in a medical context, оглянув is much better than дивився на.

• Лікар оглянув потилицю.
  = The doctor examined the back of the head.

If you said:

• Лікар дивився на потилицю,
  that would mean more literally:
• The doctor was looking at the back of the head.

That is possible, but it does not automatically imply a proper medical examination.

Technically, occiput points to the same anatomical area, but it is usually too technical for normal everyday translation.

More natural English choices are:

• The doctor examined the back of the head.
• The doctor examined the nape. (depending on context)

So for learning purposes, it is best to understand потилиця as:

• back of the head
• sometimes nape area

rather than always reaching for the anatomical term occiput.

Because both case and verb agreement help you.

1. Лікар is in the nominative form, which is the usual case for the subject.
2. оглянув is masculine singular and agrees naturally with лікар.
3. потилицю is accusative, which is the normal case for a direct object.

So the structure is clear:

• Лікар = the doctor = subject
• оглянув = examined
• потилицю = the back of the head = object

This is one of the advantages of Ukrainian case endings: even if word order changes, the grammar still tells you who did what.