Компост — не добриво.

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

So a sentence like Компост — не добриво literally looks like Compost — not fertilizer, but it naturally means Compost is not fertilizer or Compost is not a fertilizer.

This is completely normal Ukrainian. English requires is here; Ukrainian usually does not.

The dash helps link the subject and the predicate when the present-tense to be is omitted.

Here:

• Компост = the subject
• не добриво = what is being said about it

So the dash is doing part of the job that is does in English. It also creates a slight pause in reading.

In this kind of noun-to-noun sentence, the dash is very common and standard.

Не is the usual negative particle in Ukrainian, and in this sentence it is written separately from добриво.

So:

• добриво = fertilizer
• не добриво = not fertilizer / not a fertilizer

This is the normal spelling here. Ukrainian does sometimes write не together with a word, but not in this structure.

Добриво is in the nominative singular, which is the dictionary form.

In simple identification or definition-type sentences of the pattern X — Y, Ukrainian commonly uses the nominative for both nouns:

• Компост — добриво
• Компост — не добриво

So nothing is being “changed” here; добриво stays in its basic form.

Yes. That is also grammatical.

Compare:

• Компост — не добриво = shorter, very common, straightforward
• Компост не є добривом = more explicit, often a bit more formal or emphatic

Notice that in the version with є, the predicate noun is commonly put in the instrumental: добривом.

So a learner should recognize both patterns.

It doesn’t need to. Ukrainian can make this kind of statement directly:

• Компост — не добриво

You can also say:

• Компост — це не добриво

Adding це can make the sentence feel a little more explanatory or pointed, but the version without це is already complete and natural.

It can mean either, depending on how you translate it into English.

Ukrainian has no articles, so there is no separate word for a or the. Because of that, добриво can correspond to:

• fertilizer
• a fertilizer

The exact English wording depends on context and style, not on a special Ukrainian article.

You can, but the given order is the most neutral and natural:

• Компост — не добриво

Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible, but changing it changes emphasis. For example, putting не добриво first would sound marked or contrastive, not like the basic default version.

For learning purposes, the sentence as given is the best pattern to remember.