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Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Лікар оглянув стегно. - The doctor examined the thigh.

Hardcore Ukrainian
/Working in a shared garden
/Лікар оглянув стегно.

Лікар оглянув стегно.

Word

Лікар оглянув стегно.

Meaning

The doctor examined the thigh.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Ukrainian

Lesson

Working in a shared garden

Breakdown of Лікар оглянув стегно.

оглянути

to examine; inspect

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Questions & Answers about Лікар оглянув стегно.

Why is оглянув in this form?

Оглянув is the past tense, masculine singular form of the verb оглянути, which means to examine / to inspect / to look over.

In Ukrainian past tense, the verb agrees with the subject in gender and number:

він оглянув = he examined
вона оглянула = she examined
воно оглянуло = it examined
вони оглянули = they examined

Since лікар is grammatically masculine here, the verb is оглянув.

What is the basic form of оглянув?

The dictionary form is оглянути.

This is a perfective verb, so it usually expresses a completed action: the doctor examined the thigh and finished doing so.

A related imperfective verb is оглядати, which can mean to be examining, to examine regularly, or to examine in a more ongoing/general sense.

So:

оглядати = imperfective
оглянути = perfective

In this sentence, оглянув shows a single completed examination.

Why is стегно in this form? Shouldn’t it change after the verb?

Стегно is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb: it is the thing the doctor examined.

However, for many inanimate neuter nouns, the accusative singular looks exactly the same as the nominative singular.

So:

стегно = nominative singular
стегно = accusative singular

That is why the form does not visibly change here.

What gender is стегно, and how can I tell?

Стегно is neuter.

A common clue is the ending -о, which often marks neuter nouns in Ukrainian.

So the noun behaves like a neuter noun in declension:

nominative singular: стегно
genitive singular: стегна
dative singular: стегну
accusative singular: стегно
instrumental singular: стегном
locative singular: на стегні

Does лікар mean only a male doctor?

Not necessarily.

Лікар is a masculine noun grammatically, but it can refer to a doctor in general, including a woman, especially in standard and traditional usage.

However, if you want to make it explicitly female, modern Ukrainian also uses лікарка.

So you may see:

лікар оглянув = the doctor examined (male doctor, or doctor referred to with masculine grammar)
лікарка оглянула = the female doctor examined

In this sentence, because the verb is оглянув, the subject is treated as masculine.

Why doesn’t Ukrainian use a word for the or a here?

Ukrainian has no articles like English a/an and the.

So лікар can mean:

a doctor
the doctor

and стегно can mean:

a thigh
the thigh

Which one sounds best depends on context and on the translation you were given.

This is very normal in Ukrainian: definiteness is usually understood from the situation, previous context, or word order.

Can the word order change?

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

The neutral/basic order here is:

Лікар оглянув стегно.

But other orders are possible, for example:

Стегно оглянув лікар.
This puts more focus on the thigh or contrasts who examined it.
Оглянув лікар стегно.
Possible, but less neutral and more stylistically marked.

So the original sentence is the most straightforward, neutral way to say it.

How do I know стегно means thigh and not something else like hip?

In Ukrainian, стегно usually means thigh, the upper part of the leg.

Learners sometimes confuse it with nearby body-part words, for example:

стегно = thigh
кульша / тазостегновий суглоб = hip / hip joint
нога = leg / foot (depending on context)
коліно = knee

So in this sentence, the doctor examined the thigh, not the hip.

How is this sentence pronounced?

A practical pronunciation guide:

Лікар ≈ LEE-kar
оглянув ≈ oh-HLYA-noov
стегно ≈ steh-HNO

A few helpful notes:

г in Ukrainian is usually pronounced like a soft voiced h sound, not a hard English g.
The cluster гл in оглянув may feel tricky at first.
Stress matters:
- ЛІкар
- огЛЯнув
- стегНО

Is оглянув closer to looked at or examined?

In this context, examined is usually the best translation.

The verb оглянути often means:

to examine
to inspect
to look over carefully

Because the subject is лікар (doctor), the medical meaning examined is the most natural one.

So although the verb is related to looking, it is more purposeful than just looked at.

Would the sentence change if the doctor examined more than one thing?

Yes, both the object and sometimes the meaning would change depending on number.

For example:

Лікар оглянув стегно. = The doctor examined the thigh.
Лікар оглянув стегна. = The doctor examined the thighs.

Here стегна is the plural form.

If you changed the subject to plural as well, the verb would also change:

Лікарі оглянули стегно. = The doctors examined the thigh.

So Ukrainian marks number on nouns and also on past-tense verbs.

Could this sentence mean The doctor has examined the thigh?

Depending on context, yes, English may sometimes translate it that way.

Ukrainian does not have a separate present perfect form like English has examined. Instead, the past tense plus context does the job.

So оглянув can be translated as:

examined
sometimes has examined

But if you are learning the basic grammar, the safest direct translation is usually examined.

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