Лікар оглянув череп.

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

So:

• лікар can mean doctor / a doctor / the doctor
• череп can mean skull / a skull / the skull

Context tells you which one is meant. In a short standalone sentence like this, English often translates it as The doctor examined the skull.

Here череп is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb оглянув.

However, for many inanimate masculine nouns in Ukrainian, the accusative singular is identical to the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: череп
• accusative: череп

That is why it does not change here.

Compare this with an animate masculine noun:

• Я бачу лікаря = I see the doctor

Here лікар changes to лікаря in the accusative because it is animate.

Because лікар is the subject of the sentence, it is in the nominative case, which is the basic dictionary form.

So the sentence breaks down like this:

• лікар = subject, nominative
• оглянув = verb
• череп = direct object, accusative

This is a very common basic sentence pattern in Ukrainian.

Оглянув is the past tense, masculine singular form of the verb оглянути.

It means something like:

• examined
• inspected
• looked over

Because the subject is лікар and лікар is grammatically masculine here, the verb takes the masculine past ending:

• оглянув = he examined

If the subject were feminine, you would get:

• лікарка оглянула череп = The female doctor examined the skull

In the past tense, Ukrainian verbs agree with gender and number.

For many verbs, the endings are:

• masculine: -в
• feminine: -ла
• neuter: -ло
• plural: -ли

So from оглянути you get:

• оглянув = he examined
• оглянула = she examined
• оглянуло = it examined
• оглянули = they examined

In your sentence, оглянув matches the masculine subject лікар.

Оглянув comes from оглянути, which is perfective.

That means it presents the action as completed: the doctor examined / finished examining the skull.

The imperfective partner is usually оглядати:

• Лікар оглядав череп = The doctor was examining / examined repeatedly / used to examine the skull
• Лікар оглянув череп = The doctor examined the skull as a completed action

English does not always show this distinction clearly, but in Ukrainian aspect is very important.

Yes. Ukrainian word order is more flexible than English because case endings help show who is doing what.

The neutral order here is:

• Лікар оглянув череп.

But you could also say:

• Череп оглянув лікар.
• Оглянув лікар череп.

These alternatives change the focus or emphasis, not the basic meaning.

Still, for learners, subject + verb + object is the safest and most natural pattern to start with.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• лікар ≈ LEE-kar
• оглянув ≈ oh-HLYA-noov or oh-glya-NOOV depending on how precisely you model the sounds
• череп ≈ CHE-rep

A few useful notes:

• Ukrainian г is usually a soft voiced sound, not exactly like English g in go
• я often adds a ya sound
• ю often gives a yu sound
• и is not the same as English ee

The best way to learn pronunciation is by listening to native audio, but this rough guide can help you get started.

Череп specifically means skull.

It is not the normal word for head.

The usual word for head is:

• голова

So:

• лікар оглянув голову = the doctor examined the head
• лікар оглянув череп = the doctor examined the skull

That makes череп a more specific, anatomical word.

In modern Ukrainian, лікар is a masculine noun in form, but it can sometimes be used in a general professional sense. However, if you specifically want to refer to a woman, Ukrainian often uses:

• лікарка = female doctor

Then the verb would also change:

• Лікарка оглянула череп.

So in your sentence, лікар оглянув most naturally suggests a male doctor.

The dictionary forms are:

• лікар = doctor
• оглянути = to examine, inspect
• череп = skull

The only word that is not in dictionary form here is the verb:

• оглянув is the past tense form of оглянути

The nouns лікар and череп both appear in forms that match their dictionary entries.

It is very close to English structurally:

• Лікар = The doctor
• оглянув = examined
• череп = the skull

So this is a straightforward subject + verb + object sentence.

The main differences from English are:

• no articles
• case matters
• the past-tense verb shows gender

That makes it a good example of a simple Ukrainian sentence that is easy to understand once you know those key grammar points.