Машина червона.

The car is red.

Breakdown of Машина червона.

• машина: the car
• червоний: red

Questions & Answers about Машина червона.

Why is there no explicit verb equivalent to "is" in the sentence Машина червона.?

In Ukrainian, the present tense form of the verb "to be" is usually omitted. This means that what would be rendered as "The car is red" in English is simply expressed by stating the noun and the adjective.

How does the adjective червона agree with the noun машина in this sentence?

Both машина and червона are in the nominative case and are feminine. In Ukrainian, adjectives must agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case, so червона is correctly inflected to match машина.

Why are there no articles such as "the" in the sentence?

Ukrainian does not use definite or indefinite articles like "the" or "a/an". Instead, context is relied upon to convey specificity. Consequently, Машина червона. can be understood as "The car is red" without an explicit article.

Is the word order in Машина червона. fixed, and can it be altered without changing the meaning?

The basic word order here is a noun-adjective structure. Although Ukrainian word order is relatively flexible, placing the adjective after the noun is common. You could also say Червона машина, which still means "red car." Any change in the order might subtly shift the emphasis, but it does not alter the fundamental meaning.

Can you explain why Ukrainian often omits certain words, such as linking verbs, compared to English?

Ukrainian, like many Slavic languages, tends to be more economical in the present tense. The structure relies on context and grammatical inflections rather than auxiliary verbs. This means that what is explicitly expressed in English (like the linking verb "is") is often understood implicitly in Ukrainian.