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Questions & Answers about Петро їсть їжу.
What does the verb їсть indicate in this sentence?
The verb їсть means “to eat” and is conjugated in the third person singular present tense. It is derived from the imperfective verb їсти, which expresses an ongoing or habitual action.
Why is the noun їжа changed to їжу in this sentence?
In Ukrainian, the direct object of a sentence takes the accusative case. The noun їжа (meaning “food”) is modified to їжу in the accusative form, indicating that it is the recipient of the action.
What role does Петро play in this sentence, and does it change form at all?
Петро is a proper noun functioning as the subject of the sentence and remains in the nominative case. Although proper names in Ukrainian can decline depending on their grammatical role, in this sentence, Петро stays in its base form as the subject.
Why are there no articles like “the” or “a” in the sentence?
Ukrainian, like many Slavic languages, does not have articles. Nouns are used without “the” or “a”, so їжу simply stands for “food” without an article, relying on context to convey definiteness or indefiniteness.
Is the word order in Петро їсть їжу fixed, or can it be rearranged for emphasis?
Although Ukrainian has a relatively flexible word order thanks to its system of cases, Петро їсть їжу follows the standard Subject-Verb-Object order. Rearranging the words is possible for emphasis or stylistic reasons, but the case endings ensure that the grammatical relationships remain clear.