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Questions & Answers about У кімнаті є велике вікно.
What does є mean in this sentence and why is it used?
є functions as an existential verb, similar to the English “there is” or “there exists”. In this sentence, it connects the location У кімнаті (in the room) with the subject велике вікно (big window), indicating that the window exists in the room. Unlike English, which uses the construction “there is”, Ukrainian employs є to express existence without needing a separate verb for location.
Why is the phrase У кімнаті used instead of just saying кімната?
The phrase У кімнаті literally means “in the room”. It uses the preposition у in combination with the locative case (кімнаті) to indicate the location where something exists. This locative construction is essential in Ukrainian for clearly stating where an action occurs or where an object is located, rather than merely naming the place.
How do the adjective велике and the noun вікно agree in this sentence?
In Ukrainian, adjectives must match the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case. The noun вікно is neuter and singular, so the adjective велике is in the neuter singular form as well. This agreement ensures that the description is grammatically consistent, clearly conveying that it is a big window being talked about.
Why does the sentence follow the order У кімнаті є велике вікно instead of an English-like subject-first order?
Ukrainian allows for flexible word order to emphasize different parts of a sentence. In this case, starting with У кімнаті (in the room) emphasizes the location. The existential construction with є places the focus on the existence of something in that location, making it natural for Ukrainian to structure the sentence this way rather than placing the subject at the very beginning.
Why is there no article equivalent to “a” or “the” before велике вікно?
Ukrainian, like many Slavic languages, does not use articles. The absence of articles means that definiteness or indefiniteness is inferred from context rather than being explicitly stated. Therefore, велике вікно can mean “a big window” or “the big window” depending on the situation, without the need for a separate word to denote the article.