Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Солодкий десерт зробив вечір особливим. - The sweet dessert made the evening special.

Солодкий is an attributive adjective modifying десерт. Just as in English, where adjectives come before the noun (e.g., "sweet dessert"), here it describes the quality of the dessert.

Why is особливим in the instrumental case instead of the nominative?

In Ukrainian, when using verbs like зробив ("made") to indicate that something has been transformed or given a new state, the new state is expressed in the instrumental case. Therefore, особливим is in the instrumental to show that the evening has become "special" as a result of the dessert.

How does the verb зробив affect the structure of this sentence?

The verb зробив is the past tense, perfective form of зробити ("to make"). It connects the subject (Солодкий десерт) with the object (вечір) and its resultant state (особливим). Recognizing this causative construction helps the learner understand how the action of the dessert "making" changes the state of the evening.

Which cases are used in this sentence and what roles do they play?

The sentence includes several cases:

десерт is in the nominative case, serving as the subject.
вечір is in the accusative case, acting as the direct object of the verb.
особливим is in the instrumental case, used as the complement that describes the new state of the evening. This pattern is typical in Ukrainian when indicating a transformation caused by an action.

Is the word order in this sentence fixed, or can it be rearranged for emphasis?

Ukrainian word order is relatively flexible compared to English. While the standard construction here is Subject-Verb-Object-Complement, changing the order (for example, placing особливим immediately after вечір) can adjust the emphasis or focus of the sentence. However, for clarity in causative constructions, it’s best for learners to use the standard order until they become more comfortable with advanced variations.