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Questions & Answers about Я гуляю в парку без друзів.
Why is the noun for “park” written as парку instead of парк?
In Ukrainian, when indicating location with the preposition в (“in”), the noun takes the locative case. The word парк changes to парку in the locative, showing that the action takes place inside or at the park. If the sentence were describing movement toward the park (destination), you would use the accusative case (e.g., в парк).
What case is used after the preposition без in без друзів, and why?
The preposition без (“without”) always governs the genitive case in Ukrainian. Therefore, друзів is the genitive plural form of друг. This construction clearly expresses the absence of friends accompanying the speaker.
What does the verb гуляю indicate in this sentence?
The verb гуляю is the first-person singular present form of гуляти, which means to walk or to stroll. It denotes an action that is currently taking place or is habitual. Unlike English, Ukrainian does not have a distinct continuous form, so the present tense here covers both simple and ongoing contexts.
Why are there no articles like "the" or "a" in this sentence?
Ukrainian, like many other Slavic languages, does not use articles. As a result, nouns such as парку or друзів appear without any additional words to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness. Context and case endings provide sufficient meaning without the need for articles.
Can the word order in this sentence be changed, and what effect might that have?
Yes, Ukrainian word order is relatively flexible. For example, you might rearrange the sentence as Я без друзів гуляю в парку to emphasize being without friends rather than the location. Although the overall meaning stays the same, altering the word order can shift which part of the sentence gets more stress or focus.