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Questions & Answers about Пісня гарна.
What does each word in Пісня гарна mean, and how does its structure compare to English?
Пісня means song and гарна means beautiful. Unlike English, Ukrainian often omits the verb “to be” in the present tense. So instead of saying “The song is beautiful,” the sentence simply states “Song beautiful.”
Why is there no word for “is” in the sentence Пісня гарна?
In Ukrainian, the present-tense of the verb “to be” is usually dropped because it is understood from the context. The sentence Пісня гарна implies “The song is beautiful” without needing an explicit verb.
How does the adjective гарна agree with the noun Пісня?
The adjective гарна is in the feminine singular form, which matches the noun Пісня that is also feminine singular. This agreement in gender, number, and case is a key feature of Ukrainian grammar.
What grammatical case is used for Пісня and does гарна reflect that case?
Both Пісня and гарна are in the nominative case. The nominative case is used for the subject of the sentence, and the adjective must agree with the noun in this case to maintain proper grammatical structure.
Is the word order in Ukrainian flexible? For example, can the adjective come before the noun?
Yes, Ukrainian word order is relatively flexible because of its inflected nature. While Пісня гарна is perfectly normal, you could also say гарна пісня. However, changing the order might subtly shift the emphasis or nuance of the sentence.
How would you form the negative of this sentence, as in “The song is not beautiful”?
To form the negative, insert the particle не before the adjective. The negative sentence becomes Пісня не гарна, which directly translates to “The song is not beautiful.”