Я даю друзям смачний обід.

I give friends a tasty lunch.

Breakdown of Я даю друзям смачний обід.

• я: I
• смачний: tasty
• друг: the friend
• обід: the lunch
• давати: to give

Questions & Answers about Я даю друзям смачний обід.

What is the overall structure of the sentence "Я даю друзям смачний обід"?

The sentence follows the typical pattern of subject–verb–indirect object–direct object. Here:
• Я is the subject ("I").
• даю is the verb (first-person singular present tense of "давати" meaning "to give").
• друзям is the indirect object, marked by the dative case, indicating "to friends."
• смачний обід is the direct object, meaning "tasty lunch" (in Ukrainian the accusative for masculine inanimate nouns looks like the nominative).

Why is друзям in the dative case, and what does that imply?

In Ukrainian, the recipient of an action (such as giving) is typically expressed in the dative case. The word друзям (ending in –ям) shows that "friends" are the receivers of the lunch. The dative case answers the question "to whom?" which is why it’s used here.

What role does the adjective смачний play in the sentence?

The adjective смачний (“tasty”) directly modifies the noun обід (“lunch”). In Ukrainian, adjectives usually precede the noun they describe, much like in English, providing more detail about the quality of the lunch.

Why are there no articles (like "a" or "the") in the sentence?

Ukrainian does not use articles. Unlike English, where we might say "a tasty lunch" or "the tasty lunch," Ukrainian conveys meaning without inserting articles; context and word order help indicate whether something is definite or indefinite.

What information does the verb даю convey about the subject and the action?

The verb даю is conjugated in the first-person singular present tense, which directly tells us that the speaker ("Я" meaning "I") is doing the action now. It comes from the verb давати, meaning "to give," and confirms who is performing the act and when it is taking place.

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

While the natural word order here is subject–verb–indirect object–direct object, Ukrainian has a relatively flexible word order thanks to its case system. The cases clearly mark each word’s role. However, this standard order is common and helps maintain clarity, especially for learners.