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Questions & Answers about Я знаю друга.
What is the role of "Я" in the sentence?
"Я" is the subject, meaning I. It shows who is performing the action.
How is the verb "знаю" formed and what does it tell us?
"знаю" is the first-person singular present tense form of the verb знати (to know). It indicates that the speaker (Я) is the one who knows.
Why is the noun "друга" used instead of "друг"?
In Ukrainian, direct objects take the accusative case. For masculine animate nouns like друг (friend), the accusative singular form matches the genitive form, becoming друга. This shows that друга is the direct object of the verb.
Why isn’t there an article like “a” or “the” in the sentence?
Ukrainian does not have articles. Unlike English, you don’t use words equivalent to a or the, so Я знаю друга simply conveys the meaning without an article.
Is the word order in "Я знаю друга" fixed, or can it be changed for different emphases?
Ukrainian generally follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure as in this sentence, but it also allows flexible word order. Changing the order can shift the emphasis, although in this simple statement, the SVO order is the most neutral and common.