Breakdown of Я подякував бібліотекарю за її терпіння і дружню допомогу.
я
I
і
and
її
her
бібліотекар
the librarian
подякувати
to thank
за
for
дружній
friendly
допомога
the assistance
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Questions & Answers about Я подякував бібліотекарю за її терпіння і дружню допомогу.
Why is the librarian expressed as бібліотекарю instead of бібліотекар?
In Ukrainian, when you thank someone using the verb подякувати, the person being thanked is put in the dative case. The base noun бібліотекар takes the dative ending -ю, which turns it into бібліотекарю to show that the librarian is the recipient of the thanks.
Why is the verb подякував in the masculine form, and what would it be if the speaker were female?
Ukrainian past tense verbs agree with the speaker’s gender. The form подякував is masculine, indicating that a male speaker is expressing thanks. If the speaker were female, the correct form would be подякувала.
What case are терпіння and допомогу in, and why are these forms used after за?
The preposition за in this context governs the accusative case because it introduces the reason for the thanks. Both терпіння (patience) and допомогу (help/assistance) appear in the accusative form, marking them as what the speaker is thanking for.
How does the adjective дружню agree with the noun допомогу in this sentence?
Adjectives in Ukrainian must agree with the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case. Here, допомога is a feminine singular noun in the accusative case, so the adjective дружню is also in the feminine singular accusative form.
The sentence uses the pronoun її (her) to refer to the librarian, yet the noun бібліотекар is masculine. Why is that?
Although бібліотекар is grammatically masculine, it is sometimes used as a generic term for the occupation regardless of the person’s gender. The use of її clearly indicates that the librarian is female. Alternatively, a speaker might use бібліотекарка to unambiguously denote a female librarian, but here її resolves the gender.
How does the word order in this sentence reflect typical Ukrainian syntax?
The sentence follows a logical structure: the subject (Я), then the verb (подякував), followed by the recipient in the dative (бібліотекарю), and finally the reason expressed through a за phrase (за її терпіння і дружню допомогу). Although Ukrainian word order is flexible due to clear case markings, this order emphasizes the action (thanking) first and then clarifies both who is being thanked and for what reason.