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Questions & Answers about Петро вітає друзів.
What is the grammatical role of Петро in the sentence "Петро вітає друзів"?
Петро is the subject of the sentence. It is in the nominative case and indicates who is performing the action of greeting.
How is the verb вітає conjugated, and what does its form tell us?
Вітає is the present tense, third person singular form of the verb віта́ти (to greet). Its ending shows that the action is performed by a single subject—in this case, Петро.
Why is друзів used instead of друзі for "friends"?
Although друзі is the nominative plural form for "friends," when referring to animate direct objects in Ukrainian, the accusative plural takes the form of the genitive plural. Thus, друзів is used to indicate that "friends" is the object being greeted.
Why are there no articles like "the" or "a" before Петро or friends in this sentence?
Ukrainian does not have articles such as "the" or "a/an." The language relies on context and word forms (like the case system) to convey specificity, so articles are unnecessary and are omitted.
How does the word order in "Петро вітає друзів" compare to English, and is the order flexible in Ukrainian?
The sentence follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word order, similar to English. Петро (subject) → вітає (verb) → друзів (object) mirrors the typical structure in English sentences like "Petro greets friends." Thanks to the case system in Ukrainian, word order can be more flexible without causing confusion about which word plays which role, although the standard order is used for clarity and emphasis.