Попередній урок був цікавим.

The previous lesson was interesting.

Breakdown of Попередній урок був цікавим.

• цікавий: interesting
• бути: to be
• урок: the lesson
• попередній: previous

Questions & Answers about Попередній урок був цікавим.

What does Попередній урок був цікавим mean?

It means "The previous lesson was interesting." Here, попередній translates to "previous," урок means "lesson," був is the past tense form of to be, and цікавим means "interesting" (in its masculine instrumental form). This sentence describes the lesson from before as being interesting.

Why is the adjective цікавим in the instrumental case instead of the nominative?

In Ukrainian, when a predicate adjective follows a linking verb such as бути (to be) in the past tense, it is typically put into the instrumental case. This construction indicates the state or quality being ascribed to the subject. Since урок is a masculine singular noun, цікавим is used in its masculine instrumental form.

What role does the verb був play in this sentence?

був is the past tense form of бути (to be) and serves as the linking verb that connects the subject (попередній урок) with the predicate adjective (цікавим). In this structure, it acts simply as a copula, telling us what the subject was like in the past.

How do adjectives agree with nouns in Ukrainian, as seen in this sentence?

Adjectives in Ukrainian must agree with the noun they modify in terms of gender, number, and case. In the sentence, both попередній (attributive) and цікавим (predicate) agree with урок, which is masculine and singular. While попередній is used directly with the noun, цікавим is in the instrumental case because it follows the linking verb був.

Why is there no article like "the" before урок in the sentence?

Ukrainian does not have articles like "the" or "a/an." Instead, definiteness or indefiniteness is inferred from context or sometimes expressed with other grammatical means. Therefore, урок appears without an article even though in English we say "the lesson."

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

While the typical subject–verb–predicate order (as in "Попередній урок був цікавим") is common and clear in Ukrainian, the language does allow for flexible word order. Changing the positions of words can add emphasis or a stylistic nuance, but the grammatical relationships—such as case agreements—must remain clear to maintain the original meaning.