Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Сусідка живе поруч із моїм будинком.

сусідка means “neighbor” when that neighbor is female. Ukrainian distinguishes gender in many nouns: the masculine form is сусід, and the corresponding feminine form is сусідка.

What is the verb живе, and how is it formed?

живе is the 3rd person singular present tense of the imperfective verb жити (“to live”). Ukrainian drops the personal pronoun in most cases, so (Вона) живе literally means “(She) lives.” Conjugation of жити in the present:
• я живу
• ти живеш
• він/вона живе
• ми живемо
• ви живете
• вони живуть

Why do we say поруч із instead of just поруч?

поруч alone is an adverb meaning “near” or “close by.” To link it to a noun you need a preposition plus case. The fixed pattern is поруч із + instrumental (e.g., поруч із будинком) to express “right next to the house.” Without із, поруч can’t govern a noun.

Why is будинком in the instrumental case?

The preposition із requires the instrumental case. So the nominative будинок becomes instrumental будинком, giving із будинком = “with the house,” idiomatically “next to the house.”

Why is the possessive pronoun мій in the form моїм here?

Possessive pronouns in Ukrainian agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify. Since будинком is masculine singular instrumental, мій changes to the instrumental form моїм, yielding моїм будинком.

What’s the difference between поруч із and біля?

Both mean “near” or “by,” but:

поруч із emphasizes being immediately adjacent (“right next to”).
біля simply indicates proximity and is a bit more neutral (“near,” “beside”).
Both govern the instrumental: біля мого будинку, поруч із моїм будинком.

When should I use з, із, or зі?

These are all variants of the preposition meaning “with” (or “from”), chosen for euphony:

з before most consonants (з другом)
зі before certain clusters for ease (зі мною)
із before vowels or in set phrases (із Англії, поруч із)
In поруч із, the form із is standard.

Can I use свій instead of мій here?

No—свій always refers back to the subject.
• сусідка живе поруч зі своїм будинком means “the neighbor lives next to her own house,” not “my house.”
To mean “my house,” you need мій → моїм.

How is поруч pronounced and where is the stress?

поруч is pronounced [po-ROOCH], with stress on the second syllable. Key pronunciation points:
• п = p, о = o as in “more” (short), р = rolled r, у = oo as in “food,” ч = ch as in “check.”
Other stresses in the sentence:
• сусідка [su-SID-ka]
• живе [ZHI-ve] (stress on first syllable)
• моїм [mo-YIM]
• будинком [bu-dyn-KOM]

Can I rearrange the word order in this sentence?

Yes. Ukrainian is fairly flexible. For example:
• Поруч із моїм будинком живе сусідка.
Both this and Сусідка живе поруч із моїм будинком convey the same meaning; you only shift emphasis.