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Questions & Answers about Я купую борошно в магазині.
What is the base form (infinitive) of купую, and which tense and aspect does it express?
The infinitive is купувати (“to buy”). In Я купую борошно в магазині, купую is first-person-singular present tense of the imperfective aspect. Imperfective verbs describe ongoing, habitual, or repeated actions.
What is the difference between купую and куплю?
купую is the imperfective present (“I buy” or “I am buying”), focusing on the process.
куплю is the perfective future (“I will buy”), indicating a single, completed act in the future. Use купую for ongoing/habitual purchase and куплю when you want to say you will complete the purchase.
Why is борошно unchanged, and how do you know it’s the direct object?
борошно is a neuter, inanimate noun. In Ukrainian the accusative (direct-object) form of inanimate neuter nouns is identical to the nominative. That’s why борошно doesn’t appear to change.
Why don’t we use any articles (like “the” or “a”) in Я купую борошно в магазині?
Ukrainian has no articles. Definiteness or indefiniteness is inferred from context, word order, or optional particles (e.g., цей “this”), but there are no separate words for “a” or “the.”
What case is в магазині, and why is магазині in that form?
магазині is in the locative case (sometimes called prepositional) singular. The preposition в (“in”) requires the locative to indicate location. For masculine nouns like магазин, the locative ending is -і.
Why is the preposition в used here, not у or на?
Both в and у mean “in.” You use в before words starting with a consonant (в магазині) and у before a vowel (у армії). на means “on” or “at” for certain fixed expressions (на вокзалі “at the station”), but with магазин you say в магазині or у магазині.
Where is the stress in борошно and магазині, and how are they pronounced?
In борошно́ the stress is on the last syllable: bo-rosh-NO.
In магазині́ the stress is also on the last syllable: ma-ha-zy-NI.