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Breakdown of У бібліотеці є двадцять книг.
книга
the book
у
in
бути
to be
бібліотека
the library
двадцять
twenty
Questions & Answers about У бібліотеці є двадцять книг.
Why is У used before бібліотеці, and not В?
The preposition в means English in and has two variants: в and у. We use у when the next word begins with a consonant cluster that would make в awkward to pronounce. Since бібліотеці begins with “б”, у бібліотеці is smoother than в бібліотеці.
What case is бібліотеці, and why is it used?
бібліотеці is the Locative case of бібліотека. Ukrainian uses the Locative after у/в to indicate location (that something is “in” that place).
What is the function of є in this sentence?
є is the third-person singular present tense of бути, meaning to be. Here it serves as an existential copula—like English there is/are—telling us that twenty books exist in the library.
Can є be omitted in this sentence?
Yes. In neutral and colloquial Ukrainian you can drop є without changing the meaning: У бібліотеці двадцять книг is equally correct.
Why is книг used instead of книги or книгам?
After cardinal numerals from 5 through 20 (and multiples of ten), the counted noun takes the Genitive plural. книга becomes книг, so with двадцять you say двадцять книг.
Does the numeral двадцять change form for case, gender, or number?
No. двадцять is an indeclinable cardinal numeral. It remains the same in all cases and does not agree with gender or number.
How would the noun form change with other numbers, for example, 3 or 21?
For 2, 3, and 4, the noun takes the Nominative plural: три книги, чотири книги. For numbers ending in 1 (except 11), use Nominative singular: двадцять одна книга. For numbers from 5 to 20 (and their tens like 25, 30, etc.), use Genitive plural: п’ятнадцять книг, тридцять книг.
How is двадцять книг pronounced and where is the stress?
двадцять is pronounced DVA-dʲahtsʲ with stress on the first syllable (ДВА). книг is one syllable (KNIH) and carries no separate stress.
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