Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: На першій сторінці зошита є помітка. - There is a mark on the first page of the notebook.

In Ukrainian, when you indicate location with the preposition на and answer the question де? (“where?”), you use the locative case. The noun сторінка (page) becomes сторінці in the feminine singular locative.

Why is зошита in the genitive case?

Here зошита expresses possession or a part–whole relationship (“the page of the notebook”). To show that сторінка belongs to зошит (notebook), зошит takes the genitive singular ending -а, giving зошита.

What is the function of є in this sentence?

є is the present‐tense form of the verb бути (“to be”) used as an existential verb, equivalent to English there is or there are. It simply marks the existence or presence of помітка on that page.

Can we omit є in this sentence?

Yes. In Ukrainian, the present‐tense бути is often dropped. You can say: На першій сторінці зошита помітка. Both versions are correct; the one without є sounds slightly more colloquial.

Why does першій end with -ій instead of something like -а?

The adjective перший (“first”) agrees with the feminine singular noun сторінка in the locative case. Feminine locative adjectives take the ending -ій, so першій matches сторінці.

Could we change the word order, for example to Є помітка на першій сторінці зошита?

Yes. Placing є помітка at the beginning emphasizes the mere existence of the note, while fronting на першій сторінці зошита emphasizes the location. Both orders are grammatically correct and acceptable.

What is the difference between помітка, примітка, and замітка?

Though all three can translate as “note,” their nuances differ:

помітка: a quick jotting down, a mark or memo you make for yourself
примітка: an annotation or commentary, like a footnote or explanatory remark in a text
замітка: typically a short written piece or notice, e.g. a news item or bulletin
Choose based on context: personal memo (помітка), explanatory comment (примітка), or brief article/notice (замітка).