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Questions & Answers about Я читаю книгу в метро.
Why is there no a or the in this sentence?
Ukrainian doesn’t have articles like English. You simply say книгу without adding an article. Definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from context.
What does читаю mean and how is it formed?
Читаю is the first person singular present tense form of the imperfective verb читати (“to read”). It literally means “I read” or “I am reading.”
How do you distinguish between “I read” (habitually) and “I am reading” (right now)?
Ukrainian uses the same present tense for both habitual and progressive actions. You rely on context (for example, adverbs like зараз “now”) to tell the difference.
Why is книгу ending in -у?
Книга is a feminine noun in the first declension. As the direct object of an imperfective verb, it takes the accusative case, which for feminine nouns ending in -а changes that ending to -у.
Why does метро stay the same in this sentence?
Метро is an indeclinable borrowed noun. It does not change form for any case, so it remains метро in all grammatical contexts.
Why is the preposition в used before метро? Can you also say у метро or на метро?
For location inside a place you use в (“in”). Both в метро and у метро are heard, but в метро is more common in this context. If you want to say “to go by subway,” you use на, as in їхати на метро, because на marks a means of transport.
Is the pronoun Я necessary in Я читаю книгу в метро?
No, it’s not strictly necessary because the verb ending -ю already shows first person singular. You can omit Я unless you want to emphasize that it’s specifically you who’s reading.
Where is the stress in метро?
The stress falls on the first syllable: МЕтро.