Я п’ю сік.

I drink juice.

Breakdown of Я п’ю сік.

• я: I
• пити: to drink
• сік: the juice

Questions & Answers about Я п’ю сік.

What does the apostrophe in п’ю indicate?

The Ukrainian apostrophe here shows that п remains hard (not palatalized) before the iotated vowel ю, which itself represents the sound sequence /j/ + /u/. Without the apostrophe, пю would be pronounced /pʲu/ (soft п). With п’ю, you get /pju/ (hard п + glide j + u).

How do I pronounce Я п’ю сік?

Pronunciation tips:

• Я = /ja/ (like “ya” in “yard”)
• п’ю = /pju/ (hard p, then “yu” as in “museum”)
• сік = /sik/ (short i, consonants s and k) Put it all together: /ja pju sik/, with the stress on the vowel of сік (the single syllable takes full stress).

Why isn’t there an article like “a” or “the” before сік?

Ukrainian has no indefinite or definite articles. A bare noun can mean “juice,” “the juice,” or “some juice,” depending on context. If you need emphasis, you add words like трохи соку (“some juice”) or цей сік (“this juice”), but there’s no direct equivalent of English “a”/“the.”

What case is сік in this sentence?

Сік is in the accusative singular masculine. Since it’s an inanimate masculine noun, its accusative form looks exactly like the nominative form. You see сік both when it’s the subject (nom.) and when it’s the direct object (acc.).

Can I drop я and just say П’ю сік?

Yes. Ukrainian verb endings already tell you the subject. П’ю is 1st person singular present. Speakers often drop я unless they want to emphasize “I” (for contrast or style). (Я) п’ю сік or simply П’ю сік are equally grammatical.

What verb aspect and tense does п’ю express?

• Tense: present
• Aspect: imperfective
  Пити (imperfective) describes an ongoing, habitual or repeated action. Thus Я п’ю сік can mean “I am drinking juice (right now)” or “I drink juice (in general).” To express a completed action “I drank up the juice,” you’d use the perfective випити in the past tense.

How would I say “I drank the juice” in Ukrainian?

Use the perfective verb випити in the past tense, matching your gender:

• If you’re male: Я випив сік.
• If you’re female: Я випила сік.

How is Я п’ю сік different from the Russian Я пью сок?

Key differences: • Spelling: Ukrainian uses і in сік, Russian uses о in сок.
• Apostrophe vs none: Ukrainian inserts an apostrophe п’ю; Russian writes пью without it.
• Pronunciation: Ukrainian п’ю is /pju/, Russian пью is /pʲu/ (soft п).
• Vocabulary and phonetics often diverge even in identical-meaning sentences.