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Questions & Answers about Я намазую масло на булку.
What tense and aspect is the verb намазую in the sentence Я намазую масло на булку?
The verb намазую is present tense, first person singular, imperfective aspect of намазувати. Imperfective aspect expresses an ongoing or habitual action, so it corresponds to I am spreading or I spread butter on a roll.
Why is масло not in the instrumental case (маслом) as it often is with spread?
In this sentence, масло functions as the direct object of намазувати and appears in the accusative case. Since масло is a neuter inanimate noun, its accusative form is identical to the nominative (масло), so it looks unchanged.
Why is булку in the accusative case after the preposition на, instead of the prepositional case (на булці)?
Using на + accusative expresses motion toward or onto a surface – here, spreading butter onto the surface of the roll. The prepositional case (на булці) would indicate location on the roll, but for the action of applying, Ukrainian uses accusative to show direction onto.
Can I also say Я намазую булку маслом and what’s the difference?
Yes, Я намазую булку маслом is correct and very common. It uses булку as the direct object (accusative) and маслом in the instrumental case to indicate the material used. Both sentences mean the same thing; the instrumental construction is the more idiomatic way to say I spread butter on a roll.
Why do we sometimes drop Я and say Намазую масло на булку?
Ukrainian often omits subject pronouns because verb endings indicate the person. Намазую already shows first person singular, so Я is optional and is used mainly for emphasis or clarity.
How would I say I will spread butter on the roll in Ukrainian?
Use the perfective verb намазати in the future: Я намажу масло на булку. Here намажу is first person singular future simple.
What is the difference between мазати and намазувати/намазати?
Мазати is the base imperfective verb meaning smear or apply. Adding the prefix на- gives намазувати (imperfective) and намазати (perfective), which specifically focus on spreading something onto a surface.
What exactly does булка mean and how is it different from хліб or батон?
A булка is a small individual roll or bun made from wheat dough. Хліб is the general word for bread, батон is a long loaf (often used for sandwiches), and булочка is a diminutive form of булка, sometimes sweet.
How do I say jam in Ukrainian and use it in a similar sentence?
Jam is джем (borrowed) or варення (traditional). You can say Я намазую джем на тост for I spread jam on toast or Я намазую тост варенням using the instrumental construction.