Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Ukrainian grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Банкір читає газету.
Why is there no article equivalent to “a” or “the” in Банкір читає газету?
Ukrainian has no articles. Nouns appear without a, an, or the; definiteness or indefiniteness is inferred from context.
What grammatical case is газету in, and why does it end in -у?
Газету is in the accusative singular. It ends in -у because it’s a feminine inanimate noun whose base form is газета (nominative), and the accusative singular of such nouns takes -у.
What case and role does банкір have, and why doesn’t it change its ending?
Банкір is the subject in the nominative singular. It’s a masculine noun ending in a consonant, so its nominative form stays банкір.
Why is there no pronoun like “he” before читає?
In Ukrainian, subject pronouns are optional when the verb ending clearly shows person and number. Читає is third person singular, so він (“he”) can be omitted.
What tense, person, number, and aspect does читає express?
Читає is the present tense, third person singular of the imperfective verb читати (“to read”). Imperfective aspect indicates an ongoing or repeated action.
How is читає pronounced, and what happens to the letters я and є here?
Pronunciation: [tʃiˈtɑ.je]. The letter я after the consonant т signals the sequence /a/ + /j/ + /e/ as т-я-є → ta-ye, but orthographically it’s split into т + и + тає. Actually, читає is spelled ч-и-т-а-є, with є representing /je/ after a vowel.
Where is the stress in Банкір читає газету?
The stress falls on the second syllable of банкір (ban-KIR), on the second syllable of читає (chi-TA-ye), and on the second syllable of газету (ha-ZE-tu).
If I want to say “The banker has read the newspaper,” which form of “to read” should I use?
You would switch to the perfective verb прочитати. For example, Банкір прочитав газету (if the banker is masculine) or Банкір прочитала газету (if feminine). This shows the action is completed.