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Questions & Answers about Перший урок цікавий.
What part of speech is перший, and what does it mean here?
перший is an ordinal numeral used as an adjective. It means first and describes the position of the noun урок (lesson) in a sequence.
Why do перший and урок both appear in the nominative case?
In Ukrainian, the nominative case is used for the subject of a sentence. Here урок (the lesson) is the subject, and перший agrees with it in case (nominative), number (singular), and gender (masculine).
How does adjective agreement work in Ukrainian?
Ukrainian adjectives (including ordinal numerals like перший) must match the noun they modify in three categories:
- Gender (masculine/feminine/neuter)
- Number (singular/plural)
- Case (nominative, accusative, genitive, etc.)
In Перший урок цікавий:
- урок is masculine, singular, nominative
- перший and цікавий both take the masculine-singular-nominative ending -ий
Why is there no word for “is” (the verb to be) in the sentence?
In Ukrainian, the present-tense form of the verb бути (to be) is usually omitted. The sentence Перший урок цікавий literally reads “First lesson interesting,” but it is understood as “The first lesson (is) interesting.”
Can you ever add a form of бути for clarity or emphasis?
Yes. In more formal or emphatic contexts you can insert the present-tense copula є:
• Перший урок є цікавий.
However, in everyday speech and writing, Ukrainians typically leave it out.
How would you say “The first lessons are interesting” in Ukrainian?
You switch both adjective and noun to plural:
• Перші уроки цікаві.
Here перші and цікаві are plural nominative forms agreeing with уроки (lessons).
Where is the stress in перший and цікавий?
• першИй – stress on the second syllable (перш-И-ий)
• цікАвий – stress on the second syllable (ці-кА-вий)