Я пишу в щоденнику про свої плани.

I write about my plans in the diary.

Breakdown of Я пишу в щоденнику про свої плани.

• я: I
• в: in
• свій: my
• про: about
• план: the plan
• писати: to write
• щоденник: the diary

Questions & Answers about Я пишу в щоденнику про свої плани.

What case is щоденнику in, and why does it end with -у instead of -і?

щоденнику is in the prepositional case (sometimes called locative), used here with the preposition в to mean “in.”
• Most masculine nouns form the prepositional by replacing the ending with -і (e.g. в домі, в парку).
• Nouns ending in certain consonant clusters or suffixes (like -ник in щоденник) take -у instead of -і, so в щоденнику is correct.

Why is the preposition в used here instead of у?

In Ukrainian “в” becomes “у” before awkward clusters of two consonants (for ease of pronunciation).
• Use в before a single consonant sound: в місто, в школі, в щоденнику (because щ is one sound).
• Use у before words that start with two (or more) consonants, e.g. у Львові (Л + в).

Why is про used to mean “about,” and why is it followed by свої плани in the accusative?

Ukrainian has two common ways to say “about”:

1. про
   • accusative (e.g. про плани) – very common in speech and writing.
2. о/об
   • prepositional (e.g. о планах) – a bit more bookish or formal.
     Here, про takes the accusative plural плани (inanimate plurals have the same form as the nominative).

Why is the reflexive pronoun свої used instead of мої, and why is it plural?

• свій/свої refers back to the subject (“my own”), so it’s preferred when that subject is also the possessor (я → свої плани).
• It agrees in gender, number, and case with плани (masculine, plural, accusative).
• It’s plural because you presumably have multiple plans. If you had only one, you’d say про свій план.

What does пишу mean here, and could I use написав or напишу instead?

• пишу is the present tense, imperfective aspect of писати (“I am writing” or “I write/habitually write”).
• написав is past tense, perfective (“I wrote/finished writing”).
• напишу is future tense, perfective (“I will write—and finish writing”).
Choose imperfective (пишу) to emphasize an ongoing or repeated action.

Is the pronoun я necessary? Can I drop it?

In Ukrainian you can often omit subject pronouns because the verb ending indicates the subject.
• пишу already implies “I,” so Я is optional.
• Including я adds emphasis or clarity.
Both Я пишу… and Пишу… are correct.

Does word order matter here? Could I say Я пишу про свої плани в щоденнику?

Yes, Ukrainian word order is relatively flexible.
• Я пишу в щоденнику про свої плани puts slight emphasis on where you write.
• Я пишу про свої плани в щоденнику shifts emphasis to what you write.
Both versions are grammatically correct; the difference is in what you choose to highlight.

What exactly is a щоденник? Is it the same as a зошит?

• щоденник = diary/journal for personal entries, thoughts or plans, usually dated.
• зошит = notebook, typically for schoolwork or general notes.
• блокнот = notepad or pad of paper.
So a щоденник is specifically your diary or journal, not just any notebook.