На обід я приготую нову страву.

For lunch I will prepare a new dish.

Breakdown of На обід я приготую нову страву.

• я: I
• новий: new
• готувати: to prepare
• обід: the lunch
• на: for
• страва: the dish

Questions & Answers about На обід я приготую нову страву.

What does На обід mean in this sentence?

На обід translates as “for lunch” (or “at lunch”) and serves as an adverbial phrase indicating the meal for which something is intended. Here’s what’s happening grammatically:

• на
  • accusative is commonly used to express purpose or a span of time
• обід means “lunch”

So На обід = “for (the) lunch.”

What case is обід in, and why does it look like the nominative?

Grammatically, обід here is in the accusative case because the preposition на (when showing purpose or a specific time) governs the accusative. In masculine inanimate singular, the accusative form is identical to the nominative, which is why it still appears as обід.

What is the verb form приготую, and what tense/aspect does it express?

приготую is the first person singular future tense of the perfective verb приготувати.

• Perfective aspect → a single, completed action
• Future tense → “I will prepare”

So приготую = “I will prepare (and complete it).”

What is the difference between приготувати and готувати?

• приготувати (perfective)
  • Focus on a single, completed action (“I will prepare the dish and that’s done.”)
• готувати (imperfective)
  • Ongoing, repeated or habitual action (“I will be cooking,” “I usually cook.”)

For first-person future with the imperfective, you’d say “я буду готувати” instead of “я приготую.”

Why is нову страву in this particular form?

нову страву is the feminine singular accusative form of нова страва.

• страва (“dish”) is a first-declension feminine noun → accusative singular ends in -у (i.e. страву)
• нова (“new”) agrees with the noun and becomes нову in feminine accusative

It’s accusative because it’s the direct object of приготувати.

Can you show a quick declension for нова страва in the main cases?

Sure—here are the three most relevant singular forms:

• Nominative: нова страва (who? what?)
• Accusative: нову страву (whom? what?)
• Genitive: нової страви (of what?)

(Locative would be (на/в) новій страві, but we don’t use it here.)

Could the word order be changed in this sentence?

Absolutely. Ukrainian word order is flexible. All of these are valid:

• Я приготую нову страву на обід.
• Приготую нову страву на обід.
• На обід нову страву я приготую.

Changing order can shift emphasis, but the core meaning stays the same.

Is the pronoun я necessary here?

No, it’s optional. Because приготую already encodes “I will,” you can drop я for a more concise style:

• На обід приготую нову страву.

Including я simply adds clarity or emphasis on the subject.

What’s the difference between страву and їжу in Ukrainian?

• страва (“dish”) refers to a specific cooked item or recipe (e.g., борщ, курка з овочами).
• їжа (“food”) is a general term for anything edible.

So in this sentence страву highlights a particular prepared dish you’re going to make.

Can you also say в обід instead of на обід? What’s the nuance?

Yes, you can use в обід, but the focus shifts slightly:

• на обід → for the meal (purpose: “I will prepare it for lunch.”)
• в обід → at lunchtime (time: “When lunchtime comes, I will prepare it.”)

Both are correct; choose на обід to talk about preparing for a meal, and в обід to talk about when you do it.