Breakdown of У вівторок я зустрічаюся з дочкою.
я
I
з
with
дочка
the daughter
у
on
вівторок
the Tuesday
зустрічатися
to meet
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Questions & Answers about У вівторок я зустрічаюся з дочкою.
Why is У used before вівторок instead of В?
In Ukrainian the two basic prepositions for in/at/on are в and у. They are chosen largely for euphony:
- Use в before words beginning with a vowel (e.g. в Україні).
- Use у if the next word begins with в (to avoid a вв cluster) or certain consonant clusters (e.g. у школі).
Therefore it’s у вівторок, not в вівторок.
What does the -ся at the end of зустрічаюся mean?
The suffix -ся makes the verb зустрічатися reflexive or reciprocal; it means to meet up with someone. Without -ся, зустрічати usually means to host someone or to meet someone in a one-sided sense. Here зустрічаюся indicates that you and your daughter meet each other. The form is present tense, first person singular.
Why is the noun дочка in the form дочкою, and what case is that?
The preposition з (meaning with) requires the instrumental case. The instrumental singular of дочка is дочкою (feminine nouns ending in -а often take -ою in instrumental). So з дочкою literally means with (my) daughter.
Why is there no word for my before дочкою? Should it be з моєю дочкою?
You can say з моєю дочкою (the instrumental singular of мій is моєю). However, if it’s clear from context whose daughter you mean, Ukrainian often omits the possessive pronoun. з дочкою is thus perfectly natural.
Why is the verb in the present tense when the meeting is in the future?
Ukrainian frequently uses the present tense of an imperfective verb together with a future time expression (here у вівторок) to indicate a scheduled or planned action. It’s similar to saying I’m meeting my daughter on Tuesday. If you want to stress the action’s completion or treat it as a single event, you’d use the perfective: У вівторок я зустрінуся з дочкою.
What is the difference between зустрічаюся and зустрінуся?
зустрічаюся is imperfective aspect in the present tense and focuses on the action itself or its repetition/planning. зустрінуся is perfective aspect, future tense, and highlights the one-time completion of the meeting.
- Я зустрічаюся з дочкою щовівторка.
- У вівторок я зустрінуся з дочкою.
Can I move у вівторок to the end of the sentence?
Yes. Ukrainian has relatively flexible word order. Я зустрічаюся з дочкою у вівторок means the same thing, though placing у вівторок at the start emphasizes the time. Without another contrastive element, the information remains clear in any order.
Do I have to use я in я зустрічаюся, or can I omit the pronoun?
You can omit я because the verb ending -юся already indicates first person singular.
- (Я) зустрічаюся з дочкою у вівторок.
Both versions are correct; including я adds emphasis or clarity.
Where is the stress in вівторок?
The stress falls on the second syllable: вівто́рок. Listen for the longer о́ sound in the middle of the word.