У понеділок я купую хліб у магазині.

On Monday I buy bread at the store.

Breakdown of У понеділок я купую хліб у магазині.

• я: I
• магазин: the store
• у: in
• хліб: the bread
• купувати: to buy
• понеділок: the Monday
• у: on

Questions & Answers about У понеділок я купую хліб у магазині.

Why is У used before понеділок to say “on Monday”?

Ukrainian expresses “when” with у (or в) + the accusative case of the time noun. Here понеділок (Monday) is masculine inanimate, so its accusative form is identical to the nominative. Both у понеділок and в понеділок are correct; у is often preferred before consonants for smoother pronunciation.

What case is понеділок in this sentence?

It’s in the accusative case, used after у/в to indicate when something happens. Since понеділок is a masculine inanimate noun, its accusative singular form stays понеділок.

Why do хліб and понеділок look the same in nominative and accusative?

In Ukrainian, most masculine inanimate nouns don’t change form between nominative and accusative in the singular. That’s why хліб (bread) as a direct object remains хліб.

What case and meaning does магазині have?

магазині is the locative (prepositional) singular form of магазин (store). After у/в to show location (“in the store”), the noun takes the locative ending -і.

What does купую mean, and why this form?

купую is the first person singular present tense of the imperfective verb купувати (“to buy”). You use the imperfective when describing habitual or repeated actions (“I buy bread every Monday”). The perfective counterpart (куплю) would mean “I will buy (it once).”

Why is the pronoun я (I) included, since the verb ending already shows the subject?

Ukrainian verbs indicate person and number via their endings, so я is optional. Speakers include я for emphasis, clarity, or stylistic reasons, but it can be dropped: У понеділок купую хліб у магазині.

Why aren’t there any articles like “a” or “the” in the sentence?

Ukrainian has no articles. Definiteness or indefiniteness is inferred from context, word order, or additional words (like demonstratives), rather than special article words.

Can I change the word order and still be correct?

Yes. Ukrainian has a relatively free word order thanks to its case system. For example:

• Я в понеділок купую хліб у магазині.
• У магазині я купую хліб у понеділок.
  All variations carry slightly different emphases, but the original SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) with time at the front is the most neutral.