Breakdown of Мій друг показує мені фотографії з подорожі.
мій
my
друг
the friend
мені
me
подорож
the trip
фотографія
the photograph
з
from
показувати
to show
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Questions & Answers about Мій друг показує мені фотографії з подорожі.
What case is the pronoun мені in, and why is this case used here?
мені is the dative singular of я (“I”). In Ukrainian the dative case marks the indirect object—the person to whom something is shown. Here it means “to me.”
What case does фотографії take in this sentence, and how do you recognize it?
фотографії is the accusative plural of фотографія (“photo”). Because фотографія is an inanimate feminine noun, its accusative plural form is identical to its nominative plural. As the direct object of показує, it stands in the accusative.
What does the phrase з подорожі mean literally, and what case is подорожі in?
з подорожі literally means “from (the) trip.” The preposition з (meaning “from”) requires the genitive case, so подорожі is the genitive singular of подорож (“trip, journey”).
What tense, person, and aspect is the verb показує, and how do they affect the meaning?
показує is present tense, third person singular of the imperfective verb показувати (“to show”). Imperfective aspect indicates a current, ongoing, or habitual action: “my friend is showing me” or “my friend shows me” (regularly).
What is the infinitive form of показує, and what is its perfective counterpart?
The infinitive imperfective is показувати. Its perfective counterpart is показати, which you’d use for a single, completed action (e.g. “My friend showed me the photos.”).
How would you say this sentence in the past tense?
You’d replace показує with the past tense of the perfective or imperfective verb. For perfective:
Мій друг показав мені фотографії з подорожі.
(“My friend showed me the photos from the trip.”)
For imperfective past:
Мій друг показував мені фотографії з подорожі.
(Emphasizes an ongoing or repeated past action.)
Why is the possessive pronoun мій used before друг, and how does it agree?
мій means “my.” It agrees with друг (“friend”) in gender (masculine), number (singular), and case (nominative): masculine-singular-nominative мій друг.
Is the word order in this sentence fixed, or can elements be moved around?
Ukrainian word order is relatively flexible. The neutral order here is Subject–Verb–Indirect Object–Direct Object–Adverbial Phrase (S–V–IO–DO–AdvP). You could say, for emphasis, Мій друг мені показує фотографії з подорожі or Мій друг показує з подорожі мені фотографії, though the basic meaning remains the same.
Can you use із instead of з before подорожі, and when do you choose one over the other?
Yes. із is an alternative form of з used for euphony, especially before words beginning with two consonants (e.g. із станції) or at the start of a sentence. Before подорожі either з подорожі or із подорожі is acceptable.