Questions & Answers about У вівторок я прокидаюся рано.
What does У вівторок mean, and why is у used instead of в?
У вівторок means on Tuesday. In Ukrainian the preposition в changes to у before a word that starts with a vowel (for easier pronunciation). Saying в вівторок would create an awkward sequence of consonants, so it becomes у вівторок.
Why doesn’t вівторок take the prepositional (locative) case after у? I thought у always requires the locative.
Prepositions in Ukrainian can govern different cases depending on meaning:
• У/в + accusative expresses time (when something happens), e.g. у вівторок = on Tuesday.
• У/в + prepositional (locative) expresses location, e.g. у місті = in the city.
How is the verb прокидаюся formed, and what does it mean?
прокидаюся is the 1st person singular present tense of the imperfective, reflexive verb прокидатися, meaning to wake up.
– Prefix про- adds the sense of “going through the action” of waking.
– Root -кид-/-ида- is the verbal base.
– Reflexive suffix -ся indicates the action is performed by and on the subject (I wake myself up).