Я зустрічаюся з друзями в кав’ярні щосуботи.

I meet with friends at the café every Saturday.

Breakdown of Я зустрічаюся з друзями в кав’ярні щосуботи.

• я: I
• друг: the friend
• в: in
• з: with
• зустрічатися: to meet
• кав’ярня: the coffee shop
• щосуботи: every Saturday

Questions & Answers about Я зустрічаюся з друзями в кав’ярні щосуботи.

Why does the verb зустрічаюся end in -ся, and what’s the difference between зустрічаюся and зустрічаю?

The -ся is the reflexive suffix.
• Зустрічатися (reflexive/intransitive) means “to meet with” someone.
• Зустрічати (transitive) means “to meet” in the sense of “to welcome” or “to receive” someone (e.g. at a train station).

Why is зустрічаюся in the present tense used here even though the action happens every Saturday?

In Ukrainian, the imperfective present tense (зустрічаюся) expresses habitual or repeated actions. Saying Я зустрічаюся з друзями щосуботи literally means “I meet with friends every Saturday” as an on-going routine.

If you wanted to say you will meet your friends one time next Saturday, how would you change the verb and time phrase?

Use the perfective future for a one-off event and a specific time marker:
Я зустрінуся з друзями в кав’ярні наступної суботи.

What case is друзями in з друзями, and why do we need the preposition з?

Друзями is in the instrumental plural. The preposition з (“with”) governs the instrumental when you indicate accompaniment—i.e. who you are meeting with.

What case is кав’ярні in в кав’ярні, why do we use в, and why is there an apostrophe in кав’ярні? Also, where is the stress?

• Кав’ярні is the locative singular of кав’ярня (“coffee shop”).
• We use в + locative to show “in/at” a place.
• The apostrophe blocks palatalization: it separates the consonant в from the vowel я, so you pronounce я as ya.
• The stress remains on the second syllable: кав’Ярні.

What does щосуботи mean, how is it formed, and where is its stress?

Щосуботи is an adverbial expression meaning “every Saturday.” It’s formed by fusing що (“what/which”) with the genitive суботи (“of Saturday”). It’s indeclinable and carries the stress on the бо syllable: щосУБОти.

Can you replace щосуботи with кожної суботи, and are there any style differences?

Yes. Кожної суботи (“each Saturday”) uses the adjective кожний + genitive. It’s a bit more formal or explicit, whereas щосуботи is more concise and colloquial.

Does the placement of щосуботи in the sentence matter?

No. Ukrainian word order is flexible. You can say:
• Щосуботи я зустрічаюся… (front-loaded for emphasis)
• Я зустрічаюся… щосуботи (default placement at the end)

Is the subject pronoun я required here, or can it be omitted?

You can omit я because the verb ending -юся already shows first person singular. Omitting it is common and still clear:
Зустрічаюся з друзями в кав’ярні щосуботи.