Я зазвичай п’ю чай ввечері.

I usually drink tea in the evening.

Breakdown of Я зазвичай п’ю чай ввечері.

• я: I
• пити: to drink
• ввечері: in the evening
• чай: the tea
• зазвичай: usually

Questions & Answers about Я зазвичай п’ю чай ввечері.

What does the apostrophe in п’ю do, and how do I pronounce it?

• The apostrophe keeps the consonant п hard and adds a short “y” glide before ю. So п’ю sounds roughly like “pyu” (hard p + y + u), not like a softened “p”.
• Without the apostrophe, a consonant before ю would normally soften/palatalize, which is not what happens here.
• Don’t use a soft sign: Ukrainian has п’ю, not пью (that’s Russian spelling).

Is п’ю present simple or present continuous?

Ukrainian doesn’t split these like English does. П’ю covers both “I drink” and “I am drinking.” The adverb зазвичай (“usually”) shows it’s a habitual action here.

How do you conjugate пити (to drink) in the present?

• я п’ю
• ти п’єш
• він/вона/воно п’є
• ми п’ємо
• ви п’єте
• вони п’ють

How would I say it as a one-time action (“I’ll drink tea in the evening”)?

• Use perfective випити (to drink up, one completed event): Я ввечері вип’ю чай.
• If you mean “drink for a while,” use попити: Я ввечері поп’ю чаю.

Can I change the word order?

Yes. Ukrainian word order is flexible for emphasis:

• Увечері я зазвичай п’ю чай. (Emphasis on time)
• Зазвичай я п’ю чай увечері. (Emphasis on “usually”)
• Я зазвичай п’ю чай увечері. (Neutral, very natural)

Where does зазвичай go, and is it the same as звичайно?

• Зазвичай (“usually”) most often comes before the verb or at the start: Я зазвичай п’ю… / Зазвичай я п’ю…
• Звичайно means “of course,” not “usually.” Don’t mix them up.

What does ввечері mean exactly, and are there alternatives?

• Ввечері means “in the evening.” The equally standard variant увечері is very common too.
• For “in the evenings” (regularly), say вечорами or щовечора; also кожного вечора = “every evening.”

Why is there a double в in ввечері, and how do I pronounce it?

It’s historically в + вечері fused. In speech most people just say a single, clear [v] sound; you don’t need to hold it. If you want to avoid the double в, use увечері—both are standard.

Why is it чай here and not чаю?

• In affirmative sentences, inanimate direct objects take the accusative, which for чай looks like the nominative: п’ю чай.
• Чаю (genitive) appears with negation, amounts, or to mean “some tea” as an indefinite mass: не п’ю чаю, хочу чаю, чашка чаю.
• In casual speech you might hear п’ю чаю, but the neutral default is п’ю чай.

How do I negate the sentence?

• Most natural: Я зазвичай не п’ю чаю ввечері. (Genitive after negation)
• You may also hear: …не п’ю чай…, but it sounds less idiomatic with mass nouns.

If I swap tea for coffee, what changes?

Кава is feminine; in the accusative it’s каву: Я зазвичай п’ю каву ввечері.

Do Ukrainians say “have tea,” or should I use “drink”?

Use пити with beverages: пити чай, пити каву. To say “have a cup of tea,” use випити чашку чаю or, more loosely, попити чаю.

Is вечором correct?

Вечором is colloquial/regional for “in the evening.” In standard style, prefer увечері/ввечері. Note also надвечір = “towards evening, at dusk.”

Any common spelling pitfalls in this sentence?

• Write п’ю (with apostrophe), not пью.
• Don’t confuse зазвичай (“usually”) with звичайно (“of course”).
• Write the time adverb as one word: ввечері/увечері, not в вечері.