У кишені куртки є навушники.

There are headphones in the pocket of the jacket.

Breakdown of У кишені куртки є навушники.

• у: in
• бути: to be
• куртка: the jacket
• кишеня: the pocket
• навушник: the headphone

Questions & Answers about У кишені куртки є навушники.

Why is the word кишені used here? Which case is it?

It’s Locative singular. With the preposition у/в meaning “in/at” (static location), Ukrainian puts the noun in the Locative case: у кишені = “in the pocket.” The base form is кишеня (pocket). Note: the form кишені looks the same as Genitive/Dative singular, but here the preposition у signals Locative.

Why is куртки in the Genitive?

It marks possession/association: кишеня чого? куртки = “the pocket of the jacket.” So куртка (jacket) → Genitive singular куртки.

Do we need є? What changes if we drop it?

• є is optional in the present tense but common in existential sentences. У кишені куртки є навушники emphasizes existence/availability (“there are headphones…”).
• Without є—У кишені куртки навушники—it can sound more like a concise label or like we’re stating where the known headphones are. Using є is the neutral, most typical choice for “there is/are.”

Can the word order change?

Yes. Common, natural variants include:

• У кишені куртки є навушники. (neutral; sets the location first)
• Навушники є у кишені куртки. (focus on the headphones)
• Є навушники у кишені куртки. (emphasizes existence first) Word order mainly affects emphasis; the meaning stays the same.

Why у and not в? Is there a difference?

No difference in meaning. У and в are euphonic variants of the same preposition. Speakers choose the one that sounds smoother in context. Before a consonant like к in кишені, у often flows better: у кишені. в кишені is not wrong; у кишені just avoids a heavy consonant cluster for many speakers.

Why is навушники plural?

Ukrainian treats “headphones” like English does—typically as a plural item: навушники. The singular навушник refers to a single earpiece/earbud. You can say пара навушників for “a pair of headphones.”

How would I say “into the pocket,” not “in the pocket”?

Use Accusative for direction: у (в) кишеню. For example: Я поклав навушники у кишеню куртки = “I put the headphones into the jacket pocket.”

How do I turn this into a yes/no question?

Keep the same order and use rising intonation or a question mark:

• У кишені куртки є навушники? You can also use Чи:
• Чи у кишені куртки є навушники?

How do I make it negative?

Use немає/нема and put the thing denied in the Genitive:

• У кишені куртки немає навушників. Here навушники → Genitive plural навушників after negation.

How do I say “in my jacket pocket” or “in this jacket pocket”?

• У кишені моєї куртки (in my jacket pocket)
• У кишені цієї куртки (in this jacket pocket) The possessive/demonstrative agrees in case: Genitive singular (моєї, цієї) because it modifies куртки (Genitive).

Does У куртці є навушники mean the same thing?

Not exactly. У куртці є навушники = “There are headphones in the jacket” (somewhere in/attached to the jacket). У кишені куртки є навушники specifies the pocket of the jacket.

Is карман acceptable in Ukrainian?

Standard Ukrainian uses кишеня. карман is Russian and considered non-standard/colloquial in Ukrainian (often heard in mixed speech). Stick with кишеня.

How do I express definiteness vs indefiniteness without articles?

Ukrainian has no articles. You rely on:

• Word order and є for an “indefinite/existential” feel: У кишені куртки є навушники (“There are some headphones…”).
• Context or demonstratives for definiteness: У кишені куртки — ці навушники / У кишені куртки є ці навушники (“the/these headphones”).

Where is the stress in the key words?

• кише́ні (ki-she-NI)
• ку́ртки (KURT-ky)
• наву́шники (na-VU-shny-ky) These are the standard stresses.

Could I say Куртка має кишені to talk about possession? What about this sentence?

• Yes: Куртка має кишені = “The jacket has pockets” (general possession).
• For contents/location like “There are headphones in the pocket,” Ukrainian prefers the existential pattern У X є Y, not має. So У кишені куртки є навушники is the idiomatic way.

How do I know куртки here is singular Genitive, not plural Nominative?

Formally, куртки can be either. But in the construction кишені куртки (“the pocket of the jacket”), the second noun after another noun is almost certainly Genitive singular (possession). If it were “jackets” plural possessed by the pocket, you’d see Genitive plural: кишені курток.

Can I say У кишені в куртці?

You may hear У кишені в куртці in casual speech to contrast with, say, a pants pocket, but the clean, standard way to express possession is У кишені куртки (“in the pocket of the jacket”). Use the Genitive to avoid redundancy.