Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: На столі лежить невиправлений документ. - An uncorrected document lies on the table.

It’s the Locative case (місцевий відмінок). After the preposition на meaning “on/at” with a static location (answering “де? where?”), Ukrainian uses the Locative: на столі “on the table.” If you talk about direction/motion (“onto the table,” answering “куди? where to?”), you use the Accusative: на стіл.

Why does the subject come after the verb in this sentence?

Ukrainian word order is flexible. Starting with На столі puts the location in focus; then лежить sets the scene; and the new piece of information (невиправлений документ) comes last. You could also say:

Невиправлений документ лежить на столі. (emphasizes the document) Both orders are natural and grammatical; the choice affects emphasis.

Why use лежить instead of just saying “to be”?

Ukrainian often uses posture/position verbs to describe where things are:

лежить (is lying)
стоїть (is standing, upright)
висить (is hanging) They sound more specific and natural than a bare “is.” You could also say:
Документ на столі. (copula omitted in the present; fully correct)
На столі є документ. (emphasizes existence/presence) But лежить adds the nuance “lying flat on a surface.”

What exactly is невиправлений grammatically?

It’s a passive past participle used adjectivally, formed from the perfective verb виправити (“to correct”). With the negation prefix не-, невиправлений means “not corrected” or “uncorrected,” describing a resultant state. It agrees with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Why is невиправлений written together and not не виправлений?

When a participle/adjective with не is used attributively without dependent words or contrast, it’s written together: невиправлений документ. Write it separately when:

there’s a dependent word: не виправлений кимось документ
there’s explicit contrast: не виправлений, а закреслений документ

Why does невиправлений end in -ий here?

Agreement. Документ is masculine singular in the nominative, so the adjective/participle matches: невиправлен-ий документ. Other forms:

feminine: невиправлен-а заявка
neuter: невиправлен-е завдання
plural: невиправлен-і документи

Is документ the subject even though it appears after the verb?

Yes. The subject is невиправлений документ (nominative), and the verb лежить is 3rd person singular to match it. На столі is a prepositional phrase indicating location.

How would the sentence look in the plural?

Singular: На столі лежить невиправлений документ.
Plural: На столі лежать невиправлені документи. Note the changes: лежить → лежать, невиправлений → невиправлені, документ → документи.

How do I say “onto the table” instead of “on the table”?

Use the Accusative with motion:

Покладіть документ на стіл. (Put the document onto the table.) Compare with the static location (Locative):
Документ лежить на столі. (The document is lying on the table.)

What’s the difference between на столі and у столі?

на столі = “on the table” (on the surface)
у столі = “in the desk/table” (inside, e.g., in a drawer of a writing desk) So use на for surfaces and у/в for interior location.

Can I say На столі є невиправлений документ?

Yes. It’s grammatical and emphasizes existence/presence: “There is an uncorrected document on the table.” Using лежить adds the idea of position (“is lying”) and often sounds more vivid/natural for physical objects.

How do I express definiteness (“the” vs “a”) since Ukrainian has no articles?

Context and word order do the work. Невиправлений документ лежить на столі can imply a specific, known document (“the uncorrected document...”). To make it clearly definite, you can add a demonstrative:

Цей невиправлений документ лежить на столі. (This uncorrected document...) Indefiniteness can be conveyed by context or by words like якийсь (“some”).

Pronunciation tips for tricky sounds here?

лежить: the ж is like English “zh” in “measure”; the vowel и is a short, central [ɪ]-like sound (not English “ee”).
столі: і is a pure “ee” sound; stress is on the last syllable: sto-LI.
документ: stress on the last syllable: doku-MENT. In speech you’ll hear: лежИть, столІ, докумЕнт (stress as marked).

Are there synonyms for лежить I could use?

знаходиться = “is located” (more formal/neutral, common with places/institutions): Документ знаходиться на столі (ok, but a bit formal for a small item).
розташований (adj.) = “located/arranged”: Документ розташований на столі (sounds bureaucratic/technical).
валяється (colloquial) = “is lying around (messily)”: Документ валяється на столі (messy/neglectful nuance).

Is невиправлений the same as неправильний?

No.

невиправлений = “uncorrected; not yet corrected” (focus on the process/result of correcting)
неправильний = “incorrect/wrong” (judgment of correctness) A document can be both incorrect and uncorrected, but the words aren’t interchangeable.

Don’t confuse невиправлений with невиправний — what’s the difference?

невиправлений: “uncorrected” (a document/task/error that hasn’t been fixed)
невиправний: “incorrigible/incurable” (about a person/trait: невиправний брехун = “incorrigible liar”). Different meanings and usage.