Безпека важлива.

Safety is important.

Breakdown of Безпека важлива.

• важливий: important
• безпека: the safety

Questions & Answers about Безпека важлива.

Where is the verb “is” here?

In Ukrainian, the present-tense copula є (from бути, “to be”) is usually omitted. So Безпека важлива literally reads “Safety important,” and that’s a complete, normal sentence.

You can optionally:

• add an em dash for emphasis or clarity: Безпека — важлива.
• include the verb: Безпека є важливою (more formal/emphatic; see the next Q about the ending).

If I include є, why does the ending change to важливою?

When you explicitly use the copula (є, “is”), the predicate adjective is typically put in the instrumental case:

• Present: Безпека є важливою.
• Past: Безпека була важливою.
• Future: Безпека буде важливою.

Using nominative with an explicit є (e.g., “є важлива”) sounds non‑standard. Without the copula, use nominative: Безпека важлива.

Why is it важлив-а, not важлив-ий or важлив-е?

Adjectives agree with the noun’s gender and number. Безпека is feminine singular, so the adjective is feminine singular:

• Masculine: важливий (e.g., План важливий.)
• Feminine: важлива (e.g., Безпека важлива.)
• Neuter: важливе (e.g., Питання важливе.)
• Plural: важливі (e.g., Плани важливі.)

How do I pronounce it and where is the stress?

Stress and helpful cues:

• безпе́ка важли́ва (stress on -пе- and -ли-)
• Romanization: bezpéka vazhlýva
• Tips:
  • ж = “zh” (as in “measure”).
  • и sounds like a short “i” (close to English “i” in “bit”), not like “ee”.
  • In speech, the з in безпека often devoices before п, so you’ll hear something like “bes-”.

Can I say Важлива безпека instead?

Written as-is, Важлива безпека is usually read as a noun phrase (“important safety”), not a full sentence. To front the focus as a sentence, prefer:

• Саме безпека важлива. (It’s safety that is important.)
• Безпека — це важливо. (Safety — it’s important.) Using a dash can also disambiguate: Важлива — безпека. (stylistic/emphatic).

What’s the difference between важлива and важливо?

• важлива is an adjective agreeing with a noun: Безпека важлива.
• важливо is an impersonal predicative (like an adverb in form): Безпека — це важливо. / Важливо, щоб була безпека. Do not say Безпека — це важлива (that’s ungrammatical).

How do I negate it?

Put не before the adjective:

• Безпека не важлива. For emphasis: зовсім не важлива, не дуже важлива, не така вже й важлива, etc.

How do I make the comparative or superlative?

• Comparative: важливіша
  • Безпека важливіша за гроші. / … ніж гроші.
• Superlative: найважливіша
  • Безпека — найважливіша. Both за (+ accusative) and ніж are common for “than.”

How do I say “very important (to me/us/etc.)”?

Use an intensifier and, if needed, для + Genitive:

• Безпека дуже важлива для мене/для нас/для компанії. Other intensifiers: надзвичайно, особливо, вкрай.

What if the subject is plural, like “security measures are important”?

Use a plural subject and a plural adjective:

• Заходи безпеки важливі.
• Питання безпеки важливі.

Should there be a dash (—) between the words?

Not required. Безпека важлива. is perfectly fine. A dash is often used when both parts are nouns or for emphasis/clarity:

• Безпека — важлива. (emphatic)
• Безпека — пріоритет. (both sides nouns)

Is важна acceptable?

No. важна is a Russism in this meaning. Standard Ukrainian uses важливий/важлива/важливе/важливі for “important.” The form важний exists in Ukrainian but generally means “pompous, self-important,” not “important.”

What are the main case forms of безпека I might see?

• Genitive: безпеки (e.g., для безпеки — for safety)
• Dative/Locative: безпеці (e.g., у безпеці — in safety)
• Accusative: безпеку (e.g., забезпечити безпеку — ensure safety)
• Instrumental: безпекою (e.g., із безпекою — with safety)
• Vocative: безпеко

How do I say it in past or future?

Add the copula and (safely) use instrumental for the adjective:

• Past: Безпека була важливою.
• Future: Безпека буде важливою. Note: With past/future, nominative with adjectives can occur in some styles, but instrumental is the safe, standard choice for learners.

What common mistakes should I avoid with this pattern?

• ❌ Безпека є важлива → ✅ Безпека є важливою (instrumental after explicit є)
• ❌ Безпека — це важлива → ✅ Безпека — це важливо or ✅ Безпека — важлива
• ❌ важна for “important” → ✅ важлива (feminine form of “important”)