Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Подруга має замовити суп і чай.

With an infinitive, має + infinitive expresses obligation or expectation: “has to / is supposed to.” So має замовити = “has to/is supposed to order.” On its own, має means “has/possesses.” This construction can also imply something scheduled or planned.

Can I use повинна / мусить / треба instead of має? What’s the difference?

Yes, but they differ in tone and structure:

повинна (fem.) = “must/should,” fairly standard, sometimes formal: Подруга повинна замовити…
мусить (fem.) = a stronger “must/has to”: Подруга мусить замовити…
треба is impersonal “it is necessary,” and the person goes in dative: Подрузі треба замовити… (softer/practical necessity)

Why is the perfective verb замовити used instead of the imperfective замовляти?

Замовити (perfective) presents a single, completed action—the expected result (placing the order). Замовляти (imperfective) highlights an ongoing/repeated process. With має, aspect shapes meaning:

має замовити = she has to order (once, successfully).
має замовляти = she should be ordering (habitually, or focusing on the process).

What case are суп and чай in, and why don’t they change?

They are direct objects in the accusative singular. For inanimate masculine nouns, the accusative equals the nominative, so суп and чай look unchanged. Under negation, Ukrainian allows either accusative or partitive genitive depending on nuance (see below).

Can I say чаю instead of чай?

Both are possible with slightly different nuances:

замовити чай = order “a tea” (a portion).
замовити чаю = order “some tea” (partitive, less specific). In cafés you’ll also hear чашку чаю (“a cup of tea”) for clarity.

Is заказати acceptable for “to order,” or should it be замовити?

Use замовити. Заказати/заказ are Russisms/colloquial regionally; standard Ukrainian prefers замовити and замовлення (an order).

Is the word order fixed?

No—Ukrainian allows flexible order for emphasis.

Neutral: Подруга має замовити суп і чай.
Emphasize the subject: Суп і чай має замовити подруга.
Background the subject, focus on the action: Має замовити суп і чай подруга. All are grammatical; the first is the default.

How do I include “my friend”?

Use a feminine agreeing form: Моя подруга має замовити суп і чай. The adjective моя agrees with подруга (feminine singular).

What changes if the subject is plural?

Make both the noun and the verb plural:

Подруги мають замовити суп і чай. For male/mixed friends: Друзі мають замовити… The verb becomes мають (3rd person plural).

How do I form a yes–no question?

Two common ways:

Чи подруга має замовити суп і чай?
Подруга має замовити суп і чай? (rising intonation) For a wh-question: Хто має замовити суп і чай? — Подруга.

How do I talk about time—past or future?

Simple future action (no modal): Вона замовить суп і чай.
Past obligation/plan: Подруга мала замовити суп і чай. (“was supposed to”)
Future obligation: Подруга матиме замовити суп і чай. (more formal/literary; more common is Подруга повинна буде замовити…)

Should I use і, й, or та for “and” here?

і is the default. After a word ending in a consonant, keep і: суп і чай.
й replaces і after a word ending in a vowel: кава й чай (euphony). Writing суп й чай is non‑standard.
та also means “and,” stylistic or to avoid too many і: суп та чай.

How do I pronounce it? Where is the stress?

по́друга [PO-dru-ha] (Ukrainian г is a voiced “h,” like in “ahead”)
ма́є [MA-ye] (є = “ye”)
замо́вити [za-MO-vy-ty] (stress on the “мо”)
суп [soop], чай [chai] Also: і = “ee,” й = “y” (as in “yes”).

How do I negate this—what’s the difference between “doesn’t have to” and “must not”?

“Doesn’t have to”: Їй не треба замовляти суп і чай or Вона не мусить замовляти… (no obligation).
“Must not/shouldn’t”: Вона не повинна замовляти… (prohibition/advice).
Вона не має замовляти… can mean “is not supposed to,” but may be ambiguous with literal possession in some contexts.

Does подруга mean a romantic “girlfriend”?

No. Подруга is a female friend (non‑romantic). For a romantic partner use дівчина (“girlfriend”) or кохана (“beloved/partner”), depending on context.

How do I say “two teas” or “two portions of soup”?

Two teas: два чаї (colloquial for two teas), or more precisely дві чашки чаю (“two cups of tea”).
Two soups: два супи, or дві порції супу (“two portions of soup”).