Я п’ю гаряче молоко опівдні.

I drink hot milk at noon.

Breakdown of Я п’ю гаряче молоко опівдні.

• я: I
• пити: to drink
• гарячий: hot
• молоко: the milk
• опівдні: at noon

Questions & Answers about Я п’ю гаряче молоко опівдні.

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

• The apostrophe marks a separation: the following iotated vowel ю is pronounced with a y-glide ([yu]), and the preceding consonant п stays hard. So п’ю is pronounced roughly [pyu], not [pʲu].
• Don’t write Russian-style пью. In Ukrainian it’s п’ю.
• Typing: both the straight apostrophe (') and the curly one (’) are commonly used in everyday typing.

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

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

Why does гаряче end in -е here?

Agreement. Молоко is a neuter noun, so the adjective must be neuter singular: гаряче молоко.
Compare:

• masculine: гарячий чай
• feminine: гаряча кава
• neuter: гаряче молоко

Why is there no article before молоко?

Ukrainian has no articles. Я п’ю гаряче молоко can mean either “I drink hot milk” (general/habitual) or “I’m drinking hot milk” (right now). Context supplies definiteness or indefiniteness (“the/some”).

What case is молоко in, and why doesn’t it change?

Accusative (direct object). For inanimate neuter nouns, nominative and accusative look the same: молоко → молоко. (For animate masculine nouns, the accusative often looks like the genitive: e.g., я бачу брата.)

Can I use a “some”/partitive meaning, like “I drink some hot milk”?

Yes, Ukrainian can use the genitive for an indefinite quantity, especially with completed actions:

• completed/one-time: Я випив гарячого молока.
  In the ongoing present, the accusative is more neutral: Я п’ю гаряче молоко. The genitive in the present (Я п’ю гарячого молока) exists but is less common and sounds more stylistically marked.

Where can I put опівдні in the sentence? Is word order flexible?

Yes. Common options:

• Neutral/new info at the end: Я п’ю гаряче молоко опівдні.
• Time frame first: Опівдні я п’ю гаряче молоко.
• Focus on the drink: Опівдні гаряче молоко я п’ю. (emphatic, less common) All are grammatical; order changes emphasis, not basic meaning.

Is опівдні one word? Can I also say о півдні? What about об?

• Both опівдні and о півдні mean “at noon” and are correct.
• Об півдні is uncommon; standard usage is о півдні or the fused опівдні. (Use об mainly before words starting with a vowel to ease pronunciation, e.g., об одинадцятій.)

Does опівдні mean exactly noon or around noon?

It means “at noon” (12:00). For “around noon,” say приблизно опівдні, близько полудня, or colloquial в обід (“at lunchtime,” around midday).

How do I stress and pronounce the words?

• Я [ya]
• п’ю [pyu]
• гаря́че [ha-RYA-che] (stress on -ря-)
• молоко́ [mo-lo-KO] (stress on final -ко)
• опі́вдні [o-PIV-dni] (stress on -пів-)
  Note: Ukrainian г is a voiced “h” [ɦ], not [g].

Can I drop the subject pronoun я?

Yes. The verb ending already shows the subject: П’ю гаряче молоко опівдні. Keeping я can add clarity or emphasis.

Is the present п’ю habitual or ongoing?

Both. Ukrainian present covers “I drink” and “I’m drinking.”

• Habitual: Я п’ю гаряче молоко опівдні.
• Ongoing/scheduled today: add a time adverb: Сьогодні опівдні я п’ю…

How do I say it in the future?

• One-time/completed (perfective): Я вип’ю гаряче молоко опівдні. (“I’ll drink it up at noon.”)
• Ongoing/process (imperfective): Я буду пити гаряче молоко опівдні.
  (A synthetic future я питиму exists but is less common in everyday speech.)

Why is it гаряче, not горяче?

Because Ukrainian uses гарячий/гаряче (“hot”), not Russian-style горячий. Also note pronunciation: Ukrainian г = [ɦ] (a voiced “h”), not [g].

Can гаряче be an adverb too?

Yes. Гаряче can be an adverb meaning “hotly/intensely”: Вони гаряче сперечалися. In your sentence it’s clearly an adjective (agreeing with neuter молоко).