Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Взагалі я п’ю чай, а не каву.

In this sentence it frames a general preference: “in general/actually (speaking).” With a negative verb, взагалі often means “at all” (e.g., Я взагалі не п’ю кави = I don’t drink coffee at all). For “usually,” зазвичай is the most precise choice. Взагалі-то adds a mild “actually/by the way” tone.

Why is чай unchanged but кава becomes каву?

The verb пити takes the accusative case for its object. For inanimate masculine nouns like чай, the accusative equals the nominative, so it stays чай. Кава is feminine; its accusative singular is каву.

Could I say чаю instead of чай here?

Prefer п’ю чай in a neutral, habitual statement. Чаю (genitive) is used for a partitive meaning “some tea,” especially with perfective verbs or after verbs like хочу (e.g., Вип’ю чаю, Хочу чаю). You may hear п’ю чаю colloquially, but п’ю чай is the standard choice.

What does а не do? Why not just use не?

А не sets up a direct contrast: “rather than.” Я п’ю чай, а не каву = “I drink tea, not coffee.” If you say Я не п’ю кави, that’s a full negation (“I don’t drink coffee”), not a comparison.

Why is it каву and not кави after а не?

Inside the contrast …а не…, the case stays what the verb requires—here, accusative—so каву. The “genitive of negation” (кави) is used with full negation (e.g., Я не п’ю кави), not in this contrastive construction.

Is the comma before а required?

Yes. А is a contrastive coordinating conjunction (“whereas/but”), and Ukrainian punctuation requires a comma before it.

Can I move взагалі? Is Я взагалі п’ю чай natural?

Yes. Both Взагалі я п’ю чай and Я взагалі п’ю чай are natural. Sentence-initial взагалі sounds a bit more like a framing comment. Avoid Я п’ю чай взагалі in this meaning—it sounds odd; use зазвичай if you mean “usually.”

How do I pronounce взагалі and п’ю? What’s the apostrophe for?

Взагалі: stress the last syllable (vzaha-LI). г is a voiced h-sound.
П’ю: one syllable, like “pyu.” The apostrophe (’) shows a “y” glide and prevents softening of the preceding consonant after labials. Always write п’ю in Ukrainian (not Russian-style пью).
Чай: “chay.”
Каву: stress the first syllable: “KÁ-vu.”

What are the present-tense forms of пити?

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

How do I express a single, concrete act (“I’ll drink tea”), vs a habit?

Use imperfective п’ю for ongoing/habitual: Зазвичай я п’ю чай (I usually drink tea).
Use perfective for a single complete act (future meaning): Завтра я вип’ю чай/чаю (Tomorrow I’ll drink [some] tea).

Is я necessary? And should it be capitalized like English “I”?

You can drop it: Взагалі п’ю чай, а не каву is fine because the verb ending shows the person. Unlike English, я is only capitalized at the start of a sentence or for stylistic reasons, not by default.

Can I replace а with але?

You can, but але is heavier and more often introduces a full clause. Взагалі я п’ю чай, але не каву is possible, yet natives prefer the concise contrast а не here.

Could I say the same idea with “instead of”?

Yes: Замість кави я п’ю чай = “Instead of coffee, I drink tea.” This suggests substitution in a given context, while the original sentence states a general preference.

Any common mistakes to avoid with this sentence?

Writing пью instead of Ukrainian п’ю.
Using genitive after а не (don’t say не кави here; use не каву).
Overusing взагалі for “usually”; if you mean frequency, зазвичай is clearer.