Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Пилосос працює тихо і швидко збирає пил. - The vacuum cleaner works quietly and quickly collects the dust.

Subject: Пилосос (vacuum cleaner) in the nominative.
Verbs: працює (works/is working) and збирає (collects/is collecting), both 3rd person singular present.
Direct object: пил (dust) in the accusative singular, which for inanimate masculine nouns looks the same as the nominative (no ending change).

Are тихо and швидко adjectives or adverbs? How are they formed?

They are adverbs modifying verbs. They come from the adjectives тихий (quiet) and швидкий (fast) by using the common adverbial ending -о: тихо, швидко.

Can I change the order or position of the adverbs?

Yes. Ukrainian adverbs are fairly flexible:

You can swap them: Пилосос працює швидко і тихо збирає пил (slightly different emphasis).
You can place an adverb before its verb: Пилосос тихо працює і швидко збирає пил. The version you have makes a neat parallel: тихо goes with працює, and швидко with збирає.

Why is there no comma before і?

No comma is needed because і (and) simply links two predicates with the same subject: Пилосос [працює] і [збирає]…. In Ukrainian, a comma appears before і only in more complex cases (e.g., different clauses with their own subjects or when there’s a pause/emphasis).

Does працює mean “works” or “is working”?

Both. The Ukrainian present tense of an imperfective verb covers habitual and ongoing meanings. Пилосос працює can mean “The vacuum cleaner works (in general)” or “The vacuum cleaner is working (right now).” Context decides.

What if I want to stress a completed action like “will quickly collect” or “has quickly collected”?

Use the perfective verb зібрати:

Future (completed): швидко збере пил = will quickly collect the dust (once).
Past (completed): швидко зібрав пил = quickly collected the dust. The present of a perfective verb refers to the future in Ukrainian.

What’s the difference between і and й? Could it be тихо й швидко?

Yes, тихо й швидко is also correct. і and й both mean “and.” й often appears before vowels or for euphony to avoid awkward sound sequences. Before a consonant like ш, і is the default, but й is not wrong.

How do I pronounce and stress the words?

Stressed syllables: пилосо́с, працю́є, ти́хо, шви́дко, збира́є, пил.
Rough guide: pylosós pratsyúye tíkho i shvýdko zbyráye pyl.
Vowel tip: і sounds like English “ee,” while и is a different vowel (closer to the i in “bit,” but not the same).

What are the infinitives and basic conjugations of the verbs?

працює ← infinitive працювати (to work): я працюю, ти працюєш, він/вона працює…
збирає ← infinitive збирати (to gather/collect): я збираю, ти збираєш, він/вона збирає…

Can I use a verb meaning “to vacuum” instead of працює?

Yes, пилососити means “to vacuum.” For example: Він тихо пилососить і швидко збирає пил. When the subject is the machine, працює is very natural; Пилосос тихо пилососить sounds playful/redundant but is understandable.

Why are there no articles like “the” or “a”?

Ukrainian has no articles. Пилосос can mean “a vacuum cleaner” or “the vacuum cleaner” depending on context. If you need to specify, use determiners like цей (this), той (that), мій (my): цей пилосос, мій пилосос.

What is the case and behavior of пил here?

Пил is a masculine inanimate mass noun. As a direct object it takes the accusative, which matches the nominative: пил → пил. For partitive amounts you’ll often see the genitive: трохи пилу (a bit of dust).

Is збирати пил the most natural phrasing? Are there alternatives?

Very common and natural. Alternatives:

всмоктувати пил = to suck in dust (more technical).
Colloquial: пилюка for dust (e.g., збирає пилюку). Avoid порох in modern usage for household dust, since it also means gunpowder.

Can this sentence also mean the vacuum is quiet in general?

As written, тихо (adverb) describes how it works. If you want to describe the vacuum’s property, use the adjective: Пилосос тихий і швидко збирає пил = The vacuum cleaner is quiet and collects dust quickly.

Can I make the adverbs stronger or softer?

Yes:

Intensify: дуже тихо, дуже швидко (very quietly/quickly).
Colloquial diminutives: тихенько, швиденько (quietly/quickly with a softer tone).
Near-synonyms: безшумно (silently), оперативно (efficiently, promptly).

How would negation work here?

Пилосос не працює тихо = The vacuum does not work quietly.
Пилосос працює тихо, але не швидко збирає пил = It works quietly, but doesn’t collect dust quickly. Placing не before the verb or adverb negates that part.

Is the word order fixed?

Basic SVO is default, but Ukrainian allows flexibility for emphasis. For neutral style, keep it as in the sentence. Moving elements (e.g., Пилосос тихо працює…) is fine; moving the object to the front adds emphasis and sounds marked.