Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Туман не заважає їй гуляти з собакою. - The fog does not prevent her from walking with the dog.

Їй is dative singular of вона (“she”). The verb заважати (“to hinder/prevent”) takes the person affected in the dative: заважати комусь (Dat.) робити щось. Common dative pronouns:

я → мені
ти → тобі
він → йому
вона → їй
ми → нам
ви → вам
вони → їм

What exactly does заважає mean, and are there synonyms?

Заважає is 3rd person singular present of заважати (“hinders, prevents, gets in the way”). Close synonyms:

перешкоджає (more formal/literary)
Avoid using мішає to mean “bothers” in Ukrainian; мішати mainly means “to mix.”

Why is the negation written separately: не заважає (not as one word)?

In Ukrainian, the negative particle не is written separately with most finite verbs: не заважає, не знаю. The glued form you might know is the set expression незважаючи на (“despite”), which is different in meaning and function.

What nuance does гуляти have here? Is it the best verb with “dog”?

Гуляти means “to walk, to go for a stroll, to be out and about.” With a dog, гуляти з собакою is perfectly natural (“walk with the dog”). If you want to stress the purposeful act of walking the dog as a task, use вигулювати собаку. For a one-off stroll: прогулятися з собакою.

What case is used in з собакою, and why?

After з (“with”), Ukrainian uses the instrumental case. Собака in the instrumental singular is собакою. So the pattern is: з + (Instrumental) = “with (someone/something).”

Why is it з собакою, not із or зі?

All three mean “with”; the choice is for euphony:

з is the default (e.g., з собакою, з другом).
із and зі are used to avoid awkward clusters or for smoother pronunciation (e.g., зі мною, із школи, зі мною is much more common than з мною). Here, з собакою sounds natural and is the standard choice.

Why does собакою end in -ою?

That’s the instrumental singular ending for most nouns of the -а/-я type: -ою/-ею (e.g., мама → мамою, книга → книгою). So собака → собакою in the instrumental.

Can I drop the preposition and say гуляти собакою?

No. Гуляти is intransitive; you need з plus instrumental: гуляти з собакою. If you want a transitive verb (no preposition), use вигулювати (кого?) собаку.

Can the word order change, and what changes in meaning?

Ukrainian word order is flexible and used for emphasis:

Туман не заважає їй гуляти з собакою. (neutral)
Їй туман не заважає гуляти з собакою. (emphasizes “to her, the fog doesn’t hinder it”)
Туман їй не заважає гуляти з собакою. (slight emphasis on “fog (to her) doesn't hinder”) The core grammar (cases, agreement) stays the same.

What’s the difference between їй and її?

їй = dative “to her.”
її = “her” (possessive before a noun) or genitive/accusative of “she.” Examples:
Туман не заважає їй… (Fog doesn’t hinder her…)
Вона гуляє з її собакою. (She is walking with her dog.)
Я бачу її. (I see her.)

How does the verb change with different subjects or tenses?

Present: я/ти/він(вона) заважаю/заважаєш/заважає, ми/ви/вони заважаємо/заважаєте/заважають.
Past: не заважав (m), не заважала (f), не заважало (n), не заважали (pl).
Future (simple): не заважатиме (he/she/it won’t hinder). Example: Тумани не заважають їй… (plural subject → plural verb).

How do you pronounce їй and заважає?

їй is pronounced like “yee(y)”—a quick “y” glide plus “ee.”
заважає roughly “za-va-ZHA-ye,” with stress on “-жа-.” The letter ж is “zh” (as in “measure”).

Is заважати related to зважати or to незважаючи на?

They’re different:

заважати = “to hinder, get in the way of.”
зважати (на щось) = “to consider, to take into account, to heed.”
незважаючи на = “despite” (a set prepositional phrase, written together).

Should I use щоб after заважати?

No. The usual pattern is:

заважати комусь робити щось (dative + infinitive), as in the sentence. You can also say заважати чомусь (“to hinder something”), but you don’t use щоб here.

Anything tricky about the gender of собака?

Yes. Собака is often treated as a common-gender noun: it declines like a feminine noun but can take masculine or feminine agreement depending on the dog’s sex or speaker preference. You’ll hear both patterns in real life. If you need unambiguous masculine, пес is common; otherwise собака works for any dog.

How else could I express the idea “despite the fog”?

Two natural alternatives:

Незважаючи на туман, вона гуляє з собакою.
Попри туман, вона гуляє з собакою. Both mean “Despite the fog, she walks (her) dog,” with normal word order flexibility.