На вулиці слизько.

It is slippery outside.

Breakdown of На вулиці слизько.

• на: on
• вулиця: the street
• слизько: slippery

Questions & Answers about На вулиці слизько.

Why is there no “to be” (є) in this sentence?

Ukrainian usually drops the present-tense form of бути (“to be”). So На вулиці слизько literally reads “On the street slippery,” which equals “It is slippery outside.” You normally don’t add є with predicative adverbs like слизько. Do use є to state existence of a noun: На вулиці є лід (“There is ice outside”).

What case is вулиці and why?

It’s Locative singular (місцевий відмінок), required by на when you mean “on/at” a place (static location). Compare:

• на вулиці = on the street (location)
• на вулицю = onto the street (direction, Accusative)
• з вулиці = from the street (Genitive)

Why use на instead of в/у here?

Ukrainian uses на with open surfaces/areas: на вулиці (on the street), на дорозі (on the road), на площі (on the square). У/в вулиці would sound like “inside a street,” so it’s not idiomatic here.

What part of speech is слизько?

It’s a predicative adverb meaning “slippery” as a general state. It comes from the adjective слизький (“slippery”) and is used in impersonal sentences (no subject). It doesn’t change for gender or number.

Can I say слизька or слизький instead of слизько?

Yes, but only when you’re describing a specific noun:

• Вулиця слизька. (The street is slippery.)
• Дорога слизька. (The road is slippery.)
• Сходи слизькі. (The stairs are slippery.) Without a noun, use the impersonal Слизько.

Is the word order “Слизько на вулиці” also correct?

Yes. Both На вулиці слизько and Слизько на вулиці are natural. Starting with Слизько emphasizes the condition; starting with На вулиці emphasizes the location.

How can I make it stronger or softer?

Add degree adverbs:

• дуже слизько (very slippery)
• трохи слизько (a bit slippery)
• страшенно/жахливо слизько (terribly slippery)
• неймовірно слизько (incredibly slippery) Example: Сьогодні на вулиці дуже слизько.

Are there synonyms for “outside” I can use instead of на вулиці?

Yes: надворі or на дворі both mean “outdoors”: Надворі слизько. Note that надворі is the standard, all-purpose “outdoors,” while на дворі is very common colloquially and can also mean “in the yard/courtyard” depending on context. Зовні usually means “externally/on the outside (of something)” and is less natural for weather/ground conditions.

How do I pronounce the tricky parts?

• вулиці roughly “vu-lee-tsi.” The letter ц is like “ts.” The final і is like English “ee.”
• слизько roughly “slyz-ko.” The letter и is like the short “i” in “bit” (not “ee”), and зьк is a soft “z” followed by “k” (say “z” with the tongue slightly closer to the palate, then “k”).

How do I say “The streets are slippery”?

Two natural options:

• Вулиці слизькі. (The streets are slippery — noun as subject, adjective agrees in plural.)
• На вулицях слизько. (It’s slippery on the streets — impersonal condition, Locative plural after на.)

How can I mention the cause?

Use через (“because of”):

• На вулиці слизько через лід/ожеледицю. (It’s slippery outside because of ice/black ice.) You can also use бо/тому що: На вулиці слизько, бо випав дощ і підмерз.

Is скользко acceptable in Ukrainian?

No. That’s Russian. In Ukrainian use слизько. The adjective is слизький (or, less commonly, ковзкий).

Can I say ковзко instead of слизько?

You may occasionally see/hear ковзко, but it’s much less common. Слизько is the neutral, standard choice in everyday speech. The adjective ковзкий is acceptable as a synonym of слизький.