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Questions & Answers about Тато читає газету.
Why is there no word for “a/the” here? How do articles work in Ukrainian?
Ukrainian has no articles. Тато читає газету can mean either “Dad is reading a newspaper” or “Dad is reading the newspaper,” depending on context. If you need to clarify, add context words like цю газету (this newspaper) or ту газету (that newspaper).
Does читає mean “reads” or “is reading”?
Both. The Ukrainian present tense (with an imperfective verb like читати) covers both habitual and ongoing actions. You disambiguate with adverbs:
- Ongoing: Тато зараз читає газету. (Dad is reading a newspaper now.)
- Habitual: Тато щодня читає газету. (Dad reads the newspaper every day.)
Why does газета become газету?
It’s the accusative case, used for the direct object of the verb. Feminine nouns ending in -а change to -у in the accusative singular:
- книга → книгу, робота → роботу, газета → газету.
Could it ever stay газета instead of газету?
Yes, when it’s not a direct object—e.g., as a subject or in the dictionary (nominative) form:
- Subject: Газета цікава. (The newspaper is interesting.)
- Dictionary form: you’ll look it up as газета.
What gender is газета, and does that matter?
Газета is feminine. Gender matters because it determines case endings and pronoun choice:
- Accusative singular: газету
- Pronoun replacement: її (it/her, for feminine nouns) → Тато читає її.
What’s the difference between тато and батько?
Both mean “father,” but:
- тато = dad, informal/affectionate, most common in everyday speech.
- батько = father, more formal or neutral; also used in official/academic contexts.
How do I address “Dad” directly?
Use the vocative case:
- Тату! (Dad!)
- For a more formal “father”: Батьку!
How is читає formed? What are the other present-tense forms of “to read”?
The verb is читати (to read), imperfective. Present tense:
- я читаю
- ти читаєш
- він/вона/воно читає
- ми читаємо
- ви читаєте
- вони читають
How do I say “Dad will read” or “Dad has read”?
- Future (imperfective “will be reading/will read”): Тато читатиме газету or Тато буде читати газету.
- For a completed action, use the perfective прочитати:
- Future (completed): Тато прочитає газету. (Dad will read it completely.)
- Past (completed): Тато прочитав газету. (Dad finished reading it.)
Where is the word “is”? Why isn’t there something like “is” before “reading”?
Ukrainian doesn’t use a separate “to be” in the present for ongoing actions. The verb ending itself carries the present meaning. Note: the -є in читає is just a verb ending, not the separate word є (“is/there is”).
How do I pronounce the sentence?
- Stress: ТАто чита́є газе́ту (TA-to chi-TA-ye ha-ZE-tu).
- Sounds: ч = ch (as in “church”), г = a voiced h (not the English hard g), и ≈ short i (as in “bit”), є = ye.
- A simple romanization: Tato chytaye hazetu.
Can I change the word order?
Yes, Ukrainian word order is flexible and used for emphasis:
- Neutral: Тато читає газету.
- Emphasize object: Газету тато читає.
- Emphasize the action: Тато газету читає. Meaning stays roughly the same; the focus shifts.
How do I make it negative?
Put не before the verb:
- Тато не читає газету. (Dad is not reading/doesn’t read the newspaper.)
How do I ask a yes/no question or a wh-question?
- Yes/no:
- Intonation only: Тато читає газету?
- With particle: Чи тато читає газету?
- Wh-question:
- Що читає тато? (What is Dad reading?)
- Хто читає газету? (Who is reading the newspaper?)
How would I replace “газету” with a pronoun?
Use the feminine pronoun її (it/her):
- Тато читає її. or Тато її читає. Word order is flexible; placing її before the verb often sounds more neutral.
What happens in the plural or with another subject?
- Different subject: Мама читає газету. (Mom is reading a newspaper.)
- Plural subject: Батьки читають газету. (The parents are reading a newspaper.) Note the plural verb ending -ють in читають.