Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Мені треба прибрати кімнату ввечері.

Ukrainian uses an impersonal construction for necessity: треба + dative person + infinitive. So you say Мені треба прибрати… literally “It is necessary for me to clean…”. The word треба doesn’t take a subject in the nominative, so Я треба is ungrammatical. You can also omit the person for a general statement: Треба прибрати кімнату ввечері (“It’s necessary to clean the room in the evening”).

What case is Мені, and what are the other forms?

Мені is dative singular of “I” (я). Dative marks the experiencer/beneficiary in this pattern. Other dative pronouns:

тобі (to you, sg)
йому / їй (to him / to her)
нам / вам (to us / to you, pl/polite)
їм (to them)

What’s the difference between треба and потрібно? And what about повинен/мушу/маю?

треба and потрібно both mean “it’s necessary/one needs to.” Треба is very common and neutral in speech; потрібно can feel a bit more formal or bookish, but both are fine: Мені потрібно/треба прибрати…
повинен/повинна/повинні = “must/should,” more obligation and it agrees with gender/number: Я повинен (повинна) прибрати…
мушу (from мусити) = “I must,” strong necessity: Я мушу прибрати…
маю
- infinitive is widely used colloquially as “have to”: Я маю прибрати… In formal writing some prefer повинен/треба.
Softer advice: Мені слід/варто прибрати… (“I should/it would be good to…”)
External compulsion/no choice: Мені доведеться прибрати… (“I will have to…”)

Why is прибрати (perfective) used instead of прибирати (imperfective)?

Прибрати is perfective and focuses on a single, completed result—exactly right for a one-time plan “this evening.” Прибирати is imperfective and focuses on process/habit. Use it if you mean a regular requirement or the activity itself.

So when would прибирати be correct here?

Habit/routine: Мені треба прибирати кімнату вечорами (“I need to clean the room in the evenings [regularly]”).
Emphasis on the ongoing activity this evening (less common): Мені ввечері треба прибирати кімнату (“I need to be cleaning the room in the evening”).

Why is it кімнату (not кімната)?

Кімнату is the accusative singular of кімната (feminine -а noun) used for the direct object of the verb. Feminine nouns ending in -а/-я take -у/-ю in the accusative singular: кімната → кімнату, книга → книгу, Марія → Марію.

Is прибрати кімнату the only natural way to say “clean the room”?

It’s the most idiomatic. You can also say:

прибрати в кімнаті (“clean in the room”), focusing on cleaning inside the space.
For the activity in general: прибирати в кімнаті. Avoid прибиратися here, because it can also mean “to dress up/spruce oneself up,” which may be confusing.

What about ввечері vs увечері vs вечором?

ввечері and увечері both mean “in the evening” and are both standard. Choose у-/в- for euphony (whichever sounds smoother in context).
вечором is colloquial/informal but very common in speech.
Related but different: надвечір (“toward evening, by evening”), вечорами (“in the evenings,” habitual).

Is ввечері one word? Can I write в вечері?

Write it as one word: ввечері/увечері. The fused form is the standard adverb. Don’t separate it as в вечері.

How flexible is the word order?

Ukrainian allows fairly free word order for emphasis. All of these are fine:

Мені треба прибрати кімнату ввечері. (neutral)
Мені ввечері треба прибрати кімнату. (places the time earlier)
Ввечері мені треба прибрати кімнату. (emphasizes “in the evening”)
Кімнату мені треба прибрати ввечері. (fronts the object for focus)

How do I say “my room”?

Add a possessive that agrees in gender, number, and case: Мені треба прибрати мою кімнату ввечері. (feminine accusative: мою)

How do I negate this?

Use не треба:

Мені не треба прибирати кімнату ввечері. = “I don’t need to clean the room in the evening.” Imperfective is most natural with negation. Perfective under negation can sound like “no need to complete it”: Мені не треба прибрати кімнату ввечері (possible in context, but less common).

How do I ask a yes/no question with this sentence?

Simply use intonation: Мені треба прибрати кімнату ввечері?
Or use чи: Чи мені треба прибрати кімнату ввечері? To ask “When…?”: Коли мені треба прибрати кімнату? — Ввечері.

Pronunciation and stress?

мені́ (me-NEE)
тре́ба (TREH-ba)
прибра́ти (pry-BRA-ty)
кімна́ту (kim-NA-tu)
ввéчері / увéчері (VVE-che-ri / U-VE-che-ri; stress on É) Note: вв- is written with two “в” but pronounced as a single long [v]-sound.

Does треба change for tense or person?

No, треба itself is invariable and impersonal. For time reference, you modify the sentence:

Past necessity: Мені було треба прибрати… (“I needed to clean…”)
Future necessity: Мені буде треба прибрати… (“I will need to clean…”)

Can I just say “I will clean the room in the evening” without the necessity idea?

Yes: Я приберу кімнату ввечері. (perfective future, result-focused) Or process-focused: Я прибиратиму кімнату ввечері / Я буду прибирати кімнату ввечері.

What happens if I drop Мені?

Треба прибрати кімнату ввечері becomes a general/impersonal statement (“It’s necessary to clean the room in the evening”), with the doer left unspecified or understood from context.

Is Мене треба ever correct?

Yes, but it means something different: Мене (тут) не треба = “I’m not needed (here).” Accusative мене after треба is used when a person is the thing needed/not needed, not when expressing who needs to do an action.