Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Вона хоче бути сильною і витривалою.

After бути (to be) in sentences like this, Ukrainian normally uses the instrumental case for adjectives and nouns that describe what someone is / wants to be / will be.

сильна – nominative feminine (dictionary form: “strong”)
сильною – instrumental feminine (“as a strong [person]”)
витривала – nominative feminine (“enduring, resilient”)
витривалою – instrumental feminine (“as an enduring [person]”)

So бути сильною і витривалою literally feels like “to be (as) strong and enduring.”

Could you say Вона хоче бути сильна і витривала instead?

In standard, careful Ukrainian, after бути you should use the instrumental:

✅ Вона хоче бути сильною і витривалою.

Using nominative (сильна і витривала) after бути is non‑standard or colloquial in most contexts. You might hear nominative in casual speech, especially in short present-tense sentences (like Вона сильна – “She is strong”), but with infinitive бути plus “to be something,” the instrumental is the norm.

So for correct written Ukrainian, stick with сильною and витривалою here.

Why are both adjectives (сильною and витривалою) in the same form?

Because they both refer to the same noun (an implied “she / woman / person”) and they follow the same grammatical rules:

feminine gender
singular number
instrumental case (required after бути here)

So they both take the feminine singular instrumental ending -ою:

сильною і витривалою = “strong and enduring (as a woman/person).”

In Ukrainian, all adjectives that describe the same noun must agree in gender, number, and case.

Why is бути (“to be”) actually written, when in English you just say “She wants to be strong and enduring”?

In English, you also have to be in the infinitive: “She wants to be strong and enduring.”

Ukrainian does the same:

хотіти (to want) is followed by an infinitive:
- Вона хоче бути… – “She wants to be…”

You can’t omit бути here.
If you said only Вона хоче сильною і витривалою, it would be ungrammatical; the verb бути is needed to connect “wants” and the adjectives.

Why is there no word for “to” before бути?

In Ukrainian, the infinitive is a single word that already includes the “to” idea:

бути = “to be”
хотіти = “to want”

So хоче бути literally is “wants be” but functionally means “wants to be.” Ukrainian does not use a separate word like English to before the infinitive.

Why is вона (she) used? Could you drop it?

Ukrainian is a pro‑drop language: you can often omit subject pronouns when the verb form already shows the person.

So both are possible:

Вона хоче бути сильною і витривалою. – “She wants to be strong and enduring.”
Хоче бути сильною і витривалою. – “(She) wants to be strong and enduring.”

You would usually keep вона if:

you are introducing her for the first time;
you want to contrast her with someone else (e.g. Вона хоче…, а він ні.)

What is the difference in meaning between сильною and витривалою?

Both describe positive qualities, but they’re not the same:

сильною – “strong”
- physical strength
- or inner strength, willpower, emotional strength
витривалою – “enduring, resilient, persistent”
- able to keep going for a long time
- able to tolerate difficulties, pain, or stress
- stamina and perseverance

Together, сильною і витривалою suggests not just having strength, but also being able to withstand hardships over time.

How would this sentence change if the subject was a man instead of a woman?

For a masculine subject, the adjectives must be masculine instrumental singular:

Він хоче бути сильним і витривалим.
- сильним – masc. instr. sg. of сильний
- витривалим – masc. instr. sg. of витривалий

For plural “they,” you’d say:

Вони хочуть бути сильними і витривалими.

Can I change the word order, for example: Вона хоче сильною і витривалою бути?

Yes, Ukrainian word order is relatively flexible, and that version is grammatically possible, but:

Вона хоче бути сильною і витривалою. – most natural, neutral.
Вона хоче сильною і витривалою бути. – sounds more poetic or emphatic, not typical in everyday speech.

For normal, conversational or standard written Ukrainian, keep бути before the adjectives.

What’s the aspect or nuance of хоче? Is there a different verb like захотіти?

хоче is the present tense of the imperfective verb хотіти – “to want (have a desire).”
- Вона хоче бути сильною… – She (currently) wants to be strong…
захотіти is a perfective verb – “to come to want / to start wanting.”
- Вона захотіла бути сильною… – She began to want / came to want to be strong…

In your sentence, хоче (imperfective) is the normal, neutral choice.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence?

Approximate pronunciation with stressed syllables in CAPS:

Вона – vo‑NA
хоче – HO‑che (like “HO-cheh”)
бути – BU‑ty (BOO‑ty, with a soft t)
сильною – SYL‑no‑yu (stress on the first syllable: SYL‑no‑yu)
витривалою – vy‑try‑VA‑lo‑yu (stress on VA: vy‑try‑VA‑lo‑yu)

So:

Вона хо́че бу́ти си́льною і витрива́лою.
[vo‑NA HO‑che BU‑ty SYL‑no‑yu i vy‑try‑VA‑lo‑yu]

Can I use a different verb like стати instead of бути? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

Вона хоче стати сильною і витривалою. – “She wants to become strong and enduring.”

Nuance:

хоче бути сильною… – she wants to be (in that state), more static.
хоче стати сильною… – she wants to become strong (change from not-strong to strong), focusing on the process of reaching that state.

Both are correct; choose based on whether you mean “be” or “become.”