Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Його обличчя спокійне, але очі сміються. - His face is calm, but his eyes are laughing.

It does not change for gender:
- його обличчя – his face
- його рука – his hand
- його життя – his life
It also does not change its form for case. Written as його in:
- Nominative: Це його дім. – This is his house.
- Genitive: Я боюся його. – I’m afraid of him.
- Accusative: Я бачу його. – I see him.
- etc.

In його обличчя, обличчя is the subject in the Nominative, and його marks whose face it is (a possessor, often analysed as Genitive), but the form його itself stays the same.

Why is it обличчя спокійне and not обличчя спокійний?

Because обличчя is neuter singular, and the adjective must agree with it.

обличчя – neuter, singular, Nominative
Predicate adjective for neuter singular Nominative → ending -е or -є

Adjective спокійний (calm, quiet) in the Nominative:

masculine: спокійний (чоловік спокійний)
feminine: спокійна (жінка спокійна)
neuter: спокійне (обличчя спокійне)
plural: спокійні (очі спокійні)

So обличчя спокійне literally matches “(the) face (is) calm” with proper gender agreement.

Where is the verb “to be” in Його обличчя спокійне? Why isn’t there a word like є?

In Ukrainian, in the present tense, the verb бути (to be) is usually omitted in such sentences.

Full theoretical form: Його обличчя є спокійне.
Natural, normal Ukrainian: Його обличчя спокійне.

Ukrainian often uses a zero copula (no explicit “is/are”) in the present with:

Noun + adjective: Вона розумна. – She (is) smart.
Noun + noun: Він студент. – He (is) a student.

You do use бути in other tenses:

Його обличчя було спокійне. – His face was calm.
Його обличчя буде спокійне. – His face will be calm.

Why is there a comma before але? Could you explain the punctuation?

The comma is required because але (but) joins two independent clauses:

Його обличчя спокійне – His face is calm.
(Його) очі сміються – (His) eyes are laughing.

Each part has its own subject and predicate:

обличчя (subject) – спокійне (predicate adjective)
очі (subject) – сміються (predicate verb)

In Ukrainian, a comma is normally placed before coordinating conjunctions like але when they join complete clauses:

Він говорить тихо, але чітко.
Я хочу піти, але не можу.

Why is it очі сміються and not something like око сміється? And why is the verb in the plural?

Очі is the normal everyday word for eyes, and it is plural:

singular: око – an eye (rare in modern everyday speech; mostly fixed expressions, medical/poetic, etc.)
plural: очі – eyes

In this sentence очі is the subject, so the verb must be plural:

Очі сміються. – The eyes are laughing / smiling.
(subject: очі, plural → verb: сміються, plural)

If you really said око сміється, it would technically mean “the eye is laughing”, focusing on one eye; that sounds unusual or poetic, not the standard way to say this.

What is going on with сміються? What does the -ються / -ться / -ся ending mean?

Сміються is the 3rd person plural present tense of the reflexive verb сміятися (to laugh).

The reflexive marker is -ся (or -сь after a vowel), which in spelling becomes part of the verb ending:

infinitive: сміятися – to laugh
1st sg: я сміюся – I laugh
2nd sg: ти смієшся – you laugh
3rd sg: він/вона сміється – he/she laughs
1st pl: ми сміємося – we laugh
2nd pl: ви смієтеся – you (pl) laugh
3rd pl: вони сміються – they laugh

So -ються here encodes both:

-ють – 3rd person plural ending
-ся – reflexive particle

Ukrainian has many common reflexive verbs with -ся:

усміхатися – to smile
бояться – to be afraid
вмиватися – to wash oneself

Does сміятися mean “to laugh” or “to smile”? Why is the translation often “his eyes are smiling”?

Basic dictionary meaning of сміятися is to laugh.

However, in expressions with очі, it often describes a warm, smiling expression in the eyes rather than literal laughter:

Очі сміються. – The eyes are “laughing” → usually translated as “eyes are smiling” or “eyes are laughing with joy”.

This is metaphorical:

Його обличчя спокійне, але очі сміються.
Literally: His face is calm, but his eyes are laughing.
Natural English: His face is calm, but his eyes are smiling.

So the verb is still “to laugh” in form, but English idiom prefers “smile” here.

Can I change the word order, for example: Його обличчя спокійне, але сміються очі or Обличчя його спокійне? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, Ukrainian allows fairly flexible word order. These are all possible:

Його обличчя спокійне, але очі сміються.
– neutral, common, balanced.
Його обличчя спокійне, але сміються очі.
– emphasizes сміються and очі; slightly more expressive or poetic, like:
- …but it’s the eyes that are laughing.
Обличчя його спокійне, але очі сміються.
– moving його after the noun is also possible; a bit more literary or stylistic.

Meaning stays essentially the same; only focus and rhythm change. The original order is the most neutral and typical in standard prose.

What’s the difference between обличчя and лице for “face”? Why does this sentence use обличчя?

Both can mean “face,” but in modern standard Ukrainian:

обличчя
- the normal, neutral standard word for face
- used in most contexts: гарне обличчя, його обличчя, вираз обличчя
лице
- historically used, but today often feels bookish, archaic, or Russified in many contexts
- survives in some fixed expressions and specific uses (e.g. certain legal/official terms, religious or historical texts)

In contemporary natural Ukrainian, Його обличчя спокійне sounds fully standard and idiomatic; Його лице спокійне can sound outdated or influenced by Russian for many speakers.

How is this sentence pronounced, especially його, обличчя, and сміються?

Approximate pronunciation (stressed syllables in CAPS):

Його → [йо-ГО]
- йо like yo in yoga
- stress on го
обличчя → [о-БЛЫЧ-чя] (more precisely [o-BLYTCH-ya])
- о as in not
- бли like “bly” in bleed but shorter, with л slightly soft
- ччя is a long ch
  - soft ya sound, something like “ch-ya”
спокійне → [спо-КІЙ-не]
- і like ee in see
- й is a short y glide
очі → [О-чі]
- stress on О
- чі like “chee”
сміються → [смі-ЮТЬ-ся]
- смі like “smee”
- ю like yu in you
- -ться sounds like -т'-ся, close to “tsya” but with a softened т

Whole sentence, roughly:

Його обличчя спокійне, але очі сміються.
[йо-ГО о-БЛИЧ-чя спо-КІЙ-не, а-ЛЕ О-чі смі-ЮТЬ-ся]