Breakdown of Тепер їй не боляче говорити, і голос знову тихий та приємний.
і
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Questions & Answers about Тепер їй не боляче говорити, і голос знову тихий та приємний.
What case is їй, and why is it used here?
Їй is in the dative case (from вона → їй, “she → to her”).
In Ukrainian, feelings or physical states are often expressed with the dative + a special predicative word, e.g.:
- Їй боляче. – It hurts (to her). / She is in pain.
- Мені холодно. – I’m cold. (To me it is cold.)
So Тепер їй не боляче говорити literally is “Now (to) her it is not painful to speak”, i.e. Now it doesn’t hurt her to speak / it’s not painful for her to speak.
What exactly is боляче? Is it an adjective, adverb, or verb?
Боляче is a predicative word (in Ukrainian grammar often classified as a “category of state,” предикатив). It behaves a bit like an adverb but functions as the main predicate of the clause:
- Мені боляче. – It hurts (me).
- Їм було боляче. – It was painful for them.
So it isn’t a normal adjective (like болючий) and isn’t a normal verb (like боліти “to hurt”).
In this sentence, боляче + їй together express “she is not in pain.”
Why is it не боляче говорити and not something like не болить говорити?
Ukrainian normally uses two different patterns: