Уночі гримить грім.

At night, thunder rumbles.

Breakdown of Уночі гримить грім.

• уночі: at night
• гриміти: to rumble
• грім: the thunder

Questions & Answers about Уночі гримить грім.

What does Уночі literally mean, and what is happening grammatically inside this word?

Уночі means at night.

Grammatically:

• It comes from the preposition у (in, at) + the noun ніч (night) in the locative case singular (ночі).
• Historically it was у ночі, two words. Over time it fused into one word and functions as an adverb of time: уночі = at night / during the night.
• So you can think: у (in/at) + ночі (locative of ніч) → уночі (adverb: at night).

Even though it’s one word now, understanding the pieces helps you see why it answers when? (time) and why ночі looks like that form.

What is the difference between уночі and вночі?

Both уночі and вночі mean at night, and in modern Ukrainian they are basically interchangeable in meaning.

The choice between у and в is mostly about euphony (what sounds smoother next to neighboring sounds):

• After a word ending in a consonant, speakers often prefer уночі:
  Сьогодні уночі гримить грім.
• After a word ending in a vowel, вночі may sound better:
  А вночі гримить грім.

In practice, you will hear both forms a lot, and no meaning difference is intended. Your sentence Уночі гримить грім. is perfectly natural.

What case is грім in, and what kind of noun is it?

In Уночі гримить грім., the word грім is:

• Nominative singular – it is the subject of the sentence.
• Masculine, inanimate noun.

Basic forms of грім (thunder):

• Nominative sg.: грім
• Genitive sg.: грому

• Nominative pl.: громи (used, but less often; stylistic / poetic / emphatic)

  Here, грім answers who/what is making the noise? – грім (thunder) is doing the action гримить (rumbles/thunders), so it stands in the nominative case.

What is the verb гримить – what is its infinitive, aspect, and person?

Гримить is:

• 3rd person singular, present tense
• From the infinitive гриміти (to thunder, to rumble, to boom)
• Imperfective aspect (ongoing, repeated, or general action)

A partial conjugation of гриміти in the present tense:

• я гримлю – I thunder / rumble
• ти гримиш – you thunder
• він / вона / воно гримить – he / she / it thunders
• ми гримимо – we thunder
• ви гримите – you (pl./formal) thunder
• вони гримлять – they thunder

In the sentence Уночі гримить грім., гримить agrees with грім (3rd person singular).

Why is there no word for it in this sentence? How do Ukrainians say it is thundering?

Ukrainian does not use a dummy subject like English it for weather.

Instead, Ukrainian typically:

1. Uses the natural phenomenon as the subject:

   • Гримить грім. – Literally Thunder thunders / Thunder is thundering.
   • Іде дощ. – Literally Rain goes = It is raining.
   • Дме вітер. – Literally Wind blows = It is windy / the wind is blowing.

2. Or uses an impersonal construction with just the verb:

   • Гримить. – It is thundering.
   • Дощить. – It is raining (a bit / drizzling).

So Уночі гримить грім. is a fully natural way to express At night, it is thundering / Thunder rumbles at night, and no separate word for it is needed.

Is Уночі гримить грім. talking about the present, the future, or a general fact?

By form, гримить is present tense, so the basic readings are:

1. Right now / these nights:

   • (Зараз) уночі гримить грім.
     At night (now / these days), thunder is rumbling.

2. General / habitual fact:

   • Уночі в цих горах часто гримить грім.
     At night in these mountains, it often thunders.

To talk clearly about the future, you’d normally use a future form:

• Уночі буде гриміти грім. – Tonight / at night it will thunder.
• Уночі грім гримітиме. – It will be thundering at night. (synthetic future)

Context can sometimes allow a present-for-future reading (e.g. timetable-like), but for weather you’ll usually mark the future explicitly.

Isn’t гримить грім like saying “thunders thunder”? Why repeat the idea of thunder twice?

Literally, гримить грім does look like “thunders thunder”, but in Ukrainian this is normal and not redundant. Think of it as:

• Гримить – an action: to thunder / to rumble / to boom.
• Грім – the thing that is doing that action: thunder.

So гримить грім is structurally like:

• Співає птах. – A bird is singing.
• Гуде мотор. – The engine is humming.

You’re simply saying Thunder is thundering – which in smooth English becomes Thunder rumbles or There is thunder.

This pattern is common for natural phenomena in Ukrainian and doesn’t sound strange to native speakers.

Can we drop грім and just say Уночі гримить? Is that correct, and does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

• Уночі гримить.

This is:

• Grammatically correct.
• Very natural and common in spoken Ukrainian.

Meaning:

• Still At night it is thundering, but:
  • With гримить грім, the subject (грім) is explicit.
  • With just гримить, the sentence is impersonal; the subject is not named, but obvious from context (weather).

In everyday speech, many people will simply say Гримить!, Уночі гримить., especially if what’s happening is clear (you hear thunder).

Can I change the word order? For example: Грім гримить уночі or Гримить грім уночі?

Yes, Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible, and all of these are grammatical:

1. Уночі гримить грім.
   Neutral, with light emphasis on the time at night.

2. Грім гримить уночі.
   Emphasizes грім a bit more: Thunder is what thunders at night.

3. Гримить грім уночі.
   Puts a little extra emphasis on the action гримить (thundering) first; can sound a bit more expressive or poetic.

4. Уночі грім гримить.
   Also possible; slightly more literary or rhythmic.

In simple statements like this, changing the order does not drastically change the basic meaning, but it can shift the subtle emphasis (what feels like the “known” part vs. the “new” / highlighted part).

How would I say “At night it does not thunder” in Ukrainian?

You can negate the verb гримить with не:

• Уночі не гримить. – At night it does not thunder.
• Уночі грім не гримить. – At night thunder does not thunder.

Both are correct. The second one explicitly names грім as the subject and negates its action.

Word order with не is flexible, but typically не goes right before the verb it negates: не гримить.

How do I express similar weather sentences using this pattern?

You can use the same structure [time] + [verb] + [natural-phenomenon] (or omit the noun and have an impersonal verb). Some common patterns:

• Уночі йде дощ. – At night it is raining.
  (Literally: At night, rain goes.)
• Вдень світить сонце. – During the day the sun shines.
• Вранці дме вітер. – In the morning the wind blows.
• Узимку часто сніжить. – In winter it often snows.
  (Impersonal verb: сніжить.)

So Уночі гримить грім. fits a very typical Ukrainian way to talk about weather and natural phenomena.

How do I say into the night / during the night (movement into)? Is that the same as уночі?

No. Уночі means at night (time, no movement). If you want to express into the night / into the night-time (direction), you use a different structure:

• У ніч
  • accusative:
    
    • Вони говорили до пізньої години й пішли в ніч. – They talked until late and went into the night.
    • Ми їхали в ніч. – We were driving into the night.

So:

• Уночі (merged, adverb) = at night / during the night (when?).
• У ніч (two words) = into the night (where to? direction, more poetic or literary).

Does Ukrainian have articles like a or the in the thunder / a thunder?

Ukrainian has no articles (no a/an or the). The noun грім can correspond to:

• thunder (general, uncountable)
• the thunder
• a thunderclap (depending on context)

So грім in Уночі гримить грім. can be understood as:

• Thunder rumbles at night.
• The thunder rumbles at night.

The difference between “thunder” and “the thunder” is usually not expressed with any extra word; it comes from context, word order, or added phrases if needed (e.g. цей грім – this thunder).

How would I say “On nights / at nights it thunders” (plural nights, more general/habitual)?

You can make the time expression plural and adverbial:

• Ночами гримить грім. – On nights / At night (in general, repeatedly) it thunders.
  Literally: By nights, thunder thunders.

Here:

• ночами = by nights / on nights, an adverb formed from the plural instrumental of ніч.

This makes the sentence sound more like a frequent / habitual occurrence rather than talking about a specific night.