Сьогодні я тільки працюю.

Today I am only working.

Breakdown of Сьогодні я тільки працюю.

• я: I
• працювати: to work
• сьогодні: today
• тільки: only

Questions & Answers about Сьогодні я тільки працюю.

Does працюю mean I work or I am working?

In Ukrainian, працюю can mean both I work (simple present) and I am working (present continuous). Ukrainian does not normally distinguish these two forms the way English does.

So Сьогодні я тільки працюю can be understood as:

• Today I’m only working
  or
• Today I only work

The exact English translation depends on context, not on a different Ukrainian form.

What is the exact role of тільки in this sentence?

тільки means only / just. Here, it limits the action of the verb:

• я тільки працюю = I only work / I’m just working

It suggests:

• I’m not doing other things (e.g., not studying, not relaxing),
• OR I’m downplaying the action: I’m just working, nothing special.

Its position before the verb tells us that the restriction applies to the action of working, not to the subject or to time.

Can I move тільки to other places in the sentence, and does the meaning change?

Yes. Word order with тільки affects what is being limited:

1. Сьогодні я тільки працюю.
   Focus: the action.
   → Today I’m just working (and not doing other things).

2. Сьогодні тільки я працюю.
   Focus: the subject я.
   → Today only I am working (others are not).

3. Я сьогодні тільки працюю.
   Very similar to the original, but with a bit more emphasis on сьогодні and я as the topic:
   → As for me today, I’m just working.

So the position of тільки is important for emphasis and nuance.

What is the difference between тільки and лише?

Both mean only / just and are often interchangeable.

• тільки – the most common, fully neutral in everyday speech.
• лише – slightly more formal or literary/poetic in many contexts, but also used in normal speech.

In this sentence you could say:

• Сьогодні я тільки працюю.
• Сьогодні я лише працюю.

The meaning is practically the same. Learners are usually safe using тільки as the default.

Why is я (I) used here? Could it be left out?

In Ukrainian, the verb ending already shows the person, so the subject pronoun is often optional.

• Працюю. = I work / I am working.
• Сьогодні тільки працюю. = Today I’m only working.

We include я:

• To make the subject explicit.
• To contrast it with others (e.g. Сьогодні я тільки працюю, а він відпочиває – Today I’m only working, and he is resting).
• Simply as a neutral choice; using я here is perfectly natural.

So yes, you can omit я, but keeping it is also normal and slightly clearer for learners.

How flexible is the word order in this sentence?

Word order in Ukrainian is more flexible than in English and is used for emphasis. All of these are grammatically correct, with small differences in focus:

• Сьогодні я тільки працюю. (neutral, very natural)
• Я сьогодні тільки працюю. (also common; mild emphasis on me today)
• Я тільки сьогодні працюю. (focuses on today: I work only today)
• Тільки сьогодні я працюю. (stronger emphasis: Only today am I working)

The basic pattern S–V (я працюю) plus adverbs (сьогодні, тільки) can be rearranged, but meaning and emphasis shift, especially for тільки.

Why is there no word for am (as in I am working)?

Ukrainian does not use a separate auxiliary verb like am / is / are to form the present tense the way English does.

• English: I am working.
• Ukrainian: Я працюю. (literally: I work)

The verb ending -ю in працюю already encodes:

• person: I
• number: singular
• tense: present

So Ukrainian does not need an extra verb like to be in the present tense here.

What aspect is працюю, and is there a perfective form?

Працюю is present tense, imperfective aspect of працювати (to work).

• Imperfective (працювати) – ongoing, repeated, or process-oriented action.
  → Я працюю. – I’m working / I work.

Perfective forms related to працювати include:

• попрацювати – to work for a while, to get some work done.
• відпрацювати – to work off, to complete a required amount of work, etc.

You would not normally use a perfective form in this exact sentence, because сьогодні я тільки працюю talks about the ongoing activity today, not a completed result.

Is сьогодні always placed at the beginning, or can it move?

Сьогодні (today) is an adverb and can move quite freely:

• Сьогодні я тільки працюю.
• Я сьогодні тільки працюю.
• Я тільки працюю сьогодні.

All are correct. Position mainly affects naturalness and emphasis:

• Beginning (Сьогодні) is very common for setting the time frame.
• End (сьогодні) can add contrast: It’s today (not some other day) that I’m only working.

How do I say Today I’m only working, not studying using this structure?

You can add a contrasting а не (but not):

• Сьогодні я тільки працюю, а не навчаюся.
  (навчаюся = I study / I’m studying, more formal/neutral)

or more colloquially:

• Сьогодні я тільки працюю, а не вчуся.

Both mean: Today I’m only working, not studying.