Мій друг витривалий і сильний.

My friend is enduring and strong.

Breakdown of Мій друг витривалий і сильний.

• мій: my
• друг: the friend
• сильний: strong
• і: and
• витривалий: enduring

Questions & Answers about Мій друг витривалий і сильний.

Why is there no word for “is” in Мій друг витривалий і сильний?

Ukrainian normally leaves out the present tense of “to be” (бути) in simple statements.

• English: My friend is resilient and strong.
• Ukrainian literally: My friend resilient and strong.

In the present tense, the linking verb є (is) is usually omitted in such sentences:

• Мій друг витривалий. – My friend (is) resilient.
• Вона лікар. – She (is) a doctor.

You can use є for emphasis, contrast, or in more formal/literary style:

• Мій друг є витривалим і сильним.
  This sounds more emphatic or formal than everyday speech.

What case and gender is друг, and how does that affect витривалий and сильний?

Друг is:

• Gender: masculine
• Number: singular
• Case: nominative (it’s the subject of the sentence)

In Ukrainian, adjectives must agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

So with друг (masculine, singular, nominative), the adjectives also must be:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

That’s why we have:

• витривалий (masc. sg. nom.)
• сильний (masc. sg. nom.)

You can see the typical masculine nominative adjective ending -ий:

• витривалий, сильний, високий (tall), розумний (smart), etc.

Why is it мій and not моя / моє / мої?

Мій is the masculine singular form of “my” and must agree with друг.

Possessive pronoun мій declines like an adjective:

• мій – masculine singular (for друг, брат)
• моя – feminine singular (for подруга, сестра)
• моє – neuter singular (for місто, вікно)
• мої – plural (for друзі, книги, etc.)

So:

• Мій друг – my friend (male)
• Моя подруга – my friend (female)
• Моє місто – my city
• Мої друзі – my friends

Could I say Мій витривалий і сильний друг instead? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Мій витривалий і сильний друг.

But there is a nuance:

1. Мій друг витривалий і сильний.

   • Structure: [subject] [predicative adjectives]
   • Feels like a full sentence: My friend is resilient and strong.
   • It describes a state/quality of your friend.

2. Мій витривалий і сильний друг

   • Structure: [adjectives] [noun]
   • Normally used as a noun phrase, often part of a bigger sentence:
     
     • Мій витривалий і сильний друг допоміг мені.
       My resilient and strong friend helped me.
   • Emphasizes these as characterizing qualities before introducing the friend in a narrative.

So:

• As a standalone sentence, the original Мій друг витривалий і сильний. is more natural.
• The other form is more natural when followed by something else.

How would I say this about a female friend?

You would change the noun and make all the agreeing words feminine singular:

• Моя подруга витривала і сильна.
  My (female) friend is resilient and strong.

Changes:

• мій → моя (feminine)
• друг → подруга (female friend)
• витривалий → витривала (feminine adjective)
• сильний → сильна (feminine adjective)

Adjective endings:

• masculine: витривалий, сильний
• feminine: витривала, сильна

How would I say it in the plural: “My friends are resilient and strong”?

Use plural for everything:

• Мої друзі витривалі і сильні.

Breakdown:

• мої – plural of мій (my)
• друзі – plural of друг (friends)
• витривалі – plural of витривалий
• сильні – plural of сильний

All words are plural nominative, and the adjectives agree with друзі in number and case.

What is the difference in meaning between витривалий and сильний?

They are related but not the same:

• витривалий – enduring, resilient, persistent, tough over time

  • Someone who can withstand difficulties, pain, long work, or stress.
  • Describes stamina, endurance, mental or physical toughness.
  • Example: витривалий спортсмен – an athlete who can run long distances, train hard.

• сильний – strong

  • Can mean physically strong (strong muscles) or strong/powerful in other senses (character, influence, emotions).
  • Example: сильна людина – can be physically strong or strong-willed.

In Мій друг витривалий і сильний, you are saying your friend:

• can endure a lot (витривалий)
• and is strong (сильний), likely both physically and in character, depending on context.

How do I pronounce Мій друг витривалий і сильний?

Pronunciation with stress:

• Мій друг витрива́лий і си́льний.

Approximate IPA:

• [mij druɦ ʋɪtrɪˈʋɑlɪj i ˈsɪlʲnɪj]

Syllable breakdown:

• Мій – one syllable
• друг – one syllable
• ви-три-ва́-лий – four syllables (stress on ва́)
• і – one syllable
• си́ль-ний – two syllables (stress on си́ль)

Notes:

• й sounds like English y in yes.
• г is a voiced [ɦ] (a softer, breathy h sound), not like Russian g.
• в is usually a [ʋ], something between English v and w.
• Stress is important: витрива́лий, си́льний.

When should I use друг, подруга, or other words for “friend”?

Common options:

• друг – male friend
• подруга – female friend

They can imply a relatively close or good friend, not just any acquaintance.

Other words:

• приятель / приятелька – friend, often slightly less close-sounding than друг/подруга, but still friendly.
• знайомий / знайома – acquaintance (someone you know, but not necessarily a friend).

So:

• Мій друг витривалий і сильний. – My (male) friend is resilient and strong.
• Моя подруга витривала і сильна. – My (female) friend is resilient and strong.

Can I use та instead of і here?

Yes. You can say:

• Мій друг витривалий та сильний.

Both і and та mean “and”. Differences:

• і – the most common neutral conjunction for “and”.
• та – also “and”; often used:
  • for stylistic variation in writing
  • to avoid repetition of і in long lists
  • sometimes sounds a bit more literary/poetic, but is also normal in everyday speech.

In this short sentence, і and та are interchangeable.

Why is there no comma before і in this sentence?

In Мій друг витривалий і сильний.:

• витривалий and сильний are two adjectives joined by і.
• They share the same function (both describe друг) and are simple, not forming separate clauses.

In Ukrainian, you do not put a comma between two single, parallel parts of the sentence joined by і, та, або, etc.:

• Він розумний і добрий. – no comma
• Це довго і нудно. – no comma

You would use a comma before і when:

• it joins full clauses (each with its own verb), or
• some more complex structures are involved.

Here you simply have one clause with two adjectives, so no comma.

How would I negate this sentence: “My friend is not resilient and not strong”?

You negate adjectives with не before each one:

• Мій друг не витривалий і не сильний.

Literally: My friend not resilient and not strong.

If you want a more general “My friend is not resilient or strong at all”, you could also say:

• Мій друг зовсім не витривалий і не сильний.
  (My friend is not resilient and not strong at all.)

In Ukrainian, it’s common and clear to put не before each adjective you want to negate:

• не розумний і не чесний – not smart and not honest

Can I drop мій and just say Друг витривалий і сильний?

Yes, grammatically you can say:

• Друг витривалий і сильний.

But the nuance changes:

• Мій друг витривалий і сильний.
  
  • Clearly about my friend.
• Друг витривалий і сильний.
  
  • Could sound more general, like a statement about “a (the) friend” in some context, or a description in a story where it’s already clear whose friend it is.
  • Without context, it feels a bit incomplete in isolation.

In everyday conversation, if you’re talking about your friend, you normally keep мій.

Why do витривалий and сильний both end in -ий and not -ій?

Masculine nominative adjectives in Ukrainian commonly end in either -ий or -ій. The choice depends mainly on the stem and phonetic rules.

• витривалий – stem ends in a “hard” consonant sound (л), so -ий is standard.
• сильний – also effectively with a hard consonant (н before ь is still followed by the -ий ending in spelling here).

Examples with -ий:

• високий (tall)
• гарний (nice)
• старий (old)

Examples with -ій:

• синій (blue)
• кращий (better)
• домашній (homemade, domestic)

You generally learn the correct form with each adjective. In this sentence, витривалий and сильний are simply the standard dictionary forms.