Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Мій друг упевнений.

Мій друг упевнений.

My friend is confident.

Breakdown of Мій друг упевнений.

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Questions & Answers about Мій друг упевнений.

Where is the verb “is” in this sentence? Why is it missing?

Ukrainian usually omits the present‑tense form of “to be” (бути) in simple sentences like this.

English: My friend is confident.
Ukrainian: Мій друг упевнений. (literally: My friend confident.)

In the present tense, Ukrainians normally do not say є (is/are) in such constructions.
You would usually add є only for emphasis or contrast:
Мій друг є упевненим у собі, а я — ні.
(My friend is confident in himself, but I am not.)

What does мій mean exactly, and why is it in this form?

Мій means my. It is the masculine singular nominative form of the possessive pronoun мій.

It changes depending on the gender and case of the noun it describes:

мій друг – my (male) friend – masculine
моя подруга – my (female) friend – feminine
моє місто – my city – neuter
мої друзі – my friends – plural

In Мій друг упевнений, мій matches друг (masculine, singular, nominative), so the form мій is used.

What does друг mean, and is it gender‑specific?

Друг means friend and is grammatically masculine.

друг – friend (male, or friend of unspecified gender but grammatically masculine)
The feminine counterpart is подруга – female friend.

So:

Мій друг упевнений. – My (male) friend is confident.
Моя подруга упевнена. – My (female) friend is confident.

Grammatically, друг behaves like a regular masculine noun in the nominative singular.

How do I pronounce Мій друг упевнений?

Approximate pronunciation (transcription for English speakers):

Мій – miy (like me
- a short y as in yes: mee‑y)
друг – druh (roll the r, u like oo in good, final h is a hard kh sound in the throat)
упевнений – u-PEV-ne-nyy
- у – like oo in food
- пе – like peh
- вне – vne (v + neh)
- ний – like nyy (n + long ee)

Stress: упе́внений – the main stress is usually on the second syllable: пе́.
So: Мій друг уПЕВнений.

What does упевнений mean exactly? Is it like “confident” or “sure”?

Упевнений means sure, certain, or confident.
Context decides which English word fits best.

Мій друг упевнений.
– My friend is confident / sure (about something).

Common fuller patterns:

упевнений у собі – confident in himself/herself
упевнений у своїх силах – confident in his/her abilities
упевнений, що… – sure/certain that…

It functions as an adjective, not a full verb, in this sentence.

Why is it упевнений and not упевненим or some other ending?

Because упевнений is a predicate adjective that agrees with the subject друг in:

gender: masculine
number: singular
case: nominative

So:

Мій друг упевнений. – masculine singular
Моя подруга упевнена. – feminine singular
Моє дитя упевнене. – neuter singular
Мої друзі упевнені. – plural

Forms like упевненим, упевненою are used in other cases (e.g. instrumental), not in this simple “X is Y” sentence.

Can I change the word order, like Упевнений мій друг or Мій упевнений друг?

You can, but the meaning changes:

Мій друг упевнений.
– This is a statement about his current state:
My friend is confident / sure.
Мій упевнений друг.
– Here упевнений becomes an attributive adjective before the noun:
my confident friend (a friend whose characteristic is being confident),
not specifically “he is now sure about some issue”.
Упевнений мій друг.
– This is unusual in isolation; it sounds poetic or strongly emphatic:
It is my friend who is confident / Confident is my friend,
often used only in special contexts (poetry, contrast, etc.).

For a neutral everyday sentence, Мій друг упевнений. is the normal choice.

Is there any difference between упевнений and впевнений?

Both упевнений and впевнений exist in modern Ukrainian and are understood as the same word – confident, sure, certain.

упевнений – used in this sentence; matches the current official spelling variant.
впевнений – also common, especially in older texts and everyday writing.

For learning purposes, you can treat them as equivalent variants and focus more on the meaning and usage than the spelling difference. Your sentence is fully correct with упевнений.

If my friend were female, how would I change the sentence?

You need to change both the possessive pronoun and the adjective to feminine:

Мій друг упевнений. – My (male) friend is confident.
Моя подруга упевнена. – My (female) friend is confident.

Changes:

Мій → Моя (masculine → feminine)
друг → подруга (friend, female)
упевнений → упевнена (masculine → feminine form of the adjective)

What case are the words in, and why?

All three main words are in the nominative singular:

Мій – masculine singular nominative pronoun
друг – masculine singular nominative noun (subject)
упевнений – masculine singular nominative adjective used as a predicate complement

In sentences like “X is Y”, both X (subject) and Y (the adjective describing X) are usually in the nominative in Ukrainian:

Він молодий. – He is young.
Мій друг упевнений. – My friend is confident.

Can I extend the sentence to specify what he is sure about?

Yes. Common patterns:

упевнений, що… – sure that…
- Мій друг упевнений, що все буде добре.
  My friend is sure that everything will be fine.
упевнений у + Locative – confident/sure in…
- Мій друг упевнений у собі.
  My friend is confident in himself.
- Він упевнений у своїх силах.
  He is confident in his abilities.

Your original sentence is just a short, general statement of confidence.

Is the period at the end necessary in Ukrainian?

Yes. Written Ukrainian punctuation is similar to English:

Sentences normally end with a period (.), question mark (?), or exclamation mark (!).
So Мій друг упевнений. is correctly punctuated.

Without the period, it would look incomplete in standard written Ukrainian.