У нас багато родичів, але не кожен родич живе поруч.

Yes, in this kind of sentence У нас often corresponds to English we have.

Literally, у нас means at us / by us / with us, but Ukrainian very often uses this pattern to express possession:

• У нас багато родичів = We have many relatives
• literally: At us, there are many relatives

This is a very common structure in Ukrainian. You could sometimes also express possession differently, but у + genitive pronoun/noun is one of the most natural ways.

Both у нас and в нас are possible. They mean the same thing here.

The choice between у and в is often made for ease of pronunciation and smooth sound, not because of a difference in meaning. Ukrainian frequently alternates these forms to avoid awkward sound combinations.

So:

• У нас багато родичів
• В нас багато родичів

Both are correct.

Because after багато (many / a lot of), the following noun normally goes into the genitive plural.

So:

• nominative singular: родич
• nominative plural: родичі
• genitive plural: родичів

That is why the sentence has:

• багато родичів = many relatives

This is a very common rule with quantity words:

• багато книжок = many books
• мало часу = little time
• кілька друзів = several friends

Нас is the genitive/accusative form of ми (we).

In this sentence, it is used after the preposition у/в, so you need the appropriate case form:

• ми = we
• нас = of us / us

So:

• у нас = at us / with us / we have

This is why you do not use ми after у here.

Because кожен means each / every, and it is used with a singular noun.

So:

• кожен родич = each relative / every relative

Not:

• кожні родичі for this meaning

In Ukrainian, just like in English, every usually goes with a singular noun:

• every relative lives nearby
• кожен родич живе поруч

If you wanted a plural idea like all relatives, you would use a different structure, such as усі родичі.

Because the subject in the second clause is кожен родич, which is grammatically singular.

Even though the overall idea refers to many relatives, the grammar is:

• кожен родич = each relative

So the verb must also be singular:

• кожен родич живе = each relative lives

Compare:

• усі родичі живуть = all relatives live
• кожен родич живе = each relative lives

Родич means relative.

It usually refers to someone who is related to you by family ties. It is close to English relative rather than the broader family member, because family member can sometimes include people in the household or immediate family in a looser sense.

Forms here:

• singular: родич = relative
• plural: родичі = relatives

So багато родичів means many relatives.

Поруч means nearby / close by / next to depending on context.

In this sentence, it works as an adverb, so it can stand on its own:

• живе поруч = lives nearby

You do not need to add a noun after it.

In other contexts, Ukrainian can also use поруч з + instrumental to mean next to something:

• поруч з будинком = next to the house

But here it simply means nearby, so поруч by itself is enough.

Because the sentence is negating the idea of every relative, not directly the verb alone.

• не кожен родич живе поруч = not every relative lives nearby

This is different from:

• кожен родич не живе поруч

That version would sound like every relative does not live nearby, which suggests none of them live nearby or creates an awkward meaning.

So не кожен is the natural way to say not every.

Yes. Не всі родичі живуть поруч is also natural and means something very similar:

• не кожен родич живе поруч = not every relative lives nearby
• не всі родичі живуть поруч = not all relatives live nearby

These are very close in meaning. The first focuses on each individual relative, while the second focuses on the group as a whole.

Both are common and correct.

Not completely. Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible, but different orders can change the focus or emphasis.

The given sentence:

• У нас багато родичів, але не кожен родич живе поруч.

is neutral and natural.

You might also hear variations, for example:

• Багато родичів у нас, але не кожен родич живе поруч.

This is possible, but it sounds more marked or emphatic. For learners, the original word order is a good standard choice.

Here are the main noun forms:

• родичів in багато родичів = genitive plural
  • used after багато
• родич in кожен родич = nominative singular
  • it is the subject of живе

So the same word appears in two different forms because it plays two different grammatical roles.

The main word stress is:

• у нас
• багАто
• рОдичів
• але
• не кОжен
• рОдич
• живЕ
• пОруч

A learner should especially notice:

• багАто — stress on А
• рОдич / рОдичів — stress on the first syllable
• кОжен — stress on the first syllable
• пОруч — stress on the first syllable

Stress is important in Ukrainian, because it is not always predictable from spelling.