У вихідні мої батьки часто зустрічаються з родичами.

It means on weekends or at the weekend(s).

A useful way to think about it:

• вихідний = day off
• вихідні = the weekend / days off

So У вихідні мої батьки... means that this usually happens on weekends, not just one specific occasion.

Both у and в can mean in/on/at, and Ukrainian often switches between them for smoother pronunciation.

Here, у вихідні sounds natural because it is easier to say than в вихідні. This alternation is very common in Ukrainian and usually does not change the meaning.

So:

• у вихідні
• вихідними? no, that would be a different form and meaning
• в вихідні is possible in some contexts, but у вихідні is the more natural sound here

In Ukrainian, батьки usually means parents.

Compare:

• батько = father
• батьки = parents

So:

• мій батько = my father
• мої батьки = my parents

This is something English speakers often have to memorize, because the plural does not work the same way as in English.

Because батьки is plural, the possessive pronoun also has to be plural.

So:

• мій = my for masculine singular nouns
• мої = my for plural nouns

Since батьки is plural, you need:

• мої батьки = my parents

This is basic agreement: the pronoun matches the noun in number.

Зустрічаються is the 3rd person plural present tense form of зустрічатися.

So it means:

• they meet
• they are meeting

In this sentence, because of часто (often), the natural meaning is:

• they often meet

The subject is мої батьки (my parents), which is plural, so the verb is plural too.

The -ся is part of the verb зустрічатися, and here it gives the idea of meeting with someone.

This is very important:

• зустрічати / зустріти = to meet, greet, pick up, encounter someone
• зустрічатися з кимось = to meet with someone, to get together with someone

So in this sentence, зустрічаються з родичами means meet with relatives.

Without -ся, the meaning would be different.

Because the verb зустрічатися normally uses з + the instrumental case.

So:

• зустрічатися з ким? = to meet with whom?

That is why you get:

• з родичами = with relatives

Here, родичами is the instrumental plural form of родичі (relatives).

A few comparisons:

• родичі = relatives
• з родичами = with relatives
• з другом = with a friend
• з друзями = with friends

Часто means often.

It shows that the sentence describes a habitual or repeated action:

• мої батьки зустрічаються з родичами = my parents meet with relatives
• мої батьки часто зустрічаються з родичами = my parents often meet with relatives

So the sentence is not about one meeting. It is about something that happens regularly.

Because Ukrainian uses the present tense for habitual actions, just like English does.

Compare:

• My parents often meet with relatives.
• Мої батьки часто зустрічаються з родичами.

This is the normal way to talk about habits, routines, and things that happen regularly.

Yes. Ukrainian word order is more flexible than English word order.

The version you have:

• У вихідні мої батьки часто зустрічаються з родичами.

is a natural, neutral sentence, with the time expression first.

You could also say:

• Мої батьки часто зустрічаються з родичами у вихідні.

That means the same thing, but the emphasis is slightly different. Putting у вихідні first highlights when this usually happens.

So the meaning stays basically the same, but the focus can shift.

No. У вихідні is a very standard and natural way to say it, but you may also hear:

• на вихідних

in everyday speech.

Very roughly:

• у вихідні = neutral, standard
• на вихідних = also common in conversation

For a learner, у вихідні is an excellent form to use.

Not necessarily.

Because of часто (often), the sentence means that this happens frequently on weekends, but not automatically every single weekend.

If you wanted to make every weekend more explicit, you could say something like:

• щовихідних = every weekend

So:

• У вихідні мої батьки часто зустрічаються з родичами. = On weekends, my parents often meet with relatives.
• Щовихідних мої батьки зустрічаються з родичами. = Every weekend my parents meet with relatives.

Because Ukrainian does not have articles like English a/an/the.

So Ukrainian simply says:

• мої батьки
• родичами
• у вихідні

and the exact sense of the / some / their / our is usually understood from context.

That is completely normal in Ukrainian. English speakers often notice this right away, because English requires articles much more often.