Вона ріже помідор ножем, а я кладу хліб на тарілку.

A word-by-word breakdown looks like this:

• Вона = she
• ріже = is cutting / cuts
• помідор = a tomato / the tomato
• ножем = with a knife
• а = and / while / whereas / but depending on context
• я = I
• кладу = am putting / put
• хліб = bread
• на тарілку = onto a plate

So the structure is:

• Вона ріже помідор ножем = She is cutting a tomato with a knife
• а я кладу хліб на тарілку = and/while I am putting bread onto a plate

Because ріже is a present-tense verb form. In Ukrainian, the present tense often covers both:

• she cuts
• she is cutting

The exact English translation depends on context.

Here, because the sentence describes actions happening right now, English usually prefers the continuous form:

• Вона ріже помідор → She is cutting a tomato

The same is true for кладу:

• я кладу хліб → I am putting bread

Because помідор is a masculine inanimate noun, and in Ukrainian the accusative singular of masculine inanimate nouns is usually the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: помідор
• accusative: помідор

Since помідор is the direct object of ріже, it is in the accusative case, but the form happens to look unchanged.

Compare that with a masculine animate noun, where the accusative usually changes:

• nominative: брат = brother
• accusative: брата

So помідор is accusative here, even though it looks like nominative.

Ножем is the instrumental case of ніж = knife.

Ukrainian often uses the instrumental case to show the tool or means used to do something.

So:

• ніж = knife
• ножем = with a knife

That is why:

• Вона ріже помідор ножем = She is cutting a tomato with a knife

This is a very common pattern in Ukrainian:

• писати ручкою = to write with a pen
• їсти ложкою = to eat with a spoon
• різати ножем = to cut with a knife

Because Ukrainian distinguishes between:

• movement onto a place → usually на + accusative
• location on a place → usually на + locative

Here, the bread is being moved onto the plate, so Ukrainian uses:

• на тарілку = onto the plate / onto a plate

If you were talking about bread already sitting on the plate, you would say:

• хліб на тарілці = bread is on the plate

So the contrast is:

• кладу хліб на тарілку = I am putting bread onto the plate
• хліб лежить на тарілці = the bread is lying on the plate

Класти is the dictionary form of the verb, meaning to put / to place.

Кладу is the first-person singular present tense form:

• я кладу = I put / I am putting

So this is just normal verb conjugation.

A few present-tense forms of класти are:

• я кладу
• ти кладеш
• він / вона кладе
• ми кладемо
• ви кладете
• вони кладуть

So in the sentence, я кладу хліб means I am putting bread.

А often links two clauses with a sense of:

• contrast
• comparison
• meanwhile
• whereas

In this sentence, it feels like:

• She is cutting a tomato, and I am putting bread on the plate
• or more literally with the nuance: She is cutting a tomato, while I am putting bread on the plate

Using а is very natural when comparing what two different people are doing.

By contrast, і is a more neutral and.

So:

• а = and/while/whereas/but, depending on context
• і = plain and

Here а highlights the two parallel actions a bit more naturally.

Yes, very often they can be.

Ukrainian frequently drops subject pronouns when the verb form already makes the subject clear.

So these are both possible:

• Вона ріже помідор ножем, а я кладу хліб на тарілку.
• Ріже помідор ножем, а кладу хліб на тарілку.

However, in your sentence the pronouns are useful because they create a clear contrast:

• she is doing one thing
• I am doing another

So including вона and я sounds natural and helps emphasize the comparison.

No, Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible because cases show grammatical roles.

The given order is natural and neutral:

• Вона ріже помідор ножем, а я кладу хліб на тарілку.

But other orders are possible if you want to emphasize something:

• Вона ножем ріже помідор, а я хліб кладу на тарілку.
• Помідор вона ріже ножем, а хліб я кладу на тарілку.

These alternatives are grammatical, but they may sound more marked or emphasize different parts of the sentence.

For learners, the original version is a very good default.

Both ріже and кладу come from imperfective verbs:

• різати = to cut
• класти = to put

The imperfective aspect is used for:

• ongoing actions
• repeated actions
• general processes

That fits this sentence well, because it describes actions in progress.

If you wanted to focus on a completed result, Ukrainian would often use a perfective verb instead. For example:

• покласти = to put down, to place completely
• Я покладу хліб на тарілку = I will put the bread on the plate / I’ll place it there

So aspect matters because Ukrainian uses it constantly to show whether an action is viewed as ongoing/process-like or completed/result-focused.

For the same basic reason as помідор.

Хліб is a masculine inanimate noun, so in the singular its accusative form is usually the same as its nominative form.

So:

• nominative: хліб
• accusative: хліб

In the sentence, хліб is the direct object of кладу, so it is accusative, even though the form does not visibly change.

Ukrainian does not have articles like a and the, so context does that job.

So на тарілку can mean:

• onto a plate
• onto the plate

The listener understands from the situation which one is meant.

This is normal in Ukrainian. For example:

• Я бачу книгу can mean I see a book or I see the book
• Вона ріже помідор can mean She is cutting a tomato or She is cutting the tomato

English forces you to choose an article; Ukrainian usually does not.

Stress is important in Ukrainian. In this sentence, the usual stresses are:

• Вона́
• рі́же
• помідо́р
• ноже́м
• кладу́
• хліб
• на тарі́лку

A rough pronunciation guide:

• Вона́ ≈ vo-NA
• рі́же ≈ REE-zhe
• помідо́р ≈ po-mi-DOR
• ноже́м ≈ no-ZHEM
• кладу́ ≈ kla-DOO
• хліб ≈ khlib
• тарі́лку ≈ ta-REEL-ku

A couple of notes:

• г in Ukrainian is usually not a hard English g; it is softer, more like a breathy h sound.
• х is like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach.
• і is like ee in see.

Yes.

Because Ukrainian present tense can express both:

• something happening right now
• something that happens regularly / habitually

So this sentence could mean either:

• She is cutting a tomato with a knife, and I am putting bread on the plate
• or, in the right context, She cuts a tomato with a knife, and I put bread on the plate

Usually the situation tells you which meaning is intended. If this is a kitchen scene happening now, the ongoing reading is the natural one.