Сьогодні у мене забагато роботи.

In Ukrainian, possession is very often expressed with the pattern у/в + pronoun/noun, literally something like at me / by me.

So:

• у мене = I have / literally at me
• у тебе = you have
• у нас = we have

That is why Сьогодні у мене забагато роботи means Today I have too much work.

You can sometimes use мати (to have), but in everyday speech у мене є... or just у мене... is usually more natural for simple possession.

Because after у in this meaning, Ukrainian uses the genitive case.

So the pronoun changes:

• я → мене
• ти → тебе
• він → нього
• ми → нас

That is why you say:

• у мене
• not у я

This is one of the most common possession patterns in Ukrainian, so it is worth memorizing as a chunk: у мене = I have.

There is usually no difference in meaning here. Both mean I have.

Ukrainian often alternates у and в for smoother pronunciation. Speakers choose the one that sounds better next to surrounding words.

So all of these are natural:

• Сьогодні у мене забагато роботи.
• Сьогодні в мене забагато роботи.

The choice is mostly about euphony—what sounds easier to say.

Yes—from an English perspective, it feels like there should be an is.

A word-for-word breakdown is roughly:

• Сьогодні = today
• у мене = I have / at me
• забагато роботи = too much work

In the present tense, Ukrainian often omits the verb to be. So where English says:

• Today I have too much work

Ukrainian can simply say:

• Сьогодні у мене забагато роботи.

There is no separate present-tense is/am/are here.

Забагато means too much or more than is desirable/comfortable.

It is stronger than just a lot.

Compare:

• багато роботи = a lot of work
• дуже багато роботи = very much / a lot of work
• забагато роботи = too much work

So забагато usually suggests excess: the speaker feels the amount is more than they want or can easily handle.

Because after words like забагато (too much / too many), Ukrainian usually puts the noun in the genitive case.

The basic noun is:

• робота = work, job

Its genitive singular form is:

• роботи

So:

• забагато роботи = too much work

This is very common with quantity words:

• багато часу = a lot of time
• мало грошей = little money
• достатньо сил = enough strength
• забагато роботи = too much work

Because here робота means work as an uncountable mass noun, similar to English work.

So:

• забагато роботи = too much work

If you were talking about countable items, Ukrainian might use a plural noun instead:

• забагато завдань = too many tasks
• забагато справ = too many things to do / too many საქმე-like items of business

But робота here refers to work in general, so singular genitive is natural.

In this sentence, робота means work in the general sense: duties, tasks, workload.

So забагато роботи is best understood as:

• too much work
• too much to do

It does not usually mean I have too many jobs. If you wanted to emphasize separate jobs, you would phrase it differently.

Yes. Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible, and changing it can shift the emphasis.

The original:

• Сьогодні у мене забагато роботи.

This sounds natural and neutral: Today, I have too much work.

Other possible orders:

• У мене сьогодні забагато роботи.
  Slightly emphasizes I have / as for me today
• Забагато роботи у мене сьогодні.
  More marked, more emphasis on too much work

For a learner, the original version is a very good standard pattern.

A helpful approximate pronunciation is syo-HO-dni.

A few points:

• The stress is on -го-: сьогОдні
• The г in Ukrainian is usually like a softer, voiced h sound, not a hard English g
• The сь is soft, something like sy in syo

A rough full-sentence pronunciation guide:

• Syo-HO-dni u me-NE za-ba-HA-to ro-BO-ty

That is only approximate, but it can help at first.

Yes, it is understandable, but it is usually less natural than Сьогодні у мене забагато роботи for everyday speech.

Why?

• у мене ... is the common possession pattern
• мати can sound more formal, more emphatic, or simply less idiomatic in some everyday contexts

So as a learner, the safest natural choice is:

• Сьогодні у мене забагато роботи.

Normally, no—that sounds unnatural.

With possession, є often appears in sentences like:

• У мене є робота. = I have a job / I have work.

But with забагато, the usual pattern is simply:

• У мене забагато роботи.

So:

• У мене є робота. = natural
• У мене забагато роботи. = natural
• У мене є забагато роботи. = usually unnatural

Сьогодні means today, and putting it first sets the time frame right away.

So the sentence begins by establishing the context:

• Сьогодні = today
• then the main message: у мене забагато роботи

This is very common in Ukrainian. Time expressions often come first:

• Сьогодні я вдома. = Today I am at home.
• Зараз у мене урок. = Right now I have a lesson.
• Вчора в мене було багато справ. = Yesterday I had a lot of things to do.

No. This sentence stays the same whether the speaker is male or female:

• Сьогодні у мене забагато роботи.

There is no adjective or past-tense verb here that would need to agree with the speaker’s gender.

Gender would matter more in sentences with past tense, for example:

• Я був зайнятий. = I was busy. (male)
• Я була зайнята. = I was busy. (female)

But in this sentence, nothing changes.