Біля світлофора пішохід чекає, поки машини зупиняться.

Because біля means near / by / next to, and it requires the genitive case.

So:

• dictionary form: світлофор = traffic light
• after біля: світлофора = of the traffic light / near the traffic light

This is a very common pattern in Ukrainian:

• біля будинку = near the house
• біля дороги = near the road
• біля світлофора = near the traffic light

So the ending changes because the noun is in the genitive.

Пішохід is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence — the person doing the action.

Here:

• пішохід = pedestrian
• чекає = waits / is waiting

So пішохід чекає means the pedestrian is waiting.

Чекає is the 3rd person singular present tense of чекати.

That means:

• я чекаю = I wait / I am waiting
• ти чекаєш = you wait
• він / вона / пішохід чекає = he / she / the pedestrian waits

It is used because the subject пішохід is singular.

Also, Ukrainian present tense often covers both English meanings:

• waits
• is waiting

So пішохід чекає can mean either the pedestrian waits or the pedestrian is waiting, depending on context.

Here поки means until.

It introduces a subordinate clause: the pedestrian waits until the cars stop.

In other contexts, поки can also mean while, depending on the sentence. But with чекати and a result that has to happen first, until is the natural meaning.

Compare:

• Я почекаю, поки він прийде. = I’ll wait until he comes.
• Поки я читав, вона готувала. = While I was reading, she was cooking.

So in your sentence, поки is best understood as until.

Because поки машини зупиняться is a subordinate clause.

Ukrainian normally separates subordinate clauses with a comma, especially when they are introduced by words like:

• що
• коли
• якщо
• тому що
• поки

So:

• пішохід чекає, поки машини зупиняться

That comma is standard Ukrainian punctuation.

Машини is the nominative plural of машина.

• singular: машина = car
• plural: машини = cars

It is nominative because it is the subject of the clause машини зупиняться — the cars are the ones doing the stopping.

So:

• машини зупиняться = the cars will stop

This is an important aspect point.

• зупиняються = are stopping / stop regularly / are in the process of stopping
• зупиняться = will stop / come to a stop

In this sentence, the meaning is that the pedestrian waits until the cars have stopped. That is a completed event, so Ukrainian uses the perfective future: зупиняться.

The verb pair is:

• зупинятися = imperfective
• зупинитися = perfective

Future forms:

• будуть зупинятися = will be stopping / will stop repeatedly
• зупиняться = will stop, come to a stop

So поки машини зупиняться means the pedestrian is waiting for the stopping to be completed.

Because the sentence describes:

1. an action happening now: the pedestrian is waiting
2. an action that must happen afterward: the cars will stop

So the timing is:

• current action: чекає
• later completed action: зупиняться

This is very natural in Ukrainian. English also does something similar:

• The pedestrian is waiting until the cars stop.

Even though English often uses present in the subordinate clause, Ukrainian often uses the perfective future when the meaning is until something is completed.

Yes. Ukrainian word order is flexible because case endings show grammatical relationships.

The sentence you have:

• Біля світлофора пішохід чекає, поки машини зупиняться.

puts біля світлофора first, which sets the scene: near the traffic light.

Other possible orders are:

• Пішохід біля світлофора чекає, поки машини зупиняться.
• Пішохід чекає біля світлофора, поки машини зупиняться.

These all mean roughly the same thing, but the emphasis shifts slightly.

• first position often gives emphasis or topic
• later position may sound more neutral depending on context

So the original order is natural, but not the only possible one.

No. Ukrainian does not have articles.

So пішохід can mean:

• a pedestrian
• the pedestrian

and світлофора can mean:

• a traffic light
• the traffic light

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is why English translations of Ukrainian often need to add a or the, even though there is no separate word for them in Ukrainian.

Not exactly.

Біля most literally means:

• near
• by
• next to

So біля світлофора is more literally near the traffic light or by the traffic light.

In natural English, you might translate it as at the traffic light if that sounds smoother in context, but grammatically біля itself means physical nearness rather than exact location at.

A useful pronunciation guide is:

• бі́ля
• світлофо́ра
• пішохі́д
• чека́є
• поки́
• маши́ни
• зупи́няться

So the whole sentence is pronounced approximately like:

Бі́ля світлофо́ра пішохі́д чека́є, поки́ маши́ни зупи́няться.

Stress is important in Ukrainian, because it is not always predictable and can affect pronunciation quite a lot.