Петро сам готує обід.

сам means himself or on his own.

So Петро сам готує обід means that Petro is the one cooking lunch personally, or that he is doing it without help.

In this sentence, сам agrees with Петро:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

If the subject changed, сам would change too:

• Марія сама готує обід. — Maria cooks lunch herself.
• Діти самі готують обід. — The children cook lunch themselves.

готує is the 3rd person singular present tense form of готувати.

It matches Петро, which is:

• he
• singular

So:

• я готую — I cook / am cooking
• ти готуєш — you cook / are cooking
• він / Петро готує — he / Petro cooks / is cooking

Like in many Slavic languages, the Ukrainian present tense can often mean either:

• a habitual action: Petro cooks lunch himself
• an action happening now: Petro is cooking lunch himself

Context tells you which one is meant.

Because Ukrainian usually does not need a subject pronoun when the subject is already clear.

Here the subject is explicitly named: Петро. So adding він would be unnecessary in a neutral sentence.

Ukrainian often leaves pronouns out because the verb ending already helps show the person and number:

• готую — I cook
• готуєш — you cook
• готує — he/she cooks

So Петро сам готує обід sounds natural without any extra pronoun.

Yes, обід is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case.

The reason it looks unchanged is that for many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: обід — lunch
• accusative: обід — lunch

That is normal.

Compare:

• Петро готує обід. — Petro cooks lunch.

But with some other nouns, you may see a clearer case change.

The basic word order is:

Петро + сам + готує + обід
subject + emphatic word + verb + object

This is a natural, neutral order.

Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible, though, and changing it can change the emphasis:

• Петро сам готує обід. — neutral; Petro himself cooks lunch.
• Петро готує обід сам. — stronger focus on by himself
• Сам Петро готує обід. — emphasizes that Petro himself, not someone else, is doing it
• Обід Петро сам готує. — emphasizes lunch

So the sentence is not only about grammar; word order also helps show focus.

Usually here it means by himself or himself personally.

That can imply:

• he does it without help
• he does it rather than someone else
• he handles it personally

It does not always mean he is physically alone in the room.

So in this sentence, сам is best understood as:

• Petro cooks lunch himself or
• Petro cooks lunch on his own

Here are the dictionary forms:

• Петро — Petro, a male first name
• сам — self / himself / oneself
• готує comes from готувати — to prepare, to cook
• обід — lunch, dinner (in Ukrainian this usually means the main midday meal or simply lunch)

So if you looked these up, you would usually search for:

• Петро
• сам
• готувати
• обід

A simple pronunciation guide:

• Петро — pe-TRO
• сам — sam
• готує — ho-TU-ye
• обід — o-BID

One important point: Ukrainian г is usually pronounced more like an English h sound than a hard g.

So готує sounds closer to ho-tu-ye, not go-tu-ye.

The main stress is:

• Петрó
• готýє
• обíд

Yes.

The verb готувати is broader than just English cook. It can mean:

• to cook
• to prepare

So depending on context, Петро сам готує обід could mean:

• Petro cooks lunch himself.
• Petro prepares lunch himself.

If the context is about making food, cook is a natural translation. If the focus is more general, prepare also works well.

Yes, that is correct, but the nuance is a little different.

• сам is short, common, and very natural in everyday speech.
• самостійно means independently and sounds a bit more formal or explicit.

So:

• Петро сам готує обід. — Petro cooks lunch himself.
• Петро самостійно готує обід. — Petro prepares lunch independently.

In ordinary conversation, сам is usually the more natural choice here.