Лікар каже, що вона повільно одужує.

Ukrainian has no articles, so there is no separate word for the or a/an.

So лікар can mean:

• a doctor
• the doctor

Context tells you which one is meant. In this sentence, English will often use the doctor, but Ukrainian simply says лікар.

Лікар is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the main clause.

Structure:

• Лікар = the subject of каже
• каже = says

So literally, the main clause is Doctor says...

Because що introduces a subordinate clause.

The sentence has two parts:

1. Лікар каже = The doctor says
2. що вона повільно одужує = that she is recovering slowly

In Ukrainian, a subordinate clause introduced by що is normally separated by a comma:

• Лікар каже, що...

This is standard punctuation.

Here що means that.

So:

• каже, що... = says that...

It is a very common way to introduce reported speech or statements:

• Він думає, що... = He thinks that...
• Я знаю, що... = I know that...

In this sentence, вона means she, and it most naturally refers to some female person the doctor is talking about.

So the meaning is:

• The doctor says that she is recovering slowly.

It does not usually sound like вона refers to лікар in this isolated sentence. The most natural reading is:

• the doctor = one person
• she = another person, probably the female patient

Context could always clarify further, but that is the default interpretation.

Yes, Ukrainian often can drop subject pronouns, because the verb ending already shows person and number.

For example:

• ...що повільно одужує can also work in context.

But here вона is very helpful because it makes the subject of the second clause explicit. Without it, the listener might need more context to know who is recovering.

So вона is used for clarity, not because Ukrainian always requires subject pronouns.

Одужує is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• from the verb одужувати = to recover / to get better

So:

• я одужую = I am recovering
• ти одужуєш = you are recovering
• вона одужує = she is recovering

Because Ukrainian present tense often covers both:

• simple present
• present continuous

So вона одужує can mean:

• she recovers
• she is recovering

In real usage, with a verb like одужувати, the natural English translation is usually is recovering, because it describes an ongoing process.

English uses is + -ing, but Ukrainian does not need a separate word for is here. The single verb form одужує already does the job.

This is a question of aspect.

• одужувати = imperfective = focuses on the process
• одужати = perfective = focuses on completion/result

So:

• вона одужує = she is recovering / getting better
• вона одужає = she will recover / get better

In your sentence, the idea is an ongoing process, especially with повільно. That is why одужує is used.

Повільно is an adverb, and it means slowly.

It modifies the verb одужує:

• повільно одужує = is recovering slowly

So the subordinate clause breaks down like this:

• вона = she
• повільно = slowly
• одужує = is recovering

Yes. Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible.

This sentence is neutral and natural:

• Лікар каже, що вона повільно одужує.

But you could also hear:

• Лікар каже, що вона одужує повільно.

Both mean basically the same thing. The difference is mostly about emphasis or rhythm, not core grammar.

Very roughly:

• повільно одужує keeps slowly a little earlier
• одужує повільно can give a bit more emphasis to повільно

Лікар is the standard word for doctor and is grammatically masculine. It can refer to:

• a male doctor
• a doctor in a generic/professional sense

If you specifically want to show that the doctor is female, Ukrainian also uses:

• лікарка = female doctor

So you could say:

• Лікарка каже, що вона повільно одужує.

That would clearly mean A/The female doctor says that she is recovering slowly.

In your original sentence, лікар does not automatically tell us the doctor’s real-life sex. Context would do that.