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Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Зарплата хороша. - The salary is good.

Hardcore Ukrainian
/Applying for a job
/Зарплата хороша.

Зарплата хороша.

Word

Зарплата хороша.

Meaning

The salary is good.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Ukrainian

Lesson

Applying for a job

Breakdown of Зарплата хороша.

зарплата

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Questions & Answers about Зарплата хороша.

Why is there no word for is in Зарплата хороша?

In Ukrainian, the present-tense verb to be is usually omitted.

So:

Зарплата хороша. = The salary is good.

This is completely normal and grammatical.
If you translated word-for-word into English, it would look like Salary good, but in natural English we add is.

Why is it хороша and not хороший?

Because хороша has to agree with зарплата.

зарплата is a feminine singular noun
the adjective must also be feminine singular
so хороший becomes хороша

A few forms of хороший are:

masculine: хороший
feminine: хороша
neuter: хороше
plural: хороші

So:

зарплата хороша — salary is good
день хороший — the day is good
море хороше — the sea is good
умови хороші — the conditions are good

How do I know that зарплата is feminine?

A very common clue is the ending -а.

Many Ukrainian nouns ending in -а or -я are feminine, and зарплата is one of them.

Because it is feminine, any adjective describing it in the singular nominative will also usually take a feminine form:

добра зарплата
висока зарплата
хороша зарплата

Of course, there are exceptions in the language, but for зарплата, feminine is the correct gender.

Why is the adjective after the noun here? Can I also say Хороша зарплата?

Yes, you can say Хороша зарплата, but it means something slightly different in structure.

Зарплата хороша. = The salary is good.
This is a full sentence: noun + predicate adjective.
Хороша зарплата = a good salary / good salary
This is just a noun phrase, not usually a complete sentence by itself.

So the position changes the function:

before the noun: the adjective directly describes the noun
after the noun: it often works as the main statement in the sentence

Is Зарплата хороша a natural sentence in Ukrainian?

Yes, it is grammatical and understandable.

It sounds like a simple statement evaluating the salary:

Зарплата хороша.
Зарплата не дуже хороша.
Зарплата справді хороша.

That said, in everyday speech, Ukrainians may also very often say things like:

Зарплата добра.
У мене хороша зарплата.
Це хороша зарплата.

So your sentence is correct, but depending on context, other versions may sound more common or more specific.

What exactly does зарплата mean? Is it the same as salary?

Зарплата means salary, pay, or wages, depending on context.

It is short for заробітна плата, which is a more formal full expression meaning remuneration or wage/salary payment.

In everyday speech, зарплата is extremely common and natural.

Examples:

У мене маленька зарплата. — I have a low salary.
Коли буде зарплата? — When will the salary be paid?
Висока зарплата — a high salary

So yes, in this sentence, salary is a very good translation.

How do I pronounce Зарплата хороша?

A simple English-friendly approximation is:

zar-PLA-ta kho-ro-SHA

A few helpful notes:

з = like z
рпл in зарплата is a consonant cluster, so say it carefully: zar-pla-ta
stress in зарплата is on -пла-
х is not an English h exactly; it is more like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach
stress in хороша is on the last syllable: хорошА

A more precise pronunciation guide would be roughly:

[zɑrˈplɑtɑ xoroˈʃɑ]

Does Ukrainian have articles like the or a? How do I know whether this means the salary or a salary?

Ukrainian does not have articles like a/an or the.

So Зарплата хороша can literally just mean salary is good, and English has to choose the best natural translation from context.

Usually, in isolation, English speakers will translate it as:

The salary is good.

But depending on the situation, it could also be understood more generally.

Context tells you what is meant, not an article.

Could I use добра or гарна instead of хороша?

Yes. All three can be translated as good in some contexts, but they are not always identical.

хороша = good
добра = good, kind, favorable; often very natural for quality or conditions
гарна = nice, pretty, pleasant, attractive; sometimes also good

For salary, добра зарплата is often very natural.
Гарна зарплата can also be used and often means something like a nice salary.
Хороша зарплата is also understandable and correct.

So:

Зарплата хороша. — The salary is good.
Зарплата добра. — The salary is good.
Зарплата гарна. — The salary is nice/good.

The differences are mostly about nuance and style, not basic grammar.

What case are the words in here?

Both words are in the nominative singular.

зарплата — nominative singular feminine noun
хороша — nominative singular feminine adjective

This happens because хороша is functioning as a predicate adjective with an omitted present-tense to be.

So the structure is basically:

[subject] + [adjective]
Зарплата + хороша

If you changed the sentence in a way that required another case, the forms could change, but in this simple statement, nominative is the normal form.

Can I say Зарплата є хороша?

Grammatically, you may sometimes see є, but in a simple present-tense sentence like this, it is usually omitted.

So:

natural: Зарплата хороша.
less natural in most everyday contexts: Зарплата є хороша.

In modern Ukrainian, є is more often used when you want to emphasize existence or structure a sentence in a particular way, not just as a routine equivalent of English is.

So for a learner, the best default is:

Зарплата хороша. not Зарплата є хороша.

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