Грудень — холодний місяць.

cold

Breakdown of Грудень — холодний місяць.

• місяць: the month
• грудень: December

Questions & Answers about Грудень — холодний місяць.

Why is there a dash in Грудень — холодний місяць?

In Ukrainian, a dash is often used in present-tense sentences where English would use is.

So:

• Грудень — холодний місяць.
• literally: December — cold month
• natural English: December is a cold month.

Ukrainian usually does not use a present-tense verb like є in simple equational sentences like this. The dash helps show the relationship between the two parts of the sentence.

Why isn’t there a word for is?

Because in Ukrainian, the present tense of to be is often omitted.

So instead of saying something like December is a cold month with an explicit verb, Ukrainian commonly just says:

• Грудень — холодний місяць.

You may sometimes see є, but in sentences like this it is usually unnecessary and often sounds less natural than the version without it.

What does Грудень mean grammatically here?