Настільна гра нудна.

Breakdown of Настільна гра нудна.

настільна гра
the board game
нудний
boring

Questions & Answers about Настільна гра нудна.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

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

So:

  • Настільна гра нудна. = The board game is boring.

Literally, it is more like:

  • Board game boring.

This is completely normal in Ukrainian.
If you want past or future, then forms of бути appear more clearly:

  • Настільна гра була нудна. = The board game was boring.
  • Настільна гра буде нудна. = The board game will be boring.
What does настільна гра mean exactly?

Настільна гра means board game.

It is made of:

  • настільна = table / tabletop
  • гра = game

So the literal idea is something like a tabletop game. This is the normal Ukrainian expression for board game.

Why does настільна end in ?

Because настільна is an adjective describing гра, and it must agree with the noun.

The noun гра is:

So the adjective also takes the feminine singular nominative form:

  • masculine: настільний
  • feminine: настільна
  • neuter: настільне

Since гра is feminine, you say:

  • настільна гра

not настільний гра.

Why is нудна also feminine?

For the same reason: нудна describes гра, so it agrees with it in gender and number.

Here нудна means boring and refers to гра:

  • гра = feminine singular
  • therefore нудна = feminine singular

Compare:

  • фільм нудний = the movie is boring
  • гра нудна = the game is boring
  • завдання нудне = the task is boring
Why is it гра, not some other form like гру?

Because гра is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

  • гра = nominative singular
  • гру = accusative singular

In Настільна гра нудна, the board game is the thing being described, so nominative is correct.

You would use гру when the game is the direct object:

  • Я люблю настільну гру. = I like the board game.
Does this mean the board game is boring or a board game is boring?

It can mean either, depending on context.

Ukrainian has no articles like a or the, so:

  • Настільна гра нудна.

could mean:

  • The board game is boring
  • A board game is boring

Usually the situation tells you which meaning is intended.

Why are there two adjectives in the sentence?

Because they do two different jobs:

  • настільна is part of the noun phrase настільна гра = board game
  • нудна is the predicate adjective: it says what the board game is like

So the structure is:

  • [Настільна гра] [нудна].
  • [The board game] [is boring].

This is similar to English:

  • A big dog is friendly.

where big describes the noun directly, and friendly is the main description in the sentence.

Can the word order change?

Yes, Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible.

The neutral, straightforward order is:

  • Настільна гра нудна.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

  • Нудна настільна гра.

That version can sound more marked or expressive, depending on context. For a beginner, it is best to learn:

  • Настільна гра нудна.

as the normal pattern.

How do I pronounce г in гра?

In standard Ukrainian, г is usually pronounced more like an English h-like sound, not like the hard English g in go.

So гра sounds closer to hra, not gra.

This is an important difference for English speakers.

Also:

  • р is a rolled or tapped r
  • гра is one syllable

So try something like hra with a Ukrainian-style r.

How would I make this sentence negative?

Just put не before нудна:

  • Настільна гра не нудна. = The board game is not boring.

This is the normal way to negate a predicate adjective.

Could I also say Настільна гра є нудна?

Grammatically, you may sometimes see є, but in normal present-tense sentences like this, it is usually omitted.

So the natural version is:

  • Настільна гра нудна.

Using є here often sounds unnecessary or marked to learners. For everyday Ukrainian, leave it out.

What is the dictionary form of нудна?

The dictionary form is usually the masculine singular:

  • нудний = boring

From that, you get:

  • нудний — masculine
  • нудна — feminine
  • нудне — neuter
  • нудні — plural

So in the sentence, нудна is just the feminine form of нудний.

Is настільна the dictionary form too?

No. The dictionary form is usually:

  • настільний

In the sentence, it changes to match гра:

  • настільнийmasculine
  • настільна → feminine
  • настільне → neuter
  • настільні → plural

So настільна гра is the correctly matched feminine form.

How would I say Board games are boring?

You would use the plural:

  • Настільні ігри нудні.

Changes:

  • настільнанастільні
  • граігри for games
  • нуднанудні

So the whole sentence agrees in the plural.

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