Вага собаки велика.

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Breakdown of Вага собаки велика.

• собака: the dog
• вага: the body weight

Questions & Answers about Вага собаки велика.

Why is собаки used instead of собака?

Because собаки is in the genitive case, not the nominative.

In Вага собаки велика, the phrase вага собаки means the dog's weight or the weight of the dog. In Ukrainian, when one noun belongs to another noun, the second noun is often put in the genitive case.

• собака = dog
• собаки = of the dog

So:

• вага = weight
• вага собаки = the dog's weight

This is a very common pattern in Ukrainian.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

In the present tense, Ukrainian usually leaves out the verb to be.

So instead of saying something like The dog's weight is large, Ukrainian simply says:

• Вага собаки велика.

This is completely normal. The idea of is is understood automatically.

In past or future tense, forms of to be do appear:

• Вага собаки була велика. = The dog's weight was large.
• Вага собаки буде велика. = The dog's weight will be large.

Why is велика feminine?