У клініці мені дали краплі, а вдома я годую домашню тварину.

Because after у / в meaning in / at, Ukrainian usually uses the locative case.

• клініка = nominative, the basic dictionary form
• у клініці = in / at the clinic

So клініці is the locative singular form of клініка.

In many cases, у and в both mean in / at. Ukrainian often chooses between them for ease of pronunciation and smoother sound.

So:

• у клініці
• в клініці

can both be correct in many contexts. Here у клініці sounds natural. This is a very common Ukrainian pattern: the choice between у and в is often about euphony, not a change of meaning.

Мені is the dative case form of я and means to me.

In this clause:

• мені дали краплі = they gave me drops
• literally: to me gave drops

Compare:

• я = I (subject)
• мене = me (often direct object or after some prepositions)
• мені = to me / for me

Since дати (to give) normally takes:

• a direct object: what was given
• an indirect object in the dative: to whom it was given

мені is exactly the form you need.

Ukrainian often leaves out the subject when it is unknown, unimportant, or understood from context.

So мені дали краплі literally means:

• gave me drops
• more naturally in English: they gave me drops

This is a very common way to express an unspecified “they” in Ukrainian. In this sentence, the context у клініці makes it clear that the clinic staff or medical workers gave them.

This is a question of aspect.

• дати → perfective
• давати → imperfective

дали is the past tense plural of the perfective verb дати, so it presents the action as a completed event: they gave them.

That fits well here, because the sentence refers to a single finished action at the clinic.

By contrast, давали would suggest something more like:

• they were giving
• they used to give
• they gave repeatedly
• the action is viewed as ongoing or habitual

So дали is the natural choice for one completed act of giving.

In Ukrainian, краплі often refers to drops as a medicine, especially things like:

• eye drops
• nasal drops
• ear drops

Even when English might say some drops or treat it more like a medicine name, Ukrainian commonly uses the plural noun краплі.

Here it is the accusative plural, and for this inanimate noun it looks the same as the nominative plural:

• nominative plural: краплі
• accusative plural: краплі

It can mean both, depending on context.

• literal drops of liquid
• medicinal drops

In this sentence, because of у клініці and дали, it naturally sounds like medicinal drops.

So a learner should understand that краплі is often a normal everyday word for drops as medication.

Вдома is an adverb meaning at home.

So:

• вдома = at home
• у домі = in the house/building

These are similar, but not identical.

In this sentence, вдома is the natural choice because it refers to being at home in the general sense, not specifically inside a particular building as a physical location.

А often means and, but with a mild sense of contrast, shift, or comparison.

Here the sentence contrasts two settings:

• У клініці...
• а вдома...

So а works very well because it signals:

• at the clinic ... but/while at home ...
• a change of place and situation

If you used і, it would sound more like simple addition:

• and also

But а is more natural here because the speaker is moving from one context to another.

Годую is the 1st person singular present tense form of годувати (to feed).

So:

• я годую = I feed / I am feeding

Ukrainian present tense can often translate into English as either:

• simple present
• present progressive

depending on context.

So я годую домашню тварину could mean:

• I feed a pet
• I am feeding the pet

The exact English choice depends on the situation, but the Ukrainian form itself is completely normal.

Because домашню тварину is the accusative singular form, used for the direct object of годую.

The dictionary form is:

• домашня тварина = pet / domestic animal

But after годувати (to feed), you need the direct object in the accusative:

• я годую домашню тварину = I feed a pet

Both words change because:

• домашня → домашню
• тварина → тварину

This is very typical for feminine singular nouns and adjectives.

Because different nouns behave differently in the accusative.

In this sentence:

• краплі is plural and inanimate, so its accusative form is the same as its nominative form
• домашню тварину is feminine singular, so both the adjective and noun visibly change in the accusative

So both are objects, but the forms look different because Ukrainian case endings depend on:

• gender
• number
• animacy
• declension pattern

Usually yes in sentences like this, but literally it means domestic animal.

In everyday usage, домашня тварина is a common way to say pet. Depending on context, Ukrainian can also use more specific words such as:

• кіт = cat
• собака = dog
• улюбленець = pet/favorite, sometimes used for a pet

In this sentence, домашню тварину is a perfectly natural general expression for a pet.

Yes. Ukrainian word order is fairly flexible because case endings show grammatical roles.

For example, these are all possible with different emphasis:

• У клініці мені дали краплі, а вдома я годую домашню тварину.
• Мені дали краплі у клініці, а вдома я годую домашню тварину.
• А вдома я годую домашню тварину, а у клініці мені дали краплі.

The original order is natural because it presents the locations first:

• At the clinic...
• and at home...

That gives the sentence a clear contrast in setting.

Ukrainian has no articles.

So nouns like:

• клініка
• краплі
• домашня тварина

do not need words corresponding to a, an, or the.

Whether English uses a clinic / the clinic, drops / the drops, or a pet / the pet depends on context and translation choice, not on any article in the Ukrainian sentence.

Here is a full breakdown:

• У клініці — locative singular
  клініка → клініці

• мені — dative singular
  form of я

• дали — past tense verb, plural

• краплі — accusative plural
  (same form here as nominative plural)

• вдома — adverb

• я — nominative singular

• годую — 1st person singular present tense verb

• домашню тварину — accusative singular
  домашня тварина → домашню тварину

So this sentence is a good example of how Ukrainian uses case endings to show grammatical relationships.