Собака кульгає.

A good approximation is:

so-BA-ka kul-HA-ye

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• собака = stress on -ба-
• кульгає = stress on -га-
• Ukrainian г is usually pronounced like a soft h sound, not like the hard English g in go
• є here sounds roughly like ye

So кульгає is not kul-ga-ye, but closer to kul-ha-ye.

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

So:

• Собака can mean a dog or the dog
• The exact meaning depends on context

That is completely normal in Ukrainian.

It is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence — the thing doing the action.

Here:

• собака = the dog
• кульгає = limps / is limping

So собака is the one performing the action, which is why nominative is used.

Because собака is the basic dictionary form of the noun in the nominative singular.

It is also a feminine noun grammatically, and many feminine nouns in Ukrainian end in -а or -я.

So:

• dictionary form: собака
• nominative singular: собака

If the noun changed case, the ending would probably change too.

Because Ukrainian often uses a simple present-tense verb where English uses be + -ing.

So:

• кульгає can mean limps
• and in many contexts it can also mean is limping

English and Ukrainian express ongoing actions differently here. Ukrainian does not need a separate word like is in this sentence.

The dictionary form is кульгати.

That is the infinitive, meaning to limp.

So the relationship is:

• кульгати = to limp
• кульгає = he/she/it limps, is limping

Here кульгає is third person singular present tense.

That means it is used with:

• he
• she
• it
• or a singular noun like собака

So:

• я кульгаю = I limp
• ти кульгаєш = you limp
• він / вона / воно кульгає = he / she / it limps
• собака кульгає = the dog limps

The ending helps show person and number.

Not necessarily.

Even though собака is grammatically feminine, it can refer to a dog of either sex in everyday speech.

So in this sentence:

• the noun is grammatically feminine
• but the real-life dog could be male or female

Also, in the present tense, Ukrainian verbs do not show gender, so кульгає does not help us identify the dog's sex.

Yes. Ukrainian word order is more flexible than English word order.

The neutral order here is:

• Собака кульгає.

You could also say:

• Кульгає собака.

Both are possible, but they may feel different in emphasis:

• Собака кульгає = neutral, straightforward
• Кульгає собака = puts more focus on the action or sounds more context-driven

For beginners, the first version is the safest default.

Sometimes yes, if the subject is already clear from context.

For example, if everyone already knows you are talking about the dog, Кульгає can mean:

• It is limping
• He/She is limping

But on its own, without context, it is less clear than Собака кульгає.

So as a full beginner sentence, keeping собака is better.

No, but it is one very common word.

Another common word is пес.

Roughly speaking:

• собака = dog
• пес = dog, often especially a male dog, though usage can vary

For a beginner, собака is a very useful general word to know.

It comes from the imperfective verb кульгати.

That makes sense because the sentence describes an action or state in progress:

• Собака кульгає = the dog is limping / limps

Imperfective verbs are commonly used for ongoing, repeated, or general actions.