Кіт нявкає.

A simple English-friendly approximation is:

kit NYAV-ka-ye

A bit more specifically:

• Кіт sounds like keet, but shorter.
• няв starts with a soft n sound, something like nyav.
• кає sounds like ka-ye.

So the whole sentence is roughly:

Keet NYAV-ka-ye.

The stress is on:

• кіт — only one syllable
• ня́вкає — stress on the first syllable: NYAV-ka-ye

Yes, кіт literally means a male cat / tomcat.

However, in simple sentences and beginner materials, it is also often used more loosely as cat. If you want to be more specific:

• кіт = male cat
• кішка = female cat
• cat in a general sense may depend on context, but learners often first meet кіт as the basic word

So in a sentence like this, it is perfectly normal for a beginner to understand Кіт нявкає as The cat is meowing.

Because Ukrainian does not have articles.

Unlike English, Ukrainian does not use words like:

• a
• an
• the

So Кіт can mean:

• a cat
• the cat

The exact meaning depends on context.

That means Кіт нявкає could be understood as either:

• A cat is meowing
• The cat is meowing
• The cat meows

нявкає is present tense.

It is the 3rd person singular form of the verb нявкати.

So it means:

• meows
• is meowing

Ukrainian present tense often covers both the simple present and the present continuous that English separates.

So depending on context, Кіт нявкає can mean either:

• The cat meows
• The cat is meowing

The dictionary form is нявкати, which means to meow.

A few useful forms are:

• нявкати = to meow
• я нявкаю = I meow / am meowing
• ти нявкаєш = you meow / are meowing
• він / вона / воно нявкає = he / she / it meows / is meowing

So in your sentence:

• кіт = the subject
• нявкає = the verb form that agrees with a singular he/she/it subject

Because the subject is third person singular: кіт = cat = he/it.

In Ukrainian, verbs change their endings depending on the subject. Here, нявкає matches:

• he
• she
• it
• or any singular noun like кіт

So:

• Кіт нявкає = The cat meows / is meowing

This is just part of normal verb conjugation in Ukrainian.

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

In Кіт нявкає:

• кіт = the one doing the action
• нявкає = is meowing

The nominative is the basic subject form.

By contrast, кота is a different case form, often used when the cat is the object, for example:

• Я бачу кота = I see the cat

So here, кіт is correct because the cat is the subject.

Yes, you could say Нявкає кіт, because Ukrainian word order is more flexible than English word order.

However, the neutral, basic order is:

• Кіт нявкає.

That simply states the fact: The cat is meowing.

If you say:

• Нявкає кіт.

it can sound more marked or expressive, something like:

• It’s the cat that’s meowing
• The cat is meowing with special focus on the subject

So both are possible, but Кіт нявкає is the most straightforward default order.

Yes, but you usually do not need a pronoun when the noun is already there.

• Кіт нявкає = The cat is meowing
• Він нявкає = He/It is meowing

If you already said кіт, adding він would usually be unnecessary unless you want special emphasis or contrast.

Ukrainian often avoids repeating pronouns when the subject is already clear.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Just like many Ukrainian present tense forms, нявкає may be interpreted as:

• habitual: The cat meows
• right now: The cat is meowing

The surrounding context tells you which one is meant.

For example:

• Що там за звук? Кіт нявкає. = What’s that sound? The cat is meowing.
• Коли голодний, кіт нявкає. = When it’s hungry, the cat meows.

Yes. Ukrainian няв- imitates the sound a cat makes, similar to English meow.

So:

• English: meow → to meow
• Ukrainian: няв → нявкати

This is a common pattern in many languages: a sound becomes the basis of a verb.

So нявкає is basically the verb form built from the cat sound itself.