Хвіст кота мокрий.

The cat’s tail is wet.

Breakdown of Хвіст кота мокрий.

• кіт: the cat
• мокрий: wet
• хвіст: the tail

Questions & Answers about Хвіст кота мокрий.

Why is кота used instead of кіт?

Because кота is the genitive singular form of кіт (cat).

In Хвіст кота мокрий, the structure is literally the tail of the cat is wet. In Ukrainian, possession is often expressed with the genitive case, so кота means of the cat.

• кіт = cat (dictionary form, nominative)
• кота = of the cat

So:

• Хвіст кота = the cat’s tail / the tail of the cat

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

In the present tense, Ukrainian normally does not use a separate verb for is/am/are in simple statements like this.

So:

• Хвіст кота мокрий literally looks like Tail of-the-cat wet
• but it means The cat’s tail is wet

This is completely normal in Ukrainian. The present-tense to be is usually omitted.

Why does мокрий end in -ий?